S.Mirziyoeva, B.Macron, Z.Mirziyoeva, E.Macron, Sh.Mirziyoev and R.Abdul-Malak at the backdrop of the “Hall of Ambassadors” from the settlement of Afrasiab (mid-7th-early 8th century AD).
During the official go to of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to France, two main exhibitions have been opened: “The Splendours of Uzbekistan’s Oases. At the Crossroads of Caravan Routes” within the Louvre and “The Road to Samarkand. Miracles
of Silk and Gold” on the Arab World Institute.
Both exhibitions are devoted to Uzbekistan’s historical past and tradition. The exhibition within the Louvre covers the 5th-6th centuries BC to the reign of the Timurids, and the Arab World Institute presents reveals of the 19th – mid-20th centuries, in addition to work of the Turkestan avant-garde from the gathering of Uzbekistan state museums.
HOW ALL OF IT STARTED
In October 2018, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid an official go to to France for the primary time. As a part of the cultural program, an tour to the Louvre came about. By that
time, the thought of holding a large-scale exhibition on this museum devoted to the wealthy historic and cultural heritage of Uzbekistan was already taking form, and the Head of the state
warmly supported it.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Emmanuel Macron at the Arab World Institute
It ought to be famous that this was preceded by a number of very vital occasions.
In 2009, archaeologist and researcher Rocco Rante led an archaeological mission in Bukhara in collaboration with the crew of Samarkand Archeology Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. From the Uzbek aspect, it was headed by Jamal Mirzaakhmedov, and later by Abdisabur Raimkulov. In 2011, Rante invited Henri Loyrette, the previous Director of the Louvre, to Uzbekistan. After assessing the out there historic materials, a choice is made to begin planning a potential exhibition, which took on a concrete form in 2017.
Sometime later, already in Samarkand area of Uzbekistan, a distinctive Zoroastrian carved panel was found throughout different excavations, which have been additionally carried out collectively with French specialists. The discover claimed to be a world-class discovery.
Carved charred panel from the settlement of Kafir-kala (7th – 8th centuries AD).
It is assumed that the nation palace of the rulers of pre-Islamic instances (till the 8th century) was situated at the excavation web site. A entrance room was found within the citadel, most of which was occupied by a three-tiered podium, the place, based on scientists, the ruler sat on the throne, and the panel simply adorned the partitions of the corridor.
Carved charred panel from the settlement of Kafir-kala (7th-8th centuries AD).
Along with these, different distinctive finds have been found. It turned clear that Uzbekistan would be capable of present the world one thing very worthwhile from a historic and cultural viewpoint.
The Art and Culture Development Foundation of Uzbekistan and the Louvre Museum signed a Partnership Agreement, and preparatory work started, which was led by the Deputy Chairperson of the Council of the Foundation Saida Mirziyoyeva.
Laurence de Cars President of the Louvre Museum and Gayane Umerova Executive Director Foundation for the Development of Culture and Art under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan
The exhibition on the Louvre was deliberate to be held in 2020-2021, however COVID-19 disrupted these plans, and it needed to be postponed to 2022. During this era, it turned clear that it can be logical to current an tour not solely into the traditional historical past of Uzbekistan, ending with the 15th century, however additionally to inform in regards to the following intervals as much as trendy instances, which would make this work complete and full. Based on this, it was determined to carry two exhibitions: one on the Louvre, and the second on the Arab World Institute.
Jacques Lang President of the Arab World Institute and Gayane Umerova, Executive Director of the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Art under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan
FOUR-YEAR JOURNEY
A particular fee was created to organize each exhibitions. It was led by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which included the Director of the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan and mission guide Shokir Pidayev, Director of the Center for Islamic Civilization Shoazim Minovarov, ministers, scientists, archaeologists, in addition to administrators and curators of museums from which it was deliberate to borrow reveals.
Shokir Pidaev – Director of the Institute of Art Studies at the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. Press tour for the leading French media. Tashkent, Institute of Art Studies, May 2022.
Major restoration work started. More than 70 objects have been restored particularly for the exhibition since 2018.
Rocco Rante, Gayane Umerova.
A crew was concerned within the mission, together with greater than 40 restorers in paper, wooden, steel, sculpture, glass and wall portray from France and Uzbekistan, together with Marina Reutova, Kamoliddin Mahkamov, Shukhrat Pulatov, Christine Parisel, Olivier Tavoso, Delphine Lefebvre, Geraldine Frey, Axel Delau, Anne Liege, and others.
Restoration work
Particularly tough and fascinating was the restoration and conservation of the Kattalangar Quran pages of the 8th century. This Quran has large non secular significance for Islam and Muslims and is among the values that represent the cultural and historic heritage of all mankind.
The Great Langar Koran, the 8th century.
The restoration work lasted three years and was made potential largely due to the private assist of Saida Mirziyoyeva, who then held the place of Deputy Director of the Agency for Information and Mass Communications. Initially, it was deliberate to restore solely 2 pages, and it was Saida Shavkatovna who insisted on restoring all 13 pages.
