May 9, 2010
Historical monument Ichan-Kala in the ancient museum city of Khiva hosted the third Asrlar Sadosi (Echo of Centuries) Festival of Traditional Culture on May 8-9. Gulnara Karimovas authors project presented an opportunity for all foreign and domestic visitors feel once again the colorful diversity of the Uzbek national culture. This festival plays an important role in increasing tourists interest in the country, as the event was attended by more than 100 international guests, including foreign media.
Fund Forum and the UNESCO Office in Uzbekistan are the organizers of this festival of international significance. During the Festival, the oldest part of Khiva the city that looks like from "1000 and 1 night" fairytale was filled with sound of karnay and surnay national instruments, singing and dancing folk groups who came to Khiva from all over the country. One could see Uzbek craftsmen everywhere offering their brilliant and unique handmade ceramic, wood, metal items and chasing, suzani (embroidered panel), jewelry, toys, carpets and much more. Of great interest was kurash national wrestling, ram fights, rooster fights, as well as national food festival, during which all interested persons could taste the delicious dishes prepared by skilled experts of eastern cuisine. The second day of Asrlar Sadosi, which was on May 9, organizers honored the veterans of World War II and organized according to the best traditions of the Uzbek pilaf.
The Festival of national dress in the framework of Asrlar sadosi was held in the old harem and theatrical show on the harem life theme. The Festival of national dress united ethnographic and modern-styled collections of 15 designers from Tashkent, Khorezm, Bukhara and Kashkadarya.
The scientific part of the Festival included master classes and a conference titled Uzbekistans Cultural Legacy: the Art of Calligraphy and Architectural Epigraphy, with roughly 100 prominent scholars from Uzbekistan and abroad engaged in the study of historical, cultural and ethnographic legacy. The conference also included a presentation of the book Samples of the Eastern Art of Calligraphy and Miniature, published by the Fund Forum.
In keeping with tradition, the Festival culminated in a gala concert which took place at Kohna-Ark Palace surrounded by ancient walls. Gulnara Karimova and UNESCO Representative in Uzbekistan Jorge Espinal awarded diplomas, statuettes and prizes to the winners of the Festival. The guests had an opportunity to enjoy performances by folk music groups, bakshi folk performers, and pop singers. A monitor with live transmission of the show was installed outside Kohna-Ark Palace, as the venue was jam-packed and not everyone could get in.
The Festival was attended by over 100 international guests from Austria, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Korea, Norway, Russia, USA, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Japan among whom were prominent culture and art professionals, scholars, researchers, representatives of international media organizations, and officials of the diplomatic corps and international organizations accredited in Uzbekistan. Among them were designer Marta Marzotto (Italy); Regional Director of Sonosite Helmut Babler (Austria); General Director of Sothebys CIS office Mikhail Kamensky and Representative of the Auction House in Moscow Irina Stepanova (Russia); diplomat and independent consultant David Merkel (USA); an archeologist of Louvre Museum Rocco Rante (France); a representative of Branly Museum Leclair Madeleine (France); lecturer in Central Asian Studies at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies Professor Shirin Akiner (UK); representative of Casa Asia Eva Soms Bach (Spain); Cultural Affairs Director of Caixa Foundation Ignasi Miro Borras and his deputy Isabel Salgado Gispert (Spain); music expert, public figure and journalist Professor Han Meong Hee (Korea); Chairman of CKD ASSET Supervisory Board Libor Trubelik (Czech Republic); musician and producer Maksim Fadeyev (Russia); Head of cinema division of First Channel Anatoliy Maksimov (Russia); President of Conde Nast Russia Publications Karina Dobrotvorskaya (Russia); Editor of the Culture Department of Kommersant Publishing House Alexey Tarhanov (Russia); leading specialist of the Ministry of Education of South Korea Kim Bong Il; Manager of Wooil Architecture Company Kim Heorg Eun (South Korea); Russian producers Mikhael Shlikht and Alexey Kublitskiy; costume designer Anna Lazareva (Russia); LOfficiel correspondent Benjamin Eymère (France); Edtor-in-chief of Diva International magazine Marit Fosse (Switzerland); Editor-in-chief of Diplomatic News magazine Robert Blum (Switzerland); editor of Diplomat magazine Venetia De Blocq Van Kuffeler (UK); representative of the Korea Post Newspaper Min Keun-sik (South Korea); founder and editor-in-chief of the Bukharian Times newspaper, chairman of the Uzbek-American Cultural Foundation at the Bukharian Jewish Congress of the United States and Canada Rafael Nektalov; prominent photographer of Vanity Fair and Sette Massimo Gatti (Italy); editor of ART+AUCTION Russia Magazine Anna Aryutyunova (Russia); creative groups of Io Donna magazine (Italy); TRT TV channel (Turkey); President of Hachette Filipacchi Shkulev Publishing House and InterMediaGroup, and editor-in-chief of Elle magazine Yelena Sotnikova; editor of Travels section, editor-in-chief of ELLE-decor Alexey Dorozhkin; famous photographer Yaroslav Filippov; journalist, director of HFS Publishing House St. Petersburg office Nadezhda Kozhevnikova (Russia) and many others.
Related links
“Asrlar sadosi 2011”: Day Two culminates in gala concert