Azerbaijan has been a member of UNESCO for 22 years, and in 1996 a memorandum of cooperation was signed between UNESCO and Azerbaijan since then, relations with this international organization have expanded. As a result of this cooperation, several tangible and intangible cultural monuments of Azerbaijan are included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. Azerbaijan still has many monuments to be included in this list, and probably shortly this list will be enriched with several new cultural monuments of Azerbaijan. In 2022 sericulture and the traditional production of silk for weaving were included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of such countries as Azerbaijan, Turkey, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In sericulture and the traditional production of silk for weaving, farmers care for the silkworms through their entire lifecycle, growing the mulberry trees that provide leaves upon which the worms feed and produce silkworm eggs. The fibres are reeled from the cocoons, spun into silk threads, cleaned and dyed. The threads are then used to create various types of craft products, including fabrics, carpets, rugs and curtains. Silk products are highly valued by all social and cultural classes, and people use them for special occasions such as weddings, funerals and family gatherings. Deeply rooted in the traditions of the Great Silk Road, the practice is an expression of cultural identity and centuries-old traditions. It is also viewed as a symbol of social cohesion, as the silk trade contributed to the exchange of culture and science within and across the countries. According to UNESCO standards, the art of decorating Islamic talismanic shirts has great importance and great potential to be included in the list of UNESCO Cultural Heritage list.
Nizami Museum is one of the important scientific and cultural centers of Azerbaijan and its collection includes several valuable pieces of literature and culture.
One of the most valuable exhibits of the museum is an original shirt of Karabakh ruler Panahali Khan Javanshir. The exhibit is demonstrated in the hall dedicated to the literature and culture of Azerbaijan of the XVI century. The “bulletproof” shirt of Panahali Khan Javanshir, the founder of Karabakh Khanate, dates back same century. The shirt is decorated with verses from the holy “Koran”, and Panahali Khan believed that these verses and this shirt would protect him from evil. Art historians divided such kinds of shirts into four types according to depicted symbols and calligraphic style: Ottoman, Safavid, Mongolian and West African.
Such kinds of shirts are considered valuable examples of Islamic culture and are preserved in the world's famous “Topkapi, Victoria and Albert, the Metropolitan Museum and in the private collection of Naser Khalil.