2019, Saida Mirziyoyeva studies the state of the Koran.
The National Library of Uzbekistan named after Alisher Navoi, the Art and Culture Development Foundation beneath the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan have been concerned within the restoration of this distinctive doc. The work was carried out by the restorers of the Louvre Museum Axel Delau and Aurelia Streri.
Completion of restoration work.
“The Splendours of Uzbekistan’s Oases. At the Crossroads of Caravan Routes”
The exhibition “The Splendours of Uzbekistan’s Oases. At the Crossroads of Caravan Routes” covers the interval from the 5th-6th centuries BC to the period of the Timurids, telling in regards to the historical past of the Great Silk Road, which handed by the southern a part of present-day Uzbekistan.
A masterpiece of art of the Temurids Era – a wooden door from the Gur Emir Mausoleum is among the exhibits.
It presents objects of monumental artwork, wall work, carved particulars of palaces, objects of arts and crafts, and others. The exhibition contains 169 museum reveals, particularly 138 objects from 16 museums of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in addition to 31 reveals from the world’s main museums.
Among them are the Louvre Museum, the National Library of France, the British Museum and the British Library, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Cabinet of Medals in Paris, the Guimet Museum and the Languages and Civilizations University Library (BULAC), the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
The curators of the exhibition are Yannick Lintz and Rocco Rante.
Yannick Lintz, Curator of the Uzbekistan Exhibition at the Louvre As Saida Mirziyoyeva famous, Uzbekistan has all the time been a spot of cultural change and commerce, and the Great Silk Road has develop into, in a way, the primary international financial will present a multifaceted view of the tradition of varied civilizations that existed on the territory of present-day Uzbekistan, in addition to present the nation’s distinctive heritage within the international cultural context, which is one in all our principal duties.
In flip, Rocco Rante famous that the exhibition has two principal objectives. First, it’s to indicate the civilization and tradition of Central Asia in Europe. And Paris is the perfect place for this, as a result of right here is among the main museums on the planet – the Louvre.
The second objective is to indicate the shut historic connection between Central Asia and Europe. After all, these two areas have lots of widespread historic moments.
In addition, the exhibition has an academic that means for European and French societies to get to know Central Asia higher. After all, its tradition has an vital place in human civilization and is wealthy in vital historic figures.
Rante additionally famous that the exhibition “The Splendours of Uzbekistan’s Oases. At the Crossroads of Caravan Routes” within the Louvre will develop into distinctive over the following 30-40 years.
Rocco Rante
In addition to the Katta Langar Quran, particularly distinctive reveals embrace a charred wood panel from the settlement of Kafir-Kala, a statue of Buddha “Garland-bearer” (1st century BC – 1st century AD), the pinnacle of a Kushan prince from the settlement of Dalverzin-Tepe (1st-2nd centuries), the well-known wall portray of the 7th century, depicting a looking scene, present in the traditional settlement of Varakhsha in Bukhara area, a duplicate of the guide of Marco Polo of the 14th century about his wanderings in Asia.
Head of a Kushan Prince (I-II centuries AD). Found during excavations near Dalverzintepa in 1973. A headdress in a conical-pointed shape, decorated with hanging gold ornaments, emphasizes his status.
“Hall of Ambassadors” from the settlement of Afrasiab (mid 7th – early 8th century AD). In 1965, in the settlement of Afrasiab in Samarkand, archaeologists discovered a palace complex with wall paintings dating back to the pre-Arab period.
At the identical time, considering that many archaeological discoveries, in addition to vital restoration work, have been remodeled the previous 3 years, a part of the exposition will likely be proven to the general public for the primary time.
Qur’an from Katta Langar (8th century). The manuscript was written on parchment in one of the oldest types of Arabic writing – Kufi and Hijazi handwriting. The average page size is 53×35 sm. For a long time, the Koran was kept in the Langar-Ota Mosque of the Kamashi District of the Kashkadarya Region, Uzbekistan.
The Dalverzin treasure (1st century AD) was found in 1972. Weight is 35 kg. It consists of 115 gold items, which include a necklace adorned with precious stones (turquoise, almandine), a pectoral with an intaglio gem, which depicts the head ofHercules, bracelets with thickened ends, earrings with thin wire, a plaque (metal a plate with an engraved inscription) with a wriggling eared beast, long rectangular ingots with inscriptions Kharoshtha (a kind of ancient Indian writing) and many disc ingots of oval and irregular shape.
The head of Dakshit, considered the God of Evil, rooted in a skull (7th century AD) Unbaked clay sculpture found during excavations of a Buddhist temple of the 7th century in ancient Kuva, Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan.
“THE ROAD TO SAMARKAND. MIRACLES OF SILK AND GOLD”
The exposition of this exhibition, consisting of greater than 300 reveals from 9 museums of the Republic of Uzbekistan, contains objects of utilized artwork, that are vital components of Uzbek identification and variety.
