The Institute of the Arab World in Paris hosted the exhibition entitled “The Road to Samarkand. Miracles of Silk and Gold” as part of a cultural and educational program on 3 June-4 June last week. As a part of the exhibition, Uzbek ceramics masters Alisher and Shokhrukh Rakhimov held master classes in Uzbek handicrafts for the participants and guests of the cultural event.
The event was met with great interest by the French audience. More than 100 admirers of Uzbek culture and traditions took part in the master class.
One of the main goals of the event is to develop the best traditions in this direction of Uzbek folk art, to widely promote unique examples of Uzbek handicrafts & ceramics and promote the tourism potential of Uzbekistan among French audiences.
In the master class, the participants were given a lot of interesting information about the history of origin, secrets, rules of this art, and its development. The French people were informed how the wealth of ganch (the material used in the pottery) in Uzbekistan and the ease of working with it caused the formation of Uzbek ceramics as a special profession since ancient times.
During the event, the participants were presented with colorful patterns and a rich palette of Uzbek ceramic dishes and improved their knowledge about Uzbek art, culture and ancient traditions overall.
In particular, Boris Tissot, a participant in the event, noted that the demonstrated master class of representatives of this genre of Uzbek art made a great impression on him. “I used to hear a lot about this art direction, but today I did it with my own hands, put patterns on the dishes, and got unsurpassed pleasure from it. We, the French public, were struck by the fact that this art requires great skill, patience and love to create each pattern,” Tissot said.
“It would not be an exaggeration to say that I discovered a lot of new things about Uzbekistan and the culture of Uzbek people, especially in the field of Uzbek art and ceramics, by coming to today's event. Thanks to this master class, which was demonstrated by craftsmen, we once again confirmed that the Uzbek culture is rich in secrets, beauty and originality,” said Clément Labulfi, one of the participants of the event.
Within the framework of these events, a seminar prepared by the senior researcher of the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Doctor of Philosophy Zafara Aliyeva was also held. The topic of the seminar was “Karakalpak women's costume of the XIX-XX centuries”. Representatives of the French public were given detailed information about the culture, history and customs of the Karakalpaks, as well as about the Igor Savitsky Museum in Nukus and its exhibits.
Events of this kind indeed have a positive impact on the growth of tourism in our country, attracting more foreigners to visit Uzbekistan not only for the historical cities of the Great Silk Road, such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva but also for its cultural sites such as Rishton / Rishtan, Margilan in Fergana Valley.
We would also like to remind you that the citizens of France, including all EU member states can now travel to Uzbekistan on a visa-free basis according to the simplified visa procedures introduced by the government.