The largest work in the exhibition, The End is a striking, melancholic painting which recounts “Biləsən, Şair”, an infamous meykhana which took place in 2017. A meykhana is a traditional social gathering where improvised verses are sung and rapped, and this specific occasion was notable for being the last performance of Aydin Khirdalanli, one of the most famous performers of the meykhana in recent years. Khirdalanli was aware that he was terminally ill at the time of the event, and he is depicted seated in the centre of the painting, wearing white with his arms crossed and his head bowed sorrowfully. Other performers sing to him, urging him to keep going, assuring him that life has so much to offer and he just has to fight his illness. Sadly, despite such camaraderie, Khirdalanli died shortly after this performance. Iman’s source imagery and inspiration for this painting was drawn from a video of “Biləsən, Şai”posted on YouTube, where the arrangement of figures in the performance mirrored Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Motivated to capture the monumentality of this performance, Iman worked on a large-scale canvas using a loose layering, dripping, splattering of paint and a predominantly monochrome colour palette of deep blues. Combined, the emotional effect is sombre but also contains elements of defiance and the celebration of a life of a performer who inspired many. This significant painting demonstrates Iman’s ability to lay bare the interconnectedness of daily life, contemporary popular culture, religion, and tradition.

Ulviyya Iman (b. 2007) is a multidisciplinary artist from Azerbaijan currently based in Prague, Czech Republic. Exploring themes of local daily scenes, she often highlights gender roles in society. Iman garners inspiration from her trips to the regions of Azerbaijan, working both from memory and imagination. In her paintings of bright characters and food, Ulviyya explores the everyday iconography of contemporary society. As an emerging artist, Iman exhibits the potential to make a lasting impact on both the Azerbaijani and global art landscapes. Her work has featured in Art Dubai (2025) a group exhibition Once a Sea, YARAT, Baku (2025) and Her Art In Action, Gazelli Art House, Baku (2024).