(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) During the official visit of the President of
Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to France, two major exhibitions were
opened:“The Splendours of Uzbekistan's Oases. At the Crossroads of
Caravan Routes” in the Louvre and“The Road to Samarkand. Miracles
of Silk and Gold” at the Arab World Institute.
Both exhibitions are dedicated to Uzbekistan's history and
culture. The exhibition in the Louvre covers the
5th-6th centuries BC to the reign of the
Timurids, and the Arab World Institute presents exhibits of the
19th – mid-20th centuries, as well as
paintings of the Turkestan avant-garde from the collection of
Uzbekistan state museums.
How it all began
In October 2018, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid
an official visit to France for the first time. As part of the
cultural program, an excursion to the Louvre took place. By that
time, the idea of holding a large-scale exhibition in this museum
dedicated to the rich historical and cultural heritage of
Uzbekistan was already taking shape, and the Head of the state
warmly supported it.
It should be noted that this was preceded by several very
important events.
In 2009, archaeologist and researcher Rocco Rante led an
archaeological mission in Bukhara in collaboration with the team of
Samarkand Archeology Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the
Republic of Uzbekistan. From the Uzbek side, it was headed by Jamal
Mirzaakhmedov, and later by Abdisabur Raimkulov. In 2011, Rante
invited Henri Loyrette, the former Director of the Louvre, to
Uzbekistan. After assessing the available historical material, a
decision is made to start planning a possible exhibition, which
took on a concrete shape in 2017.
Sometime later, already in Samarkand region of Uzbekistan, a
unique Zoroastrian carved panel was discovered during other
excavations, which were also carried out jointly with French
specialists. The find claimed to be a world-class discovery.
It is assumed that the country palace of the rulers of
pre-Islamic times (until the 8th century) was located at
the excavation site. A front room was discovered in the citadel,
most of which was occupied by a three-tiered podium, where,
according to scientists, the ruler sat on the throne, and the panel
just adorned the walls of the hall.
Along with these, other unique finds were discovered. It became
clear that Uzbekistan would be able to show the world something
very valuable from a historical and cultural point of view.
The Art and Culture Development Foundation of Uzbekistan and the
Louvre Museum signed a Partnership Agreement, and preparatory work
began, which was led by the Deputy Chairperson of the Council of
the Foundation Saida Mirziyoyeva.
The exhibition at the Louvre was planned to be held in
2020-2021, but COVID-19 disrupted these plans, and it had to be
postponed to 2022. During this period, it became clear that it
would be logical to present an excursion not only into the ancient
history of Uzbekistan, ending with the 15th century, but
also to tell about the following periods up to modern times, which
would make this work comprehensive and complete. Based on this, it
was decided to hold two exhibitions: one at the Louvre, and the
second at the Arab World Institute.
Four-year journey
A special commission was created to prepare both 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 project
consultant Shokir Pidayev, Director of the Center for Islamic
Civilization Shoazim Minovarov, ministers, scientists,
archaeologists, as well as directors and curators of museums from
which it was planned to borrow exhibits.
Major restoration work began. More than 70 items have been
restored especially for the exhibition since 2018. A team was
involved in the project, including more than 40 restorers in paper,
wood, metal, sculpture, glass and wall painting from France and
Uzbekistan, including Marina Reutova, Kamoliddin Mahkamov, Shukhrat
Pulatov, Christine Parisel, Olivier Tavoso, Delphine Lefebvre,
Geraldine Frey, Axel Delau, Anne Liege, and others.
Particularly difficult and interesting was the restoration and
conservation of the Kattalangar Quran pages of the 8th
century. This Quran has tremendous religious significance for Islam
and Muslims and is one of the values that constitute the cultural
and historical heritage of all mankind.
The restoration work lasted three years and was made possible
largely thanks to the personal support of Saida Mirziyoyeva, who
then held the position of Deputy Director of the Agency for
Information and Mass Communications. Initially, it was planned to
restore only 2 pages, and it was Saida Shavkatovna who insisted on
restoring all 13 pages.
The National Library of Uzbekistan named after Alisher Navoi,
the Art and Culture Development Foundation under the Ministry of
Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Muslim Board of
Uzbekistan were involved in the restoration of this unique
document. The work was carried out by the restorers of the Louvre
Museum Axel Delau and Aurelia Streri.
“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 period from the
5th-6th centuries BC to the era of the
Timurids, telling about the history of the Great Silk Road, which
passed through the southern part of present-day Uzbekistan. It
presents objects of monumental art, wall paintings, carved details
of palaces, objects of arts and crafts, and others. The exhibition
includes 169 museum exhibits, in particular 138 items from 16
museums of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as 31 exhibits from
the world's leading 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.
As Saida Mirziyoyeva noted, Uzbekistan has always been a place
of cultural exchange and trade, and the Great Silk Road has become,
in a sense, the first global economic project. Covering about two
thousand years, the exhibition at the Louvre will provide a
multifaceted view of the culture of various civilizations that
existed on the territory of present-day Uzbekistan, as well as show
the country's unique heritage in the global cultural context, which
is one of our main tasks.
In turn, Rocco Rante noted that the exhibition has two main
goals. First, it is to show the civilization and culture of Central
Asia in Europe. And Paris is the best place for this, because here
is one of the leading museums in the world – the Louvre.
The second goal is to show the close historical connection
between Central Asia and Europe. After all, these two regions have
a lot of common historical moments.
In addition, the exhibition has an educational meaning for
European and French societies to get to know Central Asia better.
After all, its culture has an important place in human civilization
and is rich in significant historical figures.
Rante also noted that the exhibition“The Splendours of
Uzbekistan's Oases. At the Crossroads of Caravan Routes” in the
Louvre will become unique over the next 30-40 years.
