22 December – 14 January, CEH
Over 300 works of graphic art, sculpture and painting (landscape, still-life, genre scenes) were represented at the XXVIII national exhibition “Artist and Nature”. Apart from recognized open-air masters who stood at the origins of the movement, such as Y. Salpinkidi, V. Yenin, I. Shin, R. Gagloeva, V. Chub, A. Mirsagatov, H. Mirzaakhmedov, M. Tashmuradov, V. Trushina, M. Sadykov, T. Lee, K. Ajimetov and others, landscape genre is explored by different generations of artists, including young people.
The exhibition also provided a framework for a solo display of the works by Evgeny Melnikov, People’s Artist of Uzbekistan and one of the founders of the plein air movement. Besides his heritage pieces kept in the assets of the Art Exhibitions Directorate, paintings from his family archive were exhibited for the first time.
22 January, The Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture of the AAUz
The exhibition called “I Made a Skullcap of Silken Yarn” dedicated to the Healthy Child Year presented more than 50 kinds of skullcaps – the traditional headwear. The hats included those of Ferghana, and the skullcaps from historically evolved regions such as Tashkent, Samarqand, Bukhara, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya, and Khorezm. Traditional ornamental motifs stand out in their picturesque colourfulness that each woman-master enriches with her imagination. The skullcap adorns grey heads of old men and the crowns of the newborn alike. As the saying goes, a skullcap always becomes a young man.
4-24 February, CEH
A retrospective exhibition of Andrei Krikis marking the 20th anniversary of the death of the painter and muralist, member of the Artists Union of Uzbekistan, presented more than 150 paintings from the collection of the Art Exhibitions Directorate, private collections and the artist’s family archive.
In 1986 in Tashkent, the Creative Young People’s club “Ilkhom” housed the first solo exhibition of the artist, and in 1994, at the Architects Union building ran his last lifetime exhibition. He ‘burned out’, having created more than 500 works over a brief span of his life. In 1987-1989 the artist’s solo shows ran in Irkutsk, Kazan, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Riga, Moscow, New Delhi, Stockholm and Gothenburg. He took part in the international biennale event in Bangladesh and the 1993 Russian Festival in San Francisco.
4-24 February, CEH
A memorial display of works by the wonderful Uzbek painter and graphic artist Pavel Kichko (1960-2010) exhibited his works on the variety of subjects: philosophical reflections on existence, fantasies with character images, etc. The artist passed away when his professional mastery really took off. He was delighted to learn that one of his pieces was included in the Painting Anthology of Uzbekistan. His art is represented in the collections of the Art Exhibitions Directorate of the AAUz, in the Province Art Gallery in the city of Urgench, and in private collections in Uzbekistan and abroad.
5 February, The Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture of the AAUz
A round table discussion marking the 60th anniversary of the People’s poet of Uzbekistan Muhammad Yusuf was organized by the Ministry for Culture and Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan, the Tashkent State School of National Dance and Choreography, and the Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture of the AAUz.
Poet Muhammad Yusuf (1954-2001), Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Uzbekistan, began his literary career in the late 1970s, and right from the start was recognized as a serious poet of extraordinary talent, able to create memorable images, artfully playing around seemingly ordinary events and phenomena of life in a meaningful and original way. In his verses the poet glorified the beauty of his native Uzbek land he loved. His poems include “The Poplar Trees I Know” (1985), “Listen, the Nightingale” (1987), “Begging You Kindly” (1988) , “A Sleeping Girl” (1989), “Lullabies of Mother Halima” (1989), “The Love Boat” (1990), “The One I Was Dreaming of” (1991), “Sweet Gazelle” (1992), and “Take You to My Sky” (1998).
15 February – 10 March, CEH
A reporting exhibition scheduled to mark to the 50th anniversary of artistic career of the People’s Artist of Uzbekistan sculptor Jalalitdin [Jalaliddin?] Mirtajiev presented photographs of sculptures of prominent historical figures such as padshah Zahiritdin Muhammad Babur, poets and writers Chulpan, Abdurauf Fitrat, Abdullah Kodiri, Ghafur Ghulam, Zulfia, Elbek, and others, as well as sketches of monuments to Kamolitdin Behzad, Babur, and Abdurauf Fitrat.
28 February, THP
“The Crossroads Goes On” solo exhibition of Khusniddin Ato, member of the AAUz Photographers Group, displayed 80 works dedicated to local traditions, values and lifestyle of the Uzbek people, as well as to sporting and cultural events that ran in the country. Ato is the participant and winner of many domestic and international exhibitions and contests. He began his career in art photography by taking part in two exhibitions in 2002: one dedicated to the city life of Tashkent, and the other, an international one called “Good Old People” held in Tashkent. Husniddin Ato worked as a special assignment photographer during the Baysun Spring, Sharq Taronalari, and Asrlar Sadosi festivals, as well as at the London international music festival, LIFEM, in the autumn of 2013.
14 February – 14 March, The Fine Arts Gallery of Uzbekistan (FAGU)
Twenty-six graphic and ten sculptural works by Azamat Hatamov were demonstrated at his solo exhibition “Images and Meanings”. A leitmotif of his art is a Woman whose image the master creates with soft plastic lines; his refined and exquisite pieces leave no one indifferent. Harmonious composition, sophisticated taste and, most importantly, high professionalism characterize every work of the artist. The display has proved it once again.
1-17 March, CEH
An art exhibition, “Springtime Show”, presented more than a hundred paintings, drawings and sculptures by leading women-artists of Uzbekistan, such as Rima Gagloeva, Vera Nechaeva, Iskra Shin, Oksana Zalevskaya, Galina Lee, Tatiana Lee, and Shoira Kuzieva. Among young women-artists searching for their original pictorial language of symbols and metaphors in shapes and colors one may distinguish Tatiana Fadeyeva, Yulia Park, Ekaterina Lyapina, and Yulia Alagir. The audience also admired small-form sculpture made of different rock by the renowned Uzbek sculptor Ludwiga Nesterovich.