The Second Congress of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan

In 2018, within the framework of the Second International Congress, the World Society for the Preservation, Study and Promotion of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan was established and its charter was approved.

On June 6-8, 2018, the Second International Congress "The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan: the Way between Peoples and Countries" was held in St. Petersburg.

The Second International Congress brought together more than 350 participants from 40 countries of the world such as heads and scholars of scientific and cultural institutions, state and public organizations, representatives of the diplomatic corps, and experts. Among them are the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Russian Federation Bakhrom Ashrafkhanov; Deputy Chairman of the St. Petersburg Committee for External Relations Svetlana Zhurkina; Director of the UNESCO Cluster Office (Central Asia) Krista Pikkat; director of the Center for Research on Cultural Property of Uzbekistan located abroad under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan Roik Bakhodirov; President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art Elena Titova; Director of the Roerich Museum, Deputy Director of the State Museum of Oriental Art Tigran Mkrtychev; Director of the Russian Ethnographic Museum Vladimir Grusman; Director of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after Peter the Great (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrey Golovnev; President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeev and others.

The Second Congress included five scientific sections, presentation of 15 volumes of books-albums of the series “The Art of Mawarannahr in the Collection of the State Hermitage”. Documentary films shot in the collections of German museums, the collections of the State Museum of the History of Religions, the State Hermitage, the State Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan, and museums in Spain, Canada and the USA were also presented.

At the opening of the exhibitions “Masterpieces of Artistic Textiles of Uzbekistan”, “Works by Alisher Navoi in Manuscripts of the 15th-19th centuries”, and “Manuscript Book of Samarkand, Bukhara, Kokand and Khiva of the 15th-19th centuries.” All museums were presented with gift sets of 13 books-albums of the Architectural Epigraphy of Uzbekistan series - the result of ten years of work of republican scholars, photographers and publishers. Thirteen volumes contain photographs and translations of inscriptions on the walls of fortresses, monuments and tombstones from all regions of the country - quotations from the Koran, poetic texts, information about the creators and dates of construction of monuments. On such a scale, epigraphy is studied for the first time in the world.

On June 6, within the framework of the Second International Congress, the Library of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Kunstkamera) hosted an author's lecture-presentation "Silk and Gold of Bukhara: Embassy Gifts of the Emirs of Bukhara in the Collection of the MAE RAS".

On June 7, the State Museum of the History of Religion hosted the exhibition “Uzbekistan. At the Crossroads of Cultures” within the framework of the large-scale international publishing project “The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections”.

On June 7, in the framework of the second international congress "The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan: the Way to Dialogue between Peoples and Countries", the exhibition "Works by Alisher Navoi in Manuscripts of the 15th - 19th centuries" was held at the Russian National Library.

On June 7, the unique gold-embroidered robe of the Emir of Bukhara was exhibited at the St. Petersburg State Museum of the History of Religion (SMHR).

The oldest manuscript of the Koran, survived to this day, which is believed to be stained with the blood of the third caliph, Uthman, was exhibited during the holy month of Ramadan at an exhibition at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences as part of the Second Congress "The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan: the Way to Dialogue between Peoples and Countries".

Following the results of the second day of the international congress "The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan: the Way to Dialogue between Peoples and Countries”, the participants adopted an open appeal to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in which they highly appreciated the attention he paid to the development of science and culture, the preservation of the cultural legacy of Uzbekistan, and expressed readiness for all-round support for the implementation of projects initiated by President Mirziyoyev in this area. 

As a result, a resolution was adopted; it outlines the goals and objectives of the established society, including the establishment of the Academic Council under the society, headed by Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan Edvard Rtveladze.