The next 15 books-albums from the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections series were presented within the framework of the Cultural Legacy Week held these days in several cities across the country. The editorial committee headed by Academician Akmal Saidov and featuring well-known orientalists worked on the compilation of the unique collection. Edward Rtveladze, Academician from the Academies of Sciences of Uzbekistan and Georgia, is the research director of the project, while its general manager is Firdavs Abdukhalikov, Honored Journalist of Uzbekistan and Chairman of the Board of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan.
The new 15 books complemented the previously published 35 albums about the culture of Uzbekistan. According to the creators of the series, many facts about works of art, manuscripts and their authors were published for the first time and became a real discovery. One of the volumes is dedicated to historical photographs of Uzbekistan. It presents a collection of photographs taken in the 19th and early 20th centuries and depicting cities and architectural monuments, rulers and scenes from everyday life, which are kept in the Russian Ethnographic Museum, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts and the Institute of the History of Material Culture under the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Geographical Society and the Library of Congress in Washington.
Another volume contains illustrated works by Alisher Navoi kept in various collections across the world – the originals of lifetime manuscripts decorated with unique miniatures in gold, which are now stored in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, the British Library in London, the Bodleian Library in Oxford and the National Library of France in Paris.
In addition, individual volumes are dedicated to the traditional costumes of different historical periods and regions and unique examples of oriental calligraphy and miniature. One of the books focuses on the collections of Uzbek art in Poland and the UK. For example, the famous British Museum keeps several unique exhibits, such as the Amu Darya gold treasure (the Oxus treasure) and the jade bowl of Mirzo Ulugbek. The project plans to publish a multi-volume catalog of all archaeological sites on the territory of Uzbekistan with a single map. Work is underway on illustrated almanacs for each region of Uzbekistan and on a book about ancient editions of the Koran.
In cooperation with the famous Austrian publishing house Müller & Schindler, the project is preparing to release a new facsimile album, which includes famous miniatures from folios and manuscripts by classics of Uzbek literature, such as Abdurahman Jami, Alisher Navoi, Jalaladdin Rumi, Badriddin Hiloli, as well as scientific works by Al Khorezmi, Al Sufi, Abu Rayhan Biruni and Avicenna. A series of books about Uzbek heritage will be added to the Collection of the State Hermitage Museum.
According to the Hermitage researcher Larisa Kulakova, the three-volume edition will include exhibits from the museum created during the Uzbek khanates (between the 16th and early 20th centuries).
The authors of the project Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan will prepare a series of books of three volumes to be included in the State Hermitage Collection edition. The first two volumes have already been published. The Hermitage researcher Larisa Kulakova told what the third book-album would be dedicated to.
According to the expert, it will cover monuments from the museum collection created during the Uzbek khanates (from the 16th to the early 20th centuries). The photo book will display weaponry and horse equipment, as well as jewelry, architectural decor, numismatic monuments and artifacts made of precious materials, ceramics, metal and textiles.
