Ahead of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s forthcoming official visit to the French Republic, a media event has taken place in Paris under the title “Cultural Heritage as a Bridge between Uzbekistan and France”. The occasion attracted more than 60 world-celebrated scholars, including Oriental Studies specialists, from a diversity of nations. Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, also attended the event.
Speaking before those gathered, the official pointed out that he considers the efforts undertaken in Uzbekistan in recent years to preserve the material and spiritual heritage as fundamentally important.
“You are successfully working to show the world that Uzbekistan’s richest cultural heritage is stored not only in your country, but also throughout the world, in famed museums of Europe and the US as well as in other nations. I believe this rather serious attitude in Uzbekistan to this issue – through research, demonstration, creation of new scientific ventures and projects – is a model for many countries. Research is a way to transfer not only academic knowledge, but also the awareness to our children and new generations. We are very pleased with UNESCO’s active engagement with Uzbekistan,” Ernesto Ramirez said.
At the forum, the book albums “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan in World Collections”, “Architectural Epigraphy of Uzbekistan” and a series of facsimile copies of manuscripts were presented to UNESCO, leading museums and libraries of France, and the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in France as gifts.
As the Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Uzbekistan’s Oliy Majlis Sadik Safayev said in his speech, “it’s not surprising that the series of events organized ahead of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s forthcoming visit to France is first devoted to cultural heritage, because it is the historical root of our two peoples. Such cultural and humanitarian issues lead to a deeper understanding and trust between our peoples. Today’s grand occasion in France really serves as a bridge between the cultures of the two countries, which is extremely important.”
Uzbekistan’s new openness policy aimed at establishing friendly ties with all countries and striving to revive the cultural heritage in our nation, has been bearing its fruits.
“The project “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan in World Collections” is a classic example of how civil institutions, public and international organizations, socially responsible business, world scientific circles have joined forces in our country at the new stage of reforms to promote initiatives socially significant for our society as much as the whole civilized world,” the author and head of this project, the Honored Journalist of Uzbekistan Firdavs Abdukhalikov emphasized in his speech.
The participants also visited the world-renowned Louvre Museum, the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco), as well as the Guimet Museum, where the sides reached agreements on cooperation in this area.
The multimedia scheme “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan in World Collections” has been implemented since 2016 with the sponsorship of the oil service company Eriell Group. Today, within the framework of the project, 20 book albums have been published, along with 25 documentaries narrating the rich cultural heritage of Uzbekistan stored in a great diversity of museums and libraries across the world.
