From Yunus Emre to Zeynalabdin Taghiyev: Talk & Screening

Booking for this event is through the Yunus Emre Institute. Click here to book your free place

How can poetry and humanist thought travel across centuries, languages and borders, and still shape how communities understand themselves today?

This special conference brings together scholars, cultural experts and analysts to explore the enduring legacy of Yunus Emre, the 13th-century Turkish poet and Sufi mystic whose verses on love, humanity and spiritual understanding still resonate across cultures. Speakers will look at how his humanist thought influenced intellectual and enlightenment traditions in Azerbaijan and across the wider Turkic world, with a focus on cultural continuity, identity and the connections between regions.

Speakers:
• Zohra Aliyeva (Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences)
• Farida Seyidova (Mevlana Centre, Baku)
• Farhad Jabbarov (Z. Taghiyev Museum, Baku)
• Neil Watson (Journalist and Political Analyst)

The programme features a series of 15-minute presentations, followed by a panel discussion.

Special film screening: Arshin Mal Alan (The Cloth Peddler)
1945, directed by Rza Tahmasib, approx. 95 minutes, colourised and restored

After the conference, guests are invited to a screening of this much-loved Azerbaijani musical romantic comedy, based on the 1913 operetta by composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli and starring the legendary tenor Rashid Behbudov. Set in late 19th-century Azerbaijan, it follows a young merchant who disguises himself as a travelling cloth seller so he can find a wife for love rather than through an arranged marriage. Full of humour, romance and memorable songs, it is a landmark of Azerbaijani cinema.

Date: Tuesday 13th October 2026
Time: 7:00pm
Entry: Free, booking required through the Yunus Emre Institute website
Venue: Yunus Emre Institute, 10 Maple Street, London W1T 5HA (nearest stations: Warren Street and Goodge Street)

This event is part of the Muslim LitFest. Find our full programme of events here: buytickets.at/muslimlitfestlondon26

THIS EVENT IS SPONSORED BY THE YUNUS EMRE INSTITUTE