ON THE SIDES OF THE ARAL SEA AND THE AMU. THE ART OF THE KARAKALPAKS The autonomous republic within Uzbekistan, Karakalpakstan is a truly unique land whose people have created an original culture and art, which the whole world admires today. The originality of this art has for centuries been a reflection of the local landscape, where deserts are combined with salt marshes, steppes, rare water arteries with tugai thickets. Getting acquainted with Karakalpakstan, one might think that the local landscape has not changed over the past millennia. However, this impression is deceptive. Deserts were once oases, steppes were fertile fields, drying rivers were full-flowing ... Landscape transformations also took place during the 20th century, when the region faced the tragedy of the Aral Sea drying up. Changes in nature entail changes in traditional culture, which, more than ever, needs to be carefully preserved. This album is our contribution to the popularization of the amazing artistic heritage of the Karakalpaks, which, despite the challenges of the times, must be preserved for future generations. The reader will be able to get acquainted with the traditional costume and jewelry of the Karakalpak bride, find out why her image as a whole is associated with the image of the ancient Amazons - woman warriors of the Great Steppe. We will also look into the Karakalpak yurt to appreciate the carpets and other textile products characterizing the people’s life. The album was the result of cooperation between the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections project and the I.V. Savitsky State Museum of Arts (Nukus) and a married couple - the famous Art Historian Irina Bogoslovskaya and Adam Smith Albion, who provided their own collection of Karakalpak art for publication. All material is divided into thematic sections, according to certain types of products. These are textiles, jewelry, leather goods. Introductory speech: Firdavs Abdukhalikov, author and project manager of CLU. Sections authors: Tigran Mkrtychev, Director of the I.V. Savitsky State Museum of Arts, Art Historians Irina Bogoslovskaya, Elmira Gyul, Zafara Aliyeva.