October 11, 2010
It is said that time is relative, and sometimes one day may seem to have the span of more than 24 hours. In the case of “Style.Uz” Art Week, a brainchild of Gulnara Karimova, one day is equal to at least three days, given the breadth of events and the resulting wealth of impressions. During the Art Week, which is literally packed with colorful events happening one after another, one would be least willing to miss any of them as each event is interesting, unique and spectacular. The third day of “Style.Uz 2010”, for one, offered a Max Mara runway show, a master class by London College of Fashion, a round-table, a breast cancer fight auction, and another auction organized by Uzbekistan`s MEROS Association in conjunction with the UK`s Duke`s Auctioneers, not to mention the most “delicious” part of the Week: “Gastronomic review”, which demonstrates the potential of Tashkent`s leading restaurants...
The third day of the Art Week kicked off with a lesson, or a master class, to be precise. Fashion professionals Sarah Atkinson and Natalie Brown of London College of Fashion taught a master class to young designers and students from respective colleges and universities. Sarah and Natalie gave detailed presentations about design creation, teaching designers how to use simple techniques in creativity. Natalie showed young designers how to use techniques that famous designers like Marc Jacobs and Damir Doma have used. Sketch papers were distributed to the students as an example of simple dress designs. They then had to create their own sketches, and some of the most courageous and enthusiastic participants had a chance to demonstrate their skills on the stage with Natalie.
The two professionals also participated in a round-table titled “Dialog: Education and Business”, organized by the Fund Forum in collaboration with the British Council in Uzbekistan. The event focused on issues relating to small and private businesses` needs for high-caliber specialists and increase in the involvement of private entrepreneurship in the national economy. Those gathered also looked into the UK`s experience in this area.
The educational part of the Day was followed by a practical “session”, that is, a runway show from Max Mara, one of the world` top fashion labels, which disproves widespread opinion that beauty requires sacrifice. The label`s designers have put a lot of effort into making sure that a woman on the lookout for clothes for work, rest and a party does not have to choose between beauty and comfort. And this is exactly what was demonstrated in the first part of the show: V-neck overcoats and knitted dresses of grey, black and terracotta colors boldly claimed they make women feel free, confident and elegant.
One event that deserves special credit is the auction “Campaign 14”, which was given the goal of raising funds which would go toward treatment of women diagnosed with breast cancer. The auction against breast cancer fit in perfectly with the Week in terms of its timing as October has been a breast cancer awareness month across the world for the past 20 years. The idea of organizing the auction had been conceived as a result of previous breast cancer fight campaigns. In May this year, the Fund Forum, the Women`s Council and the National Breast Cancer Association organized a charitable marathon under the symbol of the pink ribbon, the first of its kind in Uzbekistan. The race was joined by as many as 5,000 people. All the proceeds from thus campaign went toward diagnostics campaigns for women across the country as well as the purchase of drugs for women living with breast cancer. The campaigns held thanks to the marathon saw over 2,000 women tale medical checkups. Unfortunately, helping every single woman diagnosed with breast cancer may be a pipe dream. With this in mind, the organizers decided on selecting 14 women (one from each region, the city of Tashkent, and Karakalpakstan) and organizing a fundraising auction in support of these women. The criteria for selecting the women included their financial income, widowhood, single-parent status and the number of children along with medical checkup results. To put it simply, the vision was to help women in need of urgent treatment. Eight lots were put up for the auction. These included exclusive models and pieces from famous Uzbek fashion designers` collections as well as accessories and home interior items. The auction participants literally battled for some of the lots.
Another noteworthy auction which also pursued a charitable goal was held the same day. For the first time in its brief history, MEROS Association of Antiques, set up at the initiative of Gulnara Karimova, decided to run an auction dedicated to only one direction: national textile. Uzbek national textiles created by hand with the use of special techniques and natural dyes are comparable to masterpieces indeed. The unusual artistic combination of colors and patterns on the fabrics with specific texture makes each sample unique. The funds raised during the auction will go toward research and archeological excavations carried out by MEROS Association in an effort to study the historical and cultural legacy of the country. This research project involves leading archeologists, historians and scholars as well as young specialists as well as history major students from Tashkent and Samarkand National Universities. The auction included a presentation of the Catalog “Applied Arts in Uzbekistan: Gradation of Values” in Russian and English.
The day concluded with another major and equally interesting event which had started days before the Art Week kicked off: the closing ceremony of the International Theater Festival “Theatre.UZ”, which gave theater enthusiasts an opportunity to see performances by theater groups from Israel, Greece, Ukraine, Russia and Italy. According to many arts professionals, the Festival was long anticipated and gave rise to a new international theater project.
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Act four