Visitors can develop into acquainted with samples of nationwide textiles, costumes, hats, jewellery of the 19th – mid-20th centuries, gold-embroidered chapans of the period of the Bukhara Emirate, carpets and way more, made in varied methods.
The exhibition additionally presents 23 work, together with works of the Turkestan avant-garde from the gathering of the State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan named after I. V. Savitsky in Nukus. Between 1917 and 1932, Turkestan was a significantly widespread geographical vacation spot amongst Russian avant-garde artists. At the time when Matisse was discovering Morocco, avant-garde artists in the hunt for “local color” discovered for themselves a novel supply of inspiration within the richness of landscapes, kinds and faces of Central Asia.
One of probably the most fascinating reveals right here is usually a tobelik, a standard headdress of a Karakalpak lady in the 17th-18th centuries. Tobelik has a cylindrical form, assembled from silver plates with coral and turquoise inserts. It is believed that it served as an extra ornament, a sort of crown, which was worn on a saukele – a marriage headdress.
Kimesheks are additionally introduced right here. This can be a ladies’s nationwide headdress. Kimeshek fully covers the head, whereas the face stays open. It seems to be like a hood. Married ladies wore kimesheks of particular colours, thereby emphasizing their standing.
Undoubtedly, the eye of holiday makers will likely be attracted by arebeks – small nostril rings. They have been fabricated from gold and embellished with spiral curls, small turquoise and coral beads.
Arebeks have been worn on the precise wing of the nostril by younger Karakalpak ladies, and these decorations will not be discovered anyplace else on the territory of Uzbekistan. If you draw parallels, they are often acknowledged as an analog of recent piercing.
Among the chosen work are work by Ural Tansikbayev, Victor Ufimtsev, Nadejda Kashina. There are work by Alexander Volkov, Alexei Isupov and others. Despite the distinctive fashion of writing every of them, all of the work are impressed and united by one theme – the East and its shade. So, having seen, for instance, the image of Nikolai Karakhan “Teahouse close to the home beneath the elms”, the viewer can instantly perceive how individuals of that time dressed and the way they rested, their lifestyle, and the surrounding nature.
A really fascinating portray by Victor Ufimtsev “Oriental Motif”. A local of Siberia, the artist, as he turned acquainted with Central Asia, regularly mastered the standard artwork of Islam. This work is a free modernist stylization of a Muslim miniature, which reproduces the basic banquet scene. The portray depicts two ladies at relaxation, in the direction of which a person with a vessel is transferring. It appears that the Western viewer, taking a look at this canvas, will likely be ready to understand how excessive the respect for ladies has all the time been within the East.
In basic, it ought to be famous that your entire assortment as a entire, introduced by the Savitsky Museum, is designed to disclose all the variety, originality and appeal of oriental tradition and Uzbekistan particularly. And it is vitally symbolic that it is going to be introduced on the Arab World Institute, situated within the well-known European capital. This as soon as once more proves that the West and the East can completely coexist and enrich one another.
One of the curators of the exhibition, the pinnacle of the French publishing home Assouline Publishing, Yaffa Assouline, and photographer Laziz Hamani, supplied nice help in creating the exposition. For three years they traveled throughout the area to search and accumulate supplies for publications about Uzbekistan. The exhibition “The Road to Samarkand. Miracles of Silk and Gold” turned a residing illustration of those books.
Most of the reveals introduced on the exhibition have by no means left Uzbekistan. But even those that are effectively acquainted with, for instance, chapans, suzani, and different works introduced within the nation’s museums, will see them in a brand new gentle and perspective – in 3D, and that is an unprecedented expertise.
Another worthwhile a part of the exhibition is that each one areas of Uzbekistan are introduced without delay with their variations, faculties, methods for manufacturing merchandise.
At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, the ballet efficiency “Lazgi – Dance of Soul and Love” by the German choreographer Raimondo Rebeck was introduced. The Khorezmian Lazgi dance is greater than 3000 years previous. It is included on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.
ON A ULTIMATE WORD
The territory coated by the Silk Road accommodates traces and treasures of an enormous variety of civilizations and ethnic teams representing all kinds of cultures and methods of life. This is a place of intersection of many commerce routes, change between East and West, nomadic and sedentary methods of life, synthesis of cultures of varied civilizations – Iranian, Hellenistic, Turkic, Chinese, Indian, Arab Muslim, Mongolian, and others.
The exhibitions introduced by Uzbekistan in Paris will enable hundreds of thousands of individuals from all around the world to see the artifacts of this nice historical past with their very own eyes.
Experts consider that these exhibitions will likely be very efficient, as a result of cooperation in a tradition in a short time acquaints the nation and folks with the world. 60 million vacationers go to France a year. More than 10 million individuals go to the Louvre. The undeniable fact that Uzbekistan will likely be represented at such a large-scale exhibition will make the nation extra recognizable, enhance curiosity in it, its tradition and its historical past. This will function an awesome commercial for the event of tourism. The higher individuals get to know one another by exhibitions, mutual communication, the stronger mutual belief. And belief opens the door to different cooperation areas.