Resolution of the International Congress
On May 16, festive closing ceremony of the international scientific and cultural congress “Cultural heritage of Uzbekistan – the way to dialogue between nations and countries” took place on the Registan Square in Samarkand.
Acting head of the UNESCO in Uzbekistan Krista Pikkat and Doctor of Historical Sciences, Director of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences Irina Popova read the text of the resolution adopted at the end of the large-scale event. In it, in particular, it said that the project has a huge enlightening and educational significance. Nowadays, when the cultural heritage is attacked, monuments are destroyed, such a conference in Uzbekistan is the way to embark on a united front for the preservation of cultural legacy.
I. International congress “Cultural heritage of Uzbekistan – the way to dialogue between nations and countries” that took place in Tashkent and Samarkand on May 15-16 demonstrated the great interest of the world scholarly community to the rich cultural heritage of Uzbekistan. The historical and cultural monuments of Uzbekistan carefully preserved in museums, libraries and scientific institutions, and studied by the prominent orientalists, historians and archaeologists, cause a deep and genuine interest not only for researchers but also for the general public.
Now that while the ancient cultural monuments in a number of regions of the world are vandalized and destroyed, the congress conducted in Uzbekistan brought together famous scientists from more than 40 countries of the world working in the field of studying and popularizing the richest heritage of the East.
370 participants from 40 countries of the world took part in the work of this scientific forum, including employees of scientific and cultural institutions, state and public organizations, representatives of the diplomatic corps, experts. The work of the congress was widely covered in Uzbek and foreign media (TV channels Vesti 24, NTV, Kultura, Mir, TRT, Reuters, TASS agencies, Xinhua, Anadolu, etc.). 5 academicians, 36 doctors of sciences, 14 professors from Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Germany, Holland, Kazakhstan, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Russia, USA, Turkey, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Japan delivered speeches and messages.
II. The Congress was timed to coincide with the publication of 10 unique book-albums and documentaries dedicated to the collections of monuments of the history and culture of the peoples of Uzbekistan. In separate volumes of the publication there were the collections of the State Museum of the East (Moscow, Russia), the Russian Ethnographic Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia), the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg), the State Historical Museum (Moscow) State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), carpets and embroideries of Uzbekistan stored in Australia, Canada, Russia, USA, works by Alisher Navoi from the Russian National Library, monuments of musical culture of Uzbekistan, carpet weaving art in Uzbekistan. All ten volumes and video films were presented at a special meeting of the congress by their authors.
III. The powerful intellectual level of the outstanding personalities of the Eastern Renaissance who lived and worked on the ancient land of Uzbekistan, has become a solid foundation for the progress of world science, culture and art. The reports of Uzbek and foreign scientists delivered at the congress once again showed the uniqueness and high historical and cultural significance of the art of Uzbekistan for the development of world culture. The participants of the congress, scientists with world names – academicians Karl Baipakov (Kazakhstan) and Shain Mustafayev (Azerbaijan), Ph.D. Irina Popova (Russia), Alexander Naimark (USA), Zuge Ganiti (Japan), Ladan Akbarnia (Great Britain), Catherine Pujole (France) and many others highly appreciated the history, culture and art of Uzbekistan, the Uzbek scientists who made an outstanding contribution to the science – M.E.Masson, G.A.Pugachenkova, L.I.Rempel, Ya.G. Gulyamov, R.Kh. Suleymanov, E.V. Rtveladze. The reports and presentations made during the two days of the congress were dedicated to the outstanding collections of Uzbek art from world collections, the heritage of the Great Silk Road, the book art of Maverannahr and the largest archaeological discoveries.
IV. The project “Cultural heritage of Uzbekistan in the collections of the world” performs an extremely important research and educational function, conducting identification, organization, restoration and publication of the objects of the cultural and historical heritage of Uzbekistan in the format of book-albums in three languages, catalogs, and video versions, creating a clear virtual image of them.
This project is unprecedented and unique, having no analogues in the world bоth in terms of breadth of coverage, and in terms of the level of conducted research and organizational work. In the course of work on it, a large-scale database was created on the monuments of history and culture of the peoples of Uzbekistan stored abroad – in the Russian Federation, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Canada. An agreement was reached to publish book-albums and create documentaries on the collections of the Louvre (France), the British Museum, the Ashmorean Museum and the Bodleian Library in Oxford (Great Britain), the National Museum of India, the National Library of Spain, Topkapi Museum (Turkey), the Miho Museum (Japan).
The project has great potential. It has a great enlightening and educational significance. In our difficult times, it promotes the education of patriotism, opens up a wide panorama of knowledge for the young people about the traditions of their people, and at the same time demonstrates the interconnection and mutual influence of all components of the world culture, makes an invaluable contribution to the development of intercultural dialogue.
V. At the same time, the participants of the Congress consider it necessary to convey to the governments, as well as the leadership of the ministries and cultural institutions of different countries, including Uzbekistan, the request for the creation of additional conditions to ensure access of researchers to the cultural heritage sites. The lack of complete information about museum items and digital catalogs hampers wider study and further popularization of the cultural heritage of Uzbekistan, as well as the development of international cooperation between cultural, scientific and educational institutions of different countries.
VI. At the final meeting, a decision was taken to conduct the Congress “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan” annually, as well as to publish a collection of reports delivered during the congress.
VII. Summarizing the proposals of scientists from different countries and representatives of the scientific community of Uzbekistan, expressed during discussions and debates, the Congress adopted this resolution on the need to create a World Scientific Society to study, preserve and popularize the cultural heritage of Uzbekistan. The participants of this society can be orientalists, archeologists, historians, art historians, collectors, representatives of the media sphere from different countries of the world – all those who are engaged in research and popularization of the cultural heritage of Uzbekistan. The society will be able to organize international events – exhibitions, presentations, cultural forums in museums and scientific centers, storing valuable and large-scale collections of the monuments of cultural heritage of Uzbekistan.
VIII. The participants of the Congress expressed sincere gratitude to the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the government and the people of Uzbekistan for the hospitality, as well as the attention and concern for the advancement of science and culture, the preservation of the cultural heritage of Uzbekistan, and the full support of scientists.
IX. The Expert Council of the World Scientific Society for the Study, Preservation and Promotion of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan includes the organizers and moderators of the scientific sessions of the Congress. The head and the author of the project “Cultural heritage of Uzbekistan in the collections of the world” Firdavs Abdukhalikov is entrusted to generalize the materials and proposals of the participants of the international scientific congress with the further implementation of the stated initiatives.