TALKING ABOUT ART AND
CULTURE
XALILOVA FARANGIS
208 LOGOPEDIYA
The arts and crafts of Uzbekistan
have enjoyed a well-earned fame for
centuries. The pre-eminence of the
applied art here can be attributed to
historical conditions shaping the
cultural development of the Uzbek
people.
The social nature of decorative art lies
in its collectivity. Art is the heritage of
many generations; it represents a
series of consecutive layers, which
reflect a people's culture through the
ages.
Architectural-decorative art holds a
prominent place in the arts and crafts of
Uzbekistan. Principles of ornamental
construction and profound knowledge of
the plastic and artistic properties of
local building materials that were wellknown throughout the Middle East, such
as ghanch (a sort of alabaster), wood,
stone, ceramics, constitute the timetested fundamentals of this ancient art.
In Uzbekistan, wall painting and sculptural
carving as well as ornamental carving
and painting have been practised since
ancient and early mediaeval periods. The
9th and 10th centuries saw a period of
particularly intensive development of
ornamental, floral-vegetal polychromatic
paintings and relief carving. The ever
more elaborate use of ornamental forms
and compositions formed the basis for
principles approved by experts through
the ages and are observed and adhered
to even nowadays.
Nakkoshi - Masters of ornamental
painting usually practiced ghanch and
wood architectural painting
simultaneously. The most noted masters
of wall painting were the Bukhara
nakkoshi of the last century. The art of
masters from Samarkand, Tashkent,
Khiva, and other cities of Uzbekistan is
renowned.
Carved wood played a considerable
role in the architectural decor in
Uzbekistan, and was also much used in
the production of household goods:
props, chests for blankets, drawers,
caskets, pencil-boxes, elegant little
ottomans, national musical instruments,
and decorative many-sided little tables
or bedside tables.
Production of papier mache and lacquer painting on papier mache thrived in Samarkand at
the beginning of 15th century, as testified by genuine ornamental papier mache medallions
found miraculously preserved set into the interior of Gur-Emir and in the Bibi-Khanym
mosque. Of special interest is the completely restored golden-blue dome in the interior of the
main hall of Gur-Emir, composed of 998 papier mache elements, of which 112 are original
and have since been the object of painstaking restoration. There are reasonable grounds for
conjecture that it was Samarkand artists who introduced this skill to North India in 15th
century, where it has developed and is nowadays flourishing. Papier mache articles: pencilboxes of various sizes, expensive book-covers, chess, caskets, boxes of different sorts, vases,
and other small items, were decorated with miniature vegetative patterns. Inscriptions were
often incorporated into the ornamentation on pencil-boxes. The paint was applied with thin
brushes on a base made of gold or bronze powder, sheet gold and bronze on an apricot
and cherry glue. The preparation of lacquers and colours for papier mache was a
sophisticated and highly skilled process.
The production of different vessels and
other household articles out of pumpkin,
often with original ornamental decoration,
exists in many nations of the world. In
Uzbekistan, pumpkin is a popular
material for various articles, but the most
popular are snuffboxes made from
pumpkins specially cultivated for this
purpose. Uzbek snuffboxes vary in shape,
size, and decoration. Their production
involves a sophisticated process of
painting, patterned toning and polishing,
finishing with noble metal and coloured
jewels.
Copper-embossed articles have been
popular among the local population
since olden times. Alongside their
utilitarian function, they are much valued
as decorative items. Embossed
copperware is often exhibited on shelves
as part of the decorative furniture of the
house.
Fabric design in Uzbekistan is an
outstanding example of folk art. In it
past and present are wonderfully
combined - the traditions of ancient folk
art woven together with the knowledge
and understanding of modern times. The
art of decorative fabric acts as a kind
of history book, reflecting its centuriesold development, and embodying the
creative work of many thousands of
talented masters and artists.
A less prominent though important branch of
metal-working in Uzbekistan is the art of
knife-making. The knives are highly sharpened
and kept in leather sheaths decorated with
metallic plates, embroidery, applique, or
painting. Such knives are called ghuldor
pichok, meaning 'elegant, decorated knife'.
The forms are various. The blades differ
according to where they are made: narrow or
wide, straight or curved, as do the hafts:
single-piece or composite, wooden or bone,
encrusted or painted. Of the ancient centres of
artistic knife-making there remain prominent
schools in Chust in the Fergana valley and
Khiva in Khorezm.
Masters or zaghars mostly
created pieces from silver, less
often from gold, combining noble
metals with various jewels:
precious, sparkling, such as ruby,
emerald, sapphire; semiprecious,
matt, opaque, but of bright and
rich colours, such as pearls,
turquoise, cornelian, jasper,
corals, as well as multicoloured
sparkling glass pieces, and
mastic beads that came into
common use from the second half
of 19th century.