In addition to the Katta Langar Quran, especially unique
exhibits include a charred wooden panel from the settlement of
Kafir-Kala, a statue of Buddha“Garland-bearer” (1st
century BC – 1st century AD), the head of a Kushan
prince from the settlement of Dalverzin-Tepe
(1st-2nd centuries), the famous wall painting
of the 7th century, depicting a hunting scene, found in
the ancient settlement of Varakhsha in Bukhara region, a copy of
the book of Marco Polo of the 14th century about his
wanderings in Asia.
At the same time, taking into account that many archaeological
discoveries, as well as significant restoration work, have been
made over the past 3 years, part of the exposition will be shown to
the public for the first time.
“The Road to Samarkand. Miracles of Silk and
Gold”
The exposition of this exhibition, consisting of more than 300
exhibits from 9 museums of the Republic of Uzbekistan, includes
objects of applied art, which are important elements of Uzbek
identity and diversity.
Visitors can become acquainted with samples of national
textiles, costumes, hats, jewelry of the 19th –
mid-20th centuries, gold-embroidered chapans of
the era of the Bukhara Emirate, carpets and much more, made in
various techniques.
The exhibition also presents 23 paintings, including works of
the Turkestan avant-garde from the collection 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
particularly popular geographical destination among Russian
avant-garde artists. At the time when Matisse was discovering
Morocco, avant-garde artists in search of“local color” found for
themselves a unique source of inspiration in the richness of
landscapes, forms and faces of Central Asia.
One of the most interesting exhibits here can be a
tobelik, a traditional headdress of a Karakalpak woman in
the 17th-18th centuries. Tobelik has
a cylindrical shape, assembled from silver plates with coral and
turquoise inserts. It is believed that it served as an additional
decoration, a kind of crown, which was worn on a saukele –
a wedding headdress.
Kimesheks are also presented here. This is also a
women's national headdress. Kimeshek completely covers the
head, while the face remains open. It looks like a hood. Married
women wore kimesheks of specific colors, thereby
emphasizing their status.
Undoubtedly, the attention of visitors will be attracted by
arebeks – small nose rings. They were made of gold and
decorated with spiral curls, small turquoise and coral beads.
Arebeks were worn on the right wing of the nose by young
Karakalpak women, and these decorations are not found anywhere else
on the territory of Uzbekistan. If you draw parallels, they can be
recognized as an analog of modern piercing.
Among the selected paintings are paintings by Ural Tansikbayev,
Victor Ufimtsev, Nadejda Kashina. There are paintings by Alexander
Volkov, Alexei Isupov and others. Despite the unique style of
writing each of them, all the paintings are inspired and united by
one theme – the East and its color. So, having seen, for example,
the picture of Nikolai Karakhan“Teahouse near the house under the
elms”, the viewer can immediately understand how people of that
time dressed and how they rested, their way of life, and the
surrounding nature.
A very interesting painting by Victor Ufimtsev“Oriental Motif”.
A native of Siberia, the artist, as he became acquainted with
Central Asia, gradually mastered the traditional art of Islam. This
work is a free modernist stylization of a Muslim miniature, which
reproduces the classic banquet scene. The painting depicts two
women at rest, towards which a man with a vessel is moving. It
seems that the Western viewer, looking at this canvas, will be able
to appreciate how high the respect for women has always been in the
East.
In general, it should be noted that the entire collection as a
whole, presented by the Savitsky Museum, is designed to reveal all
the diversity, originality and charm of oriental culture and
Uzbekistan in particular. And it is very symbolic that it will be
presented at the Arab World Institute, located in the famous
European capital. This once again proves that the West and the East
can perfectly coexist and enrich each other.
One of the curators of the exhibition, the head of the French
publishing house Assouline Publishing, Yaffa Assouline, and
photographer Laziz Hamani, provided great assistance in creating
the exposition. For three years they traveled across the region to
search and collect materials for publications about Uzbekistan. The
exhibition“The Road to Samarkand. Miracles of Silk and Gold”
became a living illustration of these books.
Most of the exhibits presented at the exhibition have never left
Uzbekistan. But even those who are well acquainted with, for
example, chapans, suzani, and other works
presented in the country's museums, will see them in a new light
and perspective – in 3D, and this is an unprecedented
experience.
Another valuable part of the exhibition is that all regions of
Uzbekistan are presented at once with their differences, schools,
techniques for manufacturing products.
At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, the ballet
performance“Lazgi – Dance of Soul and Love” by the German
choreographer Raimondo Rebeck was presented. The Khorezmian Lazgi
dance is more than 3000 years old. It is included on the
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
of UNESCO.
On a final note
The territory covered by the Silk Road contains traces and
treasures of a huge number of civilizations and ethnic groups
representing a wide variety of cultures and ways of life. This is a
place of intersection of many trade routes, exchange between East
and West, nomadic and sedentary ways of life, synthesis of cultures
of various civilizations – Iranian, Hellenistic, Turkic, Chinese,
Indian, Arab Muslim, Mongolian, and others.
The exhibitions presented by Uzbekistan in Paris will allow
millions of people from all over the world to see the artifacts of
this great history with their own eyes.
Experts believe that these exhibitions will be very effective,
because cooperation in a culture very quickly acquaints the country
and people with the world. 60 million tourists visit France a year.
More than 10 million people visit the Louvre. The fact that
Uzbekistan will be represented at such a large-scale exhibition
will make the country more recognizable, increase interest in it,
its culture and its history. This will serve as a great
advertisement for the development of tourism. The better people get
to know each other through exhibitions, mutual communication, the
stronger mutual trust. And trust opens the door to other
cooperation areas.