By Diplomacy Journal Lee Kap-soo
In the New Uzbekistan, which has set the Third Renaissance as a big goal, the development of national fine and applied art is considered an integral part of the country's socio-economic development. As a result of such attention of the head of the state and the government to the field of fine and applied art, a unique system was formed that gives the international public a wide opportunity to show the national artistic wealth of our country and the examples of creativity of artists and creators, the achievements made in modern fine and applied art with their existing diversity.
The state policy in the field is reflected in the development strategy of New Uzbekistan. In the new historical stage, the development strategy V - the direction of ensuring spiritual development and bringing the industry to a new stage was added. Its 75th goal is to develop visual and applied art and design directions, to increase the artistic and aesthetic taste of the population, to widely promote the exemplary life and creativity of famous folk artists and masters of applied art of Uzbekistan, and to perpetuate their memory, to popularize the visual and applied art of Uzbekistan at the international level, and tasks such as improving the system of training mature specialists in applied art and design directions were set.
In 2023, to ensure the performance of relevant tasks, celebrate the birthdays of prominent representatives of the fields of culture, art, and science, and widely promote their activities, in 2023 the birthday of People's Artist of Uzbekistan - Muhyiddin Rahimov. The 120th anniversary and the 90th anniversary of the birth of Ortiq Faizullaev were duly celebrated. A bronze statue of Alisher Navoi and Usman Nasser was installed in Astana, the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
36 statues, 38 busts, 5 bas-reliefs, 17 monumental monuments, and other works were created in our country in the last three years to perpetuate the memory of our great ancestors. Also, a group of dedicated artists was awarded honorary titles and awards by the head of state for their effective work.
The participation of our country's artists and masters of applied arts in international conferences and exhibitions, festivals, and competitions has become significantly more active. In the next three years, 520 exhibitions, 2 international sculpture symposiums, and plein airs were organized in the field of fine and practical art and design in the field of visual and applied art and design.
The expansion of the number of real members of the Academy, which played a key role in increasing the scientific and artistic potential of the Academy of Arts, is a practical confirmation of high attention to the field. In 2023, based on the results of the elections held by the Management Board of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan, 9 artists were confirmed as real members of the Academy, the number of academicians reached 43.
“Art Gallery" auction house was launched for the first time in cooperation with the Union of Artists of Uzbekistan. The auction house located in Tashkent includes a publishing house, an art appraisal company, "Art Gallery" and a special laboratory for technological examination of works of art. In 2023, for the first time in the history of Uzbekistan, an auction of works of visual and applied art was successfully held.
The friendly relations of our country with far and near countries are developing day by day, and the relations with the brotherly nations, which were broken at one time, have been strengthened. Recently, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Union of Artists of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and it was agreed to sign a similar memorandum with the Union of Artists of Turkmenistan. Also, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Museum of Oriental Miniature Art named after Kamoliddin Behzod under the Academy of Arts and the National Museum of Iran, and projects are being developed.
As a result of attention to the field, the international reputation of the Academy of Arts is increasing. In the following years, the president of Kemyong University of the Republic of Korea Sin Il-hee, the director of the National Art Museum of Azerbaijan Chingiz Farzaliev, the president of the public fund of the Academy of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the famous Kazakh artist Amandos Akanaev, the national artist of Azerbaijan Sakit Mamedov were accepted as honorary foreign members of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan. In turn, People's Artist of Uzbekistan, Academician Akmal Nuridinov, Director of the Gallery of Fine Arts of Uzbekistan, Academician Kamola Akilova received the title of Honorary Academician of the Academy of Arts of Kazakhstan.
Starting in 2023, it has become a tradition for the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan to hold an exhibition of artists from Turkic countries in Tashkent in cooperation with the International Turkish Cultural Organization - TURKSOY.
