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THE QUARTERLY CULTURAL MAGAZINE OF ECO CULTURAL INSTITUTE (ECI) ECO HERITAGE ISSUE 22, VOLUME 8, WINTER 2019 ISSN 2008-546X

ISSN 2008-546X

9 772008 546002 ‘Golden Treasures Established in 1995, ECO Cultural Institute (ECI) is a specialized, international of the Achaemenids’ organization, located in in , Islamic Republic of , which aims at fostering public awareness and preserving the rich cultural heritage of its Exhibition member states. Within the framework of its Charter, which has been approved by the The joint exhibition of Reza Abbasi member states, ECI has been entrusted with the key mandate to preserve Museum & Bank Melli Iran was held in and promote the common cultural heritage of the ECO region to encourage collaboration with ECI in March 2019 at understanding among the nations of the region. Bank Melli Iran Historical Museum. To this end, ECI has always organized a diverse range of art, cultural, literary, research, academic and sporting events and has published books and journals in English, Farsi, Russian and Urdu with the approach to strengthen cooperation and preserve the common cultural heritage of the member countries. The ECO region is a vast territory with centuries-old history, rich civilization and culture which includes 10 member states, namely the Islamic Republic of , Republic of , Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of , Kyrgyz Republic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of , Republic of , and the Republic of . Publisher THE QUARTERLY CULTURAL MAGAZINE OF ECO CULTURAL INSTITUTE (ECI) ECO Cultural Institute (ECI) ECO HERITAGE ISSUE 22, VOLUME 8, WINTER 2019 ISSN 2008-546X Director-in Charge H.E. Dr. Mohammad Mahdi Mazaheri President, ECO Cultural Institute (ECI)

Chief Editor Dr. Jawan Shir Rasikh Table of Contents

Editorial Board Dr. Abolghasem Dadvar, Dr. Hosseinali Ghobadi 8-17 I.R. Afghanistan 66-77 Kyrgyz Rep. Dr. Mehman Hasanov, Dr. Mahmood Kamare’i National Museum of Afghanistan Collections: National Museum of Fine Arts of the Kyrgyz Republic Preservation, Looting, and Post-Civil War Recovery Dr. Nazif Mohib Shahrani, Dr. Hekmatollah Molla Salehi ISSN 2008-546X History, Museum Sections, Decorative & Applied Dr. Uxi Mufti 9 772008 546002 History, Transportation to Shelters before the Arts, Sculpture, Painting, Graphics. Civil War, Looting & Destruction 1990-2001, Post- By Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts named after War Recovery, Cooperation with British Museum, Gapar Aitiev Cover Photo: Pieces from the historical Conclusion. treasures of the ECO Region including the Advisory Board By Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, Director of National 78-87 I.R. Pakistan Bactrian Hoard, the , the Museum of Afghanistan National Museum of Pakistan: Dr. Hassan Ahadi, Eng. Reza Pourvaziri Achaemenid Persian Lion Rhyton, and Collecting, Preserving & Exhibiting Cultural History Dr. Seyed Hassan Soltani, Dr. Manijeh Seh’hi Jewllery found in . 18-27 Rep. Azerbaijan History, Museum Sections, Pre-Historic, Proto- Azerbaijan National Museum of Art Historic, Late Harappa, , Hindu, Quran, Executive Manager Coins, Calligraphy & Miniature Painting, Freedom History, Museum collections, Exhibitions, After Movement, Ethnology & Islamic Art Galleries. Parisa Firouzkouhi Independence, The Museum’s Online Activities. Compiled by ECI Staff Members By Prof. Chingiz Farzaliyev, Director of the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art 88-97 Rep. Tajikistan Internal Affairs Manager National Museum of Tajikistan History, Museum Sections, Departments of Natural Mohammad Mahmoodi 28-41 I.R. Iran Iran National Museum History, Modern & Contemporary History, Ancient and Medieval History, Fine & Applied Arts & The 1st Graphic Design Iran Bastan Museum: The Paleolithic Period, The to 9th . Neolithic and Periods, The Formation of By Shahmansour Shahmirza, Tajikistan Cultural Ahmad Reza Nasrollahi Note: Early States and Urban Societies, The Achaemenids, Expert, ECO Cultural Institute The views expressed by the The Seleucids, The Parthians The Sasanids; Iran Museum of Islamic Art & Archeology. 98-105 Rep. Turkey Address writers/authors of the articles, By Iran National Museum Ankara State Museum of Painting & Sculpture No. 10, Baqer al-Nemer St., Movahed published in “ECO Heritage” do History of the Structure, Establishment of the Danesh Ave., Aghdasiyeh, Tehran not necessarily represent the 42-51 I.R. Iran Museum, Museum Collections. By Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture & Tourism Islamic Republic of Iran views of ECI, but are the personal National Art Museum of Iran: The First Specialized Museum in Iran views of the authors themselves. 106-117 Turkmenistan Introduction, History, Aesthetics & The State Museum of Turkmenistan Information ECI reserves the right/discretion Structure, Exhibition Spaces, Museum Objects. History, Museum Sections, The Central Building, Tel:+98 21 27673000 to amend, revise, edit, delete or By Mahshid Ilkhani & Manijeh Hadian Dehkordi, Independence Museum, President’s Museum, Zip Code: 1957653643 scrutinize any part or portion of Research Institute for Cultural Heritage & Tourism; Ethnography & Local Lore Museum, Neutrality Monir Daraei, Director of National Art Museum of Museum, Constitution Museum P.O. Box: 6414/19395 the text as and wherever Iran By the State Museum of Turkmenistan

