At first glance, the sentence “Love Me, Love Me Not” reminds us of a concept based on romance or the famous game that entails plucking the petals of a flower to determine in a rather naive and playful fashion whether the object of our affection loves us or not... Yet upon dissection, several levels of interpretation emerge from this expression involving ideas of layers, duality, dynamics of recurrence and more importantly: aspects of complexity based on vacillating relationships. Located at a crossroads between three major historical empires, the evolution of Azerbaijan is intricate, at times confusing, yet fascinating. A hybrid of all the various influences that have surrounded it over time it represents a nexus between its neighbours, as well as an indication of how time and the reading of recent history may have affected the perception of an entire region.

Featuring recent work by 17 artists from Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Georgia and the collective Slavs and Tatars, Love Me, Love Me Not produced and supported by YARAT, a non-profit contemporary art organisation based in Baku. Exhibition will seek to remind viewers that there are multiple cultural links to be explored and will ultimately question how we each perceive history and geography. Each piece in this exhibition has a role of giving the viewers at least one new perspective on the nations represented in this pavilion, with the mere intent to give a better understanding of the area that is being covered. Showcasing work by these artists in a single exhibition aims to, ultimately, question how we each perceive history and geography. Art enables dialogue and the Venice Biennale has proven to be the best arena for cultural exchange.

Faig Ahmed takes the motifs found in Azerbaijani carpets as a starting point for his work, reinterpreting these to underline the rapid shift Azerbaijan is experiencing towards modernity. His thread installation Embroidery space (2012) deconstructs the notions of craft inherent to the traditional process of weaving, extending the usual two-dimensional plane of the finished carpet across a three-dimensional space.