Fire in Stone (Public Art)

“The famous fires of Baku are known throughout the world.”

Alexandre Dumas, The Caucasus, 1859

Mixed media (glass, plastic, erklez glass, metal, LED lighting).

Fire in Stone inaugurates the Public Art Program of the Administration of the State Historical-Architectural Reserve “Icherisheher” and .ART domains, an initiative introducing contemporary artistic practices into the historic environment of Baku’s Old City. As its first commission, the work establishes a dialogue between contemporary artistic practice and the layered histories of Icherisheher.

Located beside the Maiden Tower, Fire in Stone enters one of Baku’s most symbolically charged sites, a place where architecture, history, mythology and collective memory have accumulated over centuries. The origins and original function of the tower remain the subject of multiple interpretations. One of these theories links the tower to the ancient culture of fire, reflecting the centuries-old role of fire in Azerbaijan’s history. This connection continues in traditions that have endured to this day: during Novruz Bayram, fire becomes one of the central symbols, while jumping over a bonfire serves as a ritual of renewal and transition. Historical evidence, local mythology and cultural imagination overlap here, making this site a place continually reinterpreted across generations.

The multidisciplinary artist Medina responds to these layers through a public artwork embedded directly into the ground. Appearing as a luminous fissure breaking through the pavement, Fire in Stone takes the form of a buta, one of the most recognizable motifs in Azerbaijani visual culture. Its curved, flame-like shape creates a connection between the work’s contemporary reinterpretation and a visual language that has appeared for centuries across carpets, textiles and decorative arts. Emerging from the stone as if illuminated from within, the work evokes both fire and an elemental force beneath the city’s surface.

The artwork Fire in Stone creates connection between different temporalities: material presence of the artwork and intangible cultural heritage of Azerbaijan that has endured across centuries through stories and symbols.

This relationship between the visible and invisible continues through an artwork’s augmented reality layer. By activating the work through a QR code, visitors encounter a digital extension of the public art.

As the inaugural work of Icherisheher’s Public Art Program, Fire in Stone also opens a broader conversation about the role of contemporary art within the Old City of Baku. The program creates opportunities for artists to engage with Icherisheher as a living cultural environment, responding to its heritage while introducing new perspectives, encounters and layers of meaning into the public space.