The Sixth Congress of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan "The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan as the Foundation of a New Renaissance"

The Sixth Congress "The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan as the Foundation of a New Renaissance" was held in Samarkand on July 22-24, 2022. The key event of the Congress was the presentation of ten new volumes of book-albums of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections series - from the 50th to the 60th volumes.

More than 250 leading orientalists from 40 countries of the world - 33 directors of well-known international museums, 15 directors of national museums, over 15 academicians, over 20 professors, over 20 doctors of sciences - became participants in the congress. Among the participants are the head of the UNESCO office in Uzbekistan, Sarah Noshadi; Executive Director of the Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, Sali Shahsivari; Chairman of the Central Asia and Caucasus Institute, Frederick Starr; President of the Turkish Academy of Sciences, Muzaffer Shaker; Director General of the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture, Mahmud Erol Kilic; President of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan Murat Jumataev; Mueller & Schindler President Charlotte Kramer and others.

The Vice Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan Aziz Abdukhakimov took part in the online format in the Congress; ICCN UNESCO Secretary General Julio Blasco; and UNESCO Deputy Director-General for Culture, Ernesto Renato Ottone Ramirez.

On July 22, Samarkand hosted the conference "The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the Focus of Modern Science."

On July 22, the World Society presented a book of memoirs about Edvard Rtveladze.

The highlights of the Congress were round tables:

• Legacy that unites Peoples: Central Asia and Azerbaijan

• New Directions for the World Society: Plans and Perspectives

• National Museums and Collections in the Focus of Attention of the World Society

• Media and Preservation of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan.

At the opening of the international scientific conference «The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the Focus of Modern Science", a special employee of the Miho Museum (Japan) Sergey Lapteff presented a book about Academician Edvard Rtveladze and proposed to honor the memory of the scholar with annual scientific readings.

The speakers touched on the amazing secrets of the past and tried to answer questions about how the legendary glazed ceramics of Uzbekistan was originated, what messages to humanity are encrypted in the inscriptions on the monuments of the Baburids in India, what unique exhibits of Uzbekistan art are kept in faraway Sweden, how many Caspian Seas the cartographic space can accommodate, where the rarest Korans are kept in Uzbekistan, which the entire scientific world is hunting for, how horses were dressed up in Central Asia several centuries ago, and much more.

Chairman and expert of the Institute of Central Asia and the Caucasus, Frederick Starr, presented for the first time a pilot version of his new book "Rivals in the Mind, 1000 CE: How Biruni and Ibn Sina created their own Renaissance."

At the Sixth Congress, a number of sensational statements by orientalists about the unique artifacts of Uzbekistan, kept in foreign collections, were made. E.g., Heba Nayel, Chief Curator of the Museum of Islamic Art in Malaysia, spoke about the only Sogdian robe in the world. It is in this museum that this unique artifact is kept.

Also at the Congress, for the first time, a photo of the gifts of the Uzbek khans to the emperors of Russia was shown. This is a collection of weapons, horse harness, jewelry, suzani - hand-embroidered decorative textiles, various fabrics, as well as clothes and accessories. Most of the collection is kept in the Hermitage storerooms.

Another sensation of the congress was the news that a gold collection of the Emir of Bukhara was discovered in the Giuseppe Tucci National Museum of Oriental Art. The unique collection includes jewelry from the Kushan period, including rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and gold bars.

The most famous work of Khoja Yassavi Diwan-i hikmet (The Book of Wisdom), which the Turkic-speaking peoples called the Koran of the Turks, was presented. Bakytgul Kulzhanova, professor of the department of the Kazakh National University named after al-Farabi, spoke about it.

Francis Richard, Ex-Director of the Department of Islamic Art of the Louvre, spoke about the manuscript masterpieces of Uzbekistan and Central Asia, kept in museums and libraries in France. The report of the orientalist, specialist of the British Museum, Dr. Emek Usenmez, was devoted to the lifetime manuscripts of the great Alisher Navoi, kept in the British Museum.

The Executive Director of the Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, Sali Shahsivari, made a presentation on the topic “the Cultural Heritage as a Factor of Sustainable Development and Interethnic Dialogue”. Director of the Khuda Bakhsh Library, Shaesta Bedar (India) spoke about the unique samples of the cultural legacy of Uzbekistan kept in Indian collections.

Also, within the framework of the Congress, a presentation of two unique books on the art of Uzbekistan took place. These are deluxe editions On the Banks of the Aral and the Amu. Art of the Karakalpaks and Ornamental Patterns: Aesthetics, Magic, Meaning.

At the closing ceremony of the Sixth Congress, the traditional appeal of the members of the World Society for the Preservation, Study and Popularization of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan to the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev was adopted. The authors of the books were presented with memorable gifts and certificates for new volumes of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections series.

As part of the round table on Uzbek cinema, promo videos and videos from the filming of films about Avicenna, Marco Polo and Mirzo Ulugh Beg were presented. The material was presented by the director of the film Andrey Vyazigin, the director of the Pinakothek Brera and the Bridense Library James Bradburn, and the general producer of the TV Company VIKO Victoria Petrosyants. The film is about the life of Marco Polo in Venice and his travels, including to the cities of modern Uzbekistan.

During the Congress, memorandums of cooperation were also signed with a number of international organizations (UNESCO, IRCICA, ICESCO, and Al-Furqan Foundation).

The key event of the Congress was the presentation of ten new volumes of books-albums of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections series (51-60 volumes). 

Thus, the collection of illustrated books, on which more than 350 scholars from more than 25 countries, 100 libraries and museums of world renown have worked, has already reached 60 volumes.

More than 5,000 illustrated books-albums of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections series were donated to museums, libraries, embassies and consulates of Uzbekistan in more than 40 countries of the world, more than 10,000 volumes were received by educational secondary specialized and higher institutions of Uzbekistan. 

Thus, the collection of illustrated books has already reached 60 volumes. All volumes are presented on our website in PDF format, and you can familiarize yourself with them.

In addition to the 60 volumes of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections series, a series of book-albums on the epigraphy of Uzbekistan, a series of deluxe editions and a series of facsimile editions were published, which presented such unique manuscripts as the Katta Largan Koran, Husayn Baiqara’s Diwan and others.