Email: [email protected] deemed necessary. 52-65 Rep. Kazakhstan 118-125 Rep. Uzbekistan National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan: The State Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan A Reflection of Past, Present & Future History, Museum Collections, Applied Arts, Fine Arts, History, Museum Sections, of Ancient & Art of & Countries of Western Europe, Art of Medieval History, History, Ethnography, Independent the Foreign East Countries Kazakhstan, , Astana, Modern Art. By the State Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan By Kazakhstan National Museum 6 ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS National Museums inECORegion Spirit ofHistory: Message oftheDirector-in-Charge of transformation, progress and development; they can portray the reflection the portray can they development; and progress transformation, of They canbemeans ideas ofvalues,belonging, ofallidentity. and most through collections andobjectsinordertodisplay,narrate,negotiate heritage. focus onproper conservationanddocumentationofthetangible and intangible need to That iswhythemuseums communities andadiverserangeofvisitors. on alargerplatformwithdifferent the culturalinformationofsocieties through thegenerations between and with communitysupportandshare cultural interpretationoftheartifacts gaps the fill to bridge communication or and intangible heritage very fast.Museumscan play theroleofamediator education, studyandenjoyment”. environment forthepurposesof and intangible heritageofhumanityandits which acquires, conserves,researches,communicatesand exhibits thetangible institution intheserviceofsocietyand its development,open to thepublic, permanent non-profit, a is museum “A Austria, Vienna, in Conferences General 21st the at 2007, in adopted definition ICOM the per As definition. this updates (ICOM) International CouncilofMuseums creation in1946, Since its the time. line with developments in society, the definition of a museum has evolved Over of theircollections. In and havelong beenassociatedwiththetangibleaspects National museums are institutionalized spaces where the past is being used is where thepast are institutionalizedspaces National museums are losing boththeirtangible world, communities However, intoday’s T museum hasturnedintoaglobalconcept. a museumthusindicating that theconcept of the ones, without thesmallest even country, any find uncommon to totally is it today, that over theyears culture hasspread so extensivelyacrosstheworld Since then,themuseum Sir LeonardWooleyin1925. of theBabylonianUrbyarchaeologist BC levels city discovered inthe6th-century- of whichwas remains the museum first world’s the built Ennigaldi-Nanna, Museums aretheculturalinstitutionsofacountry 2,500 years ago when 2,500 the Babylonian princess, back to dates museums of he longhistory greatly enrichthejournal’scontent. shall contribution their Definitely, magazine. the for material scholarly provide to the regionareinvited of members and faculty the researchers,intellectuals and theirluminaries, in ordertomaximizecontributionofallMemberStates whohaveprovidedcontentforthecurrent issueofthejournal, member states Museums inECORegion’. decided todedicatedthisissueofitsculturalquarterlythe‘National ECI museums, national the of role significant Considering cultures. and nations mutual understandingsuch associalcohesion,unity, andtoleranceamongthe cultural anddemocraticidealsofthenations. resources insocieties,theycanencourage, promote andfosterthebestof possessing critical institutions and helppeace.As of socialeventsestablish While appreciating the support rendered by those esteemed Embassies of the While appreciatingEmbassies the supportrenderedbythoseesteemed National museusmpossessalargecapacitytocreateandreinforce concepts Dr. MohammadMahdi Mazaheri President, ECOCulturalInstitute

7 ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 National Museum of Afghanistan ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 Collections

Preservation, Looting, & Post- Civil War Recovery

By: Mohammad Fahim Rahimi Director of National Museum of Afghanistan ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

8 9 called Ajaieb-Khana ( of Wonders), which is a Afghanistan. Unfortunately, this was late and the sort of of curiosity as beginning of all other country was undergoing instability and the chance museums in the world. On November 15th, 1924, of excavation was getting less and less. Therefore, the assembled collection was transferred to another most of the national museum collection come from building to the presentational palace called Koti French archeological mission excavations, although Baghcha, and was officially opened by king Amanullah they had the right to share archeological finds, only (r. 1919-1928). In this official opening, the elites those pieces that were not unique and there were and officials of the country who were present in the two of the same object, which is never the case in opening also gave some of their rare and inherited an archeological context. Afghan archeologists also objects to the national museum1. excavated a few sites that had very good result. Tepe The gathered collection of the national museum was Shotor in Hadda3, Jalalabad and the second excavation kept in Koti Baghcha for 6 years until it was transferred of Tepe Maranjan4 are the examples of their work. to the current building of the national museum of These archeological works had resulted in the ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 Afghanistan in 1931. This building was freshly built enrichment of the national museum of Afghanistan in the new developed in the west of city collection. Before the civil war, the national museum and was used as municipality of Kabul city. had more than 100,000 inventory records and each This building was small and could not house the inventory record may include many objects5. There growing collection of the museum hence another were also many objects that were not registered before building close to the present building was given to the the civil war. Thus, the national museum may have museum in 1954, which was used for housing books had a collection of many hundred thousand objects. and manuscripts2. Later the first building, enlarged in The collection was not only composed of excavated A 1st century AD enameled glass goblet discovered in Begram, Afghanistan. three sides first from the northern side in 1957 and objects, but also those objects collected during the later from two eastern and western sides in 1974. survey, especially prehistoric material, confiscated This gathered collection was the only collection of objects by security forces, and other collected objects. Abstract the National Museum until 1922 when the official Besides archeological objects a huge collection of The National Museum of Afghanistan with its looted and destroyed accidently and deliberately. archeological investigation in the country started. At ethnographic objects and a collection of 45, 000 outstanding and diverse collection has been one This paper will focus on the history of this museum, the beginning archeological researches in Afghanistan coins were other parts of the museum collection6. of the most important museums in the region. The preservation, and looting of its collections during the were exclusive to French archeologists for 30 years The ethnographic collection was preserved in Koti- importance of this museum was based on the quality conflict and post- war recovery. after 1922. Thus the other foreign institution could Baghcha palace in the presidential palace area7. of the collection rather than the quantity. The not get permission for their research; however, after objects in this museum have been collected through Historical Background 1952 when the term of excavation agreement expired, Transportation to Shelters before the a century after its establishment, and represented The National Museum of Afghanistan has an other archeological missions from countries like USA, civil war the history and culture of the country, indicating adventurous history and has witnessed many , , United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, First evacuation happened in 1979. As the result of the historical geography of it as a central hub of the incidents and situations since its establishment. The and India got permission and started their works in political instability in the country, the collection of trade along the . The important location of history of the museum goes back to the first quarter Afghanistan contributed on melting different cultures of the 20th century when for the first time the idea of that meet there. So this cultural meeting resulted in having a museum spread between the authorities and the creation of a unique art based on a mixture of local government officials. This was the time when there and other different cultural artistic values. The other was already a collection of important pieces like Jihad significance of the national museum of Afghanistan is (holy wars) Flags and weaponry together with other its collection that solely found in the country. significant ethnographic staff like national cloths Unfortunately, this museum with all its beauty and household tools and manuscripts were gathered. suffered badly during the years of conflict, which The national museum of Afghanistan was initially resulted among many things, its vandalism. The established in 1919. The collection was gathered and museum building damaged, its rich collections were

ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS housed in the building of (Bagh-i-Bala) restaurant and Left: Pair of clasps depicting warriors in gold, Tomb III, 100 BCE - 100CE. Right: Shield-shaped applique in gold, Tillya Tepe Tomb IV, 100 BCE - 100CE.

10 11 sold as used metal together with many parts of the Red Cross envoy visited the museum burnt building first Polish train was gifted to King Amanullah Khan and witnessed the vast destruction and looting of in 1920s. In 1992 by the time the Anti- Soviet military the objects. Later with the financial support of the groups took control of Kabul city, the civil war started UN, Habitat organization started the stabilization and the museum staffs were not able to go to the of the museum building on December 21st, 1994. museum anymore. The museum building was used as The of the first were blocked and the a military base and the looting and destruction of the storages were equipped with and windows and museum collection and equipment started. stabilized against rain and snow13 . The first theft of the collection happened on the night of December 31, 1992, as the result, some important Post-War Recovery ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 artifacts were looted including an important Buddhist The first post-war recovery started in 1994 when the relief of Dipankara Buddha 11. A few days later the museum staff together with assistance of SPACH started second theft happened, where the artifact in a storage collecting remaining artifacts from the rubbles. As Buddha statue at the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan. called Hadda storage were looted. These looting the result more than 3500 artifacts mainly of ceramic continued and every time a different military group collected and stored it in the newly renovated storages. the national museum of Afghanistan with its all shelves Another part of the collection was transferred to the took control of the area continued to loot the museum. Latter this collection was also transferred to the Ministry and other equipment unprofessionally transferred to Ministry of Information and Culture in the center city. On the night of May 12th, 1993 the national museum of Information and Culture for further protection. In Sardar Mohammad Naeem Khan Building in the center This evacuation was very vital and all those artifacts building hit by the rocket and took fire. As the result addition to these collected material from the rubble, a city. After one-year storage there, the collection was that were evacuated remained preserved. According the museum building together with some very commission was appointed by the government to buy retransferred to its place and opened for the public. to Dr. Massoudi, previous director of the national important 2nd century moral painting from Dilberjin looted artