April 12, 2011
Madrid hosted Uzbek Culture Evening “Samarkand: Silk Road Rarities” organized by the Fund Forum and the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Madrid with support from Repsol company. The event was inaugurated by the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Spain, Professor Gulnara Karimova, who said: “It was in Samarkand that the foundations of the ties between our two nations were laid. Over 600 years ago, in 1404, Spanish envoy Rui Gonzales de Clavijo came to Samarkand with the goal of establishing diplomatic relations between King Enrique III of Spain and Tamerlane.”
The event was attended by around 200 representatives of the political, public, cultural and business communities of Spain, among them heads of major companies such as Repsol, Talgo, Abengoa, Indra, Iberdrola, Duro Felguera, Iberiolica, and Chemieuro.
The diverse and colorful traditions and historical legacy of Uzbekistan were represented at three exhibitions mounted as part of the Uzbek Culture Evening.
The exhibition of rare textile displayed a collection of suzanis, tubeteykas, the robe of 19th-century Emir of Bukhara and his turban from Bukhara Art Museum, a rare women`s headgear from Savitsky Museum of Art in Nukus as well as contemporary exhibits – traditional Uzbek fabrics – developed by GULI creative team with the use of ancient weaving techniques.
The photo exhibition “Old Samarkand” presented rare images, made in the late 19th-early 20th centuries (from the Collection “125 Years of Uzbek Photography”), of quotidian life and general lifestyle in Samarkand as well as architectural marvels in the city.
Another exhibition complemented the presentation of the book “Masterpices of Architectural and Memorial Epigraphy of Samarkand”, offering photos of fragments of ancient buildings with epigraphic inscriptions in Samarkand. The exhibition also presented information decoding these inscriptions along with translations into English and Spanish.
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