Masterpieces of Uzbekistan that conquered the world

In the last six years, the word "for the first time" has often been used in Uzbekistan. The country is changing before our eyes, especially it is felt in urban planning, artistic culture, in relation to historical heritage. Uzbekistan has opened up to the world, and the world is also opening its doors to initiatives emanating from our country, which have begun to be implemented in a variety of fields. 

The Louvre is one of the largest museums on the planet, which is visited by about ten million tourists a year. It is a landmark not only of France, but also of the whole world, as it presents the art of various countries, epochs and cultures. His collection includes masterpieces, works of brilliant masters, of which the whole world is proud. The Louvre is a symbol of cultural diversity, high spiritual and aesthetic values, the flight of creative genius, as well as recognition by the wide international community of a high level of cultural achievements. There was a time when it was impossible to imagine that masterpieces of Uzbek art would be exhibited in its halls. It was possible to dream about this time. And it came.
The triumphant expositions of the past year were the exhibitions "Treasures of the oases of Uzbekistan. At the intersection of the caravan routes" in the Louvre and "The Road to Samarkand. Wonders of Silk and Gold" at the Institute of the Arab World in Paris. They were organized by the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Art under the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan together with the curators of the Louvre, who have been preparing for this grandiose event for four years. A huge number of people participated in the preparation: the leadership of the country and the Council of the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Art, researchers, archaeologists, curators, restorers, museum directors. Since 2017, more than 70 works of art have been restored by French and Uzbek specialists. 
The exhibitions that took place are not only a demonstration of the creative genius of artists and craftsmen who have been working on the territory of Uzbekistan for centuries and millennia. They presented the new Uzbekistan with its policy based on understanding the humanistic values of the past in determining the strategy of the future. 
The language of art does not require translation, it is understandable to everyone. The exhibitions of Uzbek art in Paris presented different historical stages in the development of the artistic culture of Central Asia, reflecting the processes of formation of ancient centers of civilization and culture, features of the natural landscape, historical changes, ethno-cultural ties, religious cults. Since ancient times, the territory of Uzbekistan has been an area of intersection of cultures of the Caucasus, the Near Asian region, China, Siberia, the Great Steppe, which left an imprint on the development of art and revealed commonality with other geographical areas. The main thing is that through unique exhibits, visitors have the opportunity to get acquainted with the worldview and artistic picture of the world, which in their works have been transmitted for many centuries and millennia by creators, creators, representatives of different ethnic groups who lived on our fertile land. 
The Louvre presents 138 unique objects covering the period from the VI — V centuries BC to the Temurid era. There is a lot to say about each exhibit presented. For example, a unique work is a bracelet with a horseshoe-shaped bow (II millennium BC), which turns into a relief image of two spotted venomous snakes facing each other. It is distinguished by a special artistic perfection both in technical execution with the use of inlay made of expensive stones, and figurative expression. The bracelet most likely served as a talisman and was associated with a female deity, the idea of fertility and immortality. 
The ancient period became a bright and significant stage in the history of the artistic culture of Uzbekistan, which was reflected in the works of decorative and applied art. The art of this period synthesized local artistic traditions with ancient, Indo-Buddhist, steppe. This was explained by religious tolerance, loyalty, which in turn was due to the changing political situation, the entry of historical regions of Uzbekistan into various state entities. During this period, the art of Uzbekistan rose to an incredibly high artistic level, many of its unique samples entered the world treasury. 
For example, the collection of the Dalverzinsky treasure, found in 1972, dating back to the I century AD, gives an idea of the artistic culture of Kushan Bactria. The treasure consists of 115 gold objects, which include a necklace decorated with precious stones (turquoise, almandine), a pectoral (breast ornament) with an intaglio gem, where the head of Hercules is depicted, bracelets with thickened ends, earrings with thin wire, a plaque (a metal plate with an embossed inscription) with a writhing eared beast, long rectangular ingots with inscriptions of kharoshthi (a kind of ancient Indian script), many disk ingots of oval and irregular shape. 34 items from the Dalverzinsky treasure are on display at the exhibition. They are distinguished by a high level of technological and artistic skill. Special attention at the exhibition was paid to the monuments of Buddhist art. The exhibits provide an opportunity to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the culture of Sogd, Bactria, Khorezm.
For example, the art of the early medieval Sogd is unique, which since the IV century has been distinguished by the level of its economic and cultural development. With the establishment of the power of the Turkic Khaganate, diplomatic, trade, and cultural relations between Sogdians and Turks have noticeably intensified. For example, at the beginning of the IV century, a colony of Samarkand merchants settled in Dunhuang, not far from the Great Wall of China. In the VII — VIII centuries, a whole network of Sogdian settlements was already known in East Turkestan. Such a phenomenon as the "Turkic-Sogdian symbiosis" has appeared in art. The Sogdian art of this period is represented at the exhibition by various types of fine and decorative arts. Special effects are used that immerse the viewer in the historical atmosphere.
A special place at the exhibition is occupied by works of Islamic art. In the IX — XII centuries, an intensive development of a new style of art took place on the territory of Uzbekistan before the Mongol invasion. As noted by the researchers, in the socio-political and cultural fields, this period is characterized by the strengthening of Turkic elements in the local population, as power throughout Central Asia passes into the hands of Turkic dynasties.
The Temurid epoch, whose works are also presented at the exhibition, gave rise to a kind of synthetic style that absorbed the best achievements of its era. It is known that the best craftsmen from Urgench, Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Baghdad, India, Aleppo, Damascus concentrated in Samarkand. After Amir Temur, the reign of his grandson Ulugbek also proved beneficial for the development of science, culture, and art. Even after the death of Amir Temur, when many artisans left for their countries, their creative searches were adopted by local craftsmen and continued in buildings, works of art.
The continuation of the opening of the unique heritage of Uzbekistan was the exhibition "The Road to Samarkand. Wonders of Silk and Gold" at the Institute of the Arab World. It presents exhibits of traditional artistic crafts of the XIX — mid-XX centuries, as well as paintings of the Turkestan avant-garde from the collection of the state museums of Uzbekistan. The decorative and applied art of Uzbekistan of this period is distinguished by a variety of types covering all aspects of everyday life. It is characterized by a variety of materials used, the development of technical techniques and methods of their processing and product design. High skill was based on centuries-old achievements and traditions, careful attitude to heritage. 
For example, gold embroidery — one of the types of handicrafts of Uzbekistan, unlike others that were not widespread during this period, was concentrated in the capitals of the khanates — mainly in Bukhara, in the court workshops of the emir, as well as at the Kokand Khan and in Samarkand. Gold embroidery products were made mainly for the emir and his nobility. The emir decorated himself from a turban and a kulok to galoshes — a figurative hyperbolization of the court style of feudal society. The gold masters were exclusively men. 
The products of gold embroidery were dominated by plant, zoomorphic, ornithomorphic and astral motifs that have long been associated with the fertility of the earth, the fertility of domestic animals, as well as personifying protective forces designed to protect a person from all kinds of misfortunes.
The originality of clothing since ancient times has been determined by natural and climatic and household, age and social conditions and criteria. In the XVIII — XIX centuries, tunic-like wide men's shirts "yakhtak", women's shirts "kuylak", "kurta" were sewn from silk, semi-silk and cotton fabrics dating back to antiquity. 
The Karakalpak decorative and applied art, distinguished by its extraordinary originality, was also presented with dignity. "The breadth and spontaneity of artistic thinking, the variety of decorative forms of ornamental motifs and techniques — all this, combined with the subtlety of color and compositional solutions, captivates the viewer with amazing warmth and harmony," wrote the famous collector and researcher of Karakalpak applied art I. Savitsky. The Karakalpak folk applied art, which has a centuries-old history and original character, really began to be studied only in the twentieth century, special studies appeared, the Karakalpak State Museum of Arts (Nukus) collected a rich collection of samples of Karakalpak applied art, in which the merit of the ardent enthusiast of his craft — the artist and art critic I. Savitsky is great.

The exhibition also featured the Turkestan avant-garde from the I. Savitsky Museum, paintings by leading artists of Uzbekistan. Fine art also demonstrated an equally unique school. There is a European avant-garde, a Russian avant-garde, a Georgian one in the art world, and the Turkestan avant-garde occupies a special place in this series. There is no rebellious spirit, protest in the works of the Central Asian avant-garde. The peculiarity of the Turkestan avant—garde was that it generated the experience, achievements of the Russian avant-garde (and that, in turn, the experience of the European one) with the artistic experience of the traditional culture of the Middle East. The exhibitions in Paris not only demonstrated the rich and unique culture of Uzbekistan, but also became a message to the world about our country, about the reforms that are taking place in our country. They are addressed to visitors, carrying semantic content: "Welcome to the new Uzbekistan!".

Kamola Akilova,
Doctor of Art History, Professor,
Director of the Fine Art Gallery of Uzbekistan (NBU).