Adequate conditions created in the field serve to hold the International Festival of Traditional Fine and Applied Arts, the Tashkent International Biennale of Contemporary Art, the Tashkent International Biennale of Applied Art, the "Tashkent Joys" Biennale of Children's Paintings, and the International Sculpture Symposium at a high level. Thanks to these art conferences, many talents have been discovered, and the presentation of modern visual and applied artworks has created ample opportunities to strengthen the international exchange of experience in this regard. They play an important role in the international promotion and popularization of the attention paid to the industry in the new Uzbekistan, and in the establishment of mutual dialogue between industry representatives and craftsmen from different countries. A presentation of the book "Miniatures of Central Asia of the XV-XVII centuries" was held for foreign participants as part of the IV Tashkent International Biennale of Applied Arts held in 2023. In general, within the framework of these art weeks, scientific-practical conferences are held with the participation of representatives of prestigious foreign scientific institutions in the field, where current issues of global importance in the field of art are discussed and solutions are sought.
Cooperation relations with the world's leading art academies, and specialized prestigious international educational institutions in the field are also expanding. The Academy has established cooperation with educational institutions in about 20 countries of the world in the field of artistic education. In addition to the CIS countries, memorandums of understanding establishing cooperation relations with educational institutions of countries such as the People's Republic of China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, India, Turkey, Italy, and Belgium were signed. Based on these memorandums, the students of Uzbekistan had the opportunity to study abroad and have a creative exchange.
To create conditions for the training of qualified personnel in the art education system, in 2021, the Center for the Retraining of Pedagogues and Specialists in the field of art education and their professional development was established within the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan. With this, the system of retraining of pedagogues and specialists in the fields of fine and applied art, design, art history, and museology and their qualification improvement was further improved. The training center, in turn, is establishing international relations. In this regard, memorandums of cooperation were signed with the Jawaharlal Nehru University of Architecture and Fine Arts of India and the College of Fine Arts at Kemyong University of the Republic of Korea.
A painting workshop was organized at the Art Academy. Talented young artists and well-known artists who have been educating specialists based on the master-student tradition have been attached to this Art Workshop. To support and encourage talented young people in the field, the State Scholarship named after Kamoliddin Behzod was established, and 21 students studying in higher education institutions in 2021-2023 were awarded this scholarship.
With the appropriate decision of the government, for the first time in the field of art education for schools specializing in visual arts, new generation educational literature on specialized subjects has been published. In 2022-2024, a total of 19 new national educational literature was delivered to artistic educational institutions.
In New Uzbekistan, great attention is being paid to educating the young generation in the spirit of devotion to universal and national values, deeply teaching young people about the legacy of artists who made a great contribution to the development of the industry, perpetuating their memory, and widely celebrating their birthdays. For this purpose, the Surkhandarya specialized art boarding school under the control of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan was named after the national artist of Uzbekistan Rozi Choriev, the specialized art boarding school of the Republic of Karakalpakstan was named after the real member of the Academy of Arts, the national artist of Uzbekistan Jollibay Izentaev. As a symbol of respect for the great painter Kamoliddin Behzod and his creative heritage, the Republic creative competition of "Followers of Kamoliddin Behzod" works of miniature and folk art is held regularly.
This year, the birthdays of famous visual artists who made a great contribution to the development of the culture and art of our country and the inspiration of our people with their unique creative heritage and active social activities are widely celebrated.
In particular, the 120th anniversary of the birth of the people's artists of Uzbekistan - Orol Tansikboev and Iskandar Ikromov, the 90th anniversary of the birth of Mubarak Yoldoshev, the 70th anniversary of the birth of sculptor Jaloliddin Mirtojiev, the 90th anniversary of the birth of the national artist of Uzbekistan, painter Ikrom Bahromov, are being celebrated-educational events are being organized.
At the initiative of the head of the state, a program for the development of visual and applied arts is now being adopted. In particular, the Central Exhibition Hall will be reconstructed and equipped. A modern gallery building will be built on the territory of the art fund, and a center for young artists with 40 creative workshops will be established. To connect the education of calligraphy and miniature art with practice, a paper-making workshop will be organized nationally.
Such efforts are a practical expression of the state policy to support the field of fine and applied arts in New Uzbekistan.
