On April 21-25, 2009, the Fine Arts Week of Uzbekistan was organized, already for the third time, in our country. But this year the art feast was celebrated not only in Tashkent, but also in all provincial centres and in the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
For the participants of the Week, Tashkent offered exposition facilities such as the Central Exhibition Hall (CEH) of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan and adjacent areas; young artists also demonstrated their works on the Mustaqillik Square, in the Repression Victims Memorial Complex, on the square in front of the Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre, in the Kaffal Shashi historical and architectural complex, and at the Tashkent House of Photography where a photo exhibition titled “Architecture Through Epoch and Time” was presented showing photographs of already renowned and beginner artists. All specialized boarding art schools of Tashkent provided their sites for the activities of the Week.
Overseas guests also took part in the Fine Arts Week; they were artists and art historians from Russia, the United States, UK and Azerbaijan.
Each day of the Week was dedicated to a particular theme: the Day of Painting, the Day of Graphic Arts, the Day of Decorative and Applied Art and Miniature, the Day of Sculpture and Design, the Day of Young People’s Art… During those days the following exhibitions were running: “Inspiration” and “Ozod Yurtim Obod Poytahti” (“Beautiful and Flourishing Capital City of a Free Country”) dedicated to the 2200th anniversary of the Tashkent City.
Very popular were master-classes for students, with the participation of reputable mentors, artists, masters of ceramics and sculpture, Round Table for Art Historians, demonstration of young artists’ works, theatrical still (Russian College of Arts), and a fashion show that demonstrated both traditional and modern garments. Awards were given on ten nominations of the “Mentor and Student” exhibition. A special atmosphere to the feast was communicated through the demonstration of documentary films, including one about painter Ruzi Charyev (on the facade of the CEH).
Master classes were also delivered by such famed foreign masters of brush as Emil Iskhakov (Russia), Timur Divatz (UK), Khanlar Akhmedov (Azerbaijan), Ilkhom Tagirov (Azerbaijan), and Gazi Amad (China). A significant event for fine art amateurs were personal exhibitions of artists who arrived from the country’s provincial centres. These include “Glory to You, Motherland” by Tahir Shaimardanov (Surkhandarya), “My Beautiful Homeland” by Murod Umarov (Andijan) and “Fergana Valley” by Ruzikhon Jalilova (Fergana).
During the days of the Fine Arts Week 2009 famous artists visited specialized boarding art schools in Samarqand, Namangan, Andijan, Syrdarya, Kashkadarya, Khorezm, Jizak, Navoi, Surkhandarya (Sherabad), Bukhara and Fergana (Kokand, Margilan) provinces and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (Nukus) where they conducted master-classes and training sessions. The most able students and their teachers were invited to Tashkent to take part in the art festival.
Holding the Fine Arts Week 2009 had become possible due to joint efforts of the Creative Union of Artists of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan, the Ministry for Higher and Vocational Education, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Public Health, National Television and Radio Company, National Press Agency, “Uzbektourism” Company, and the State Joint-Stock Cinema Company “UzbekKino”.
Abdulla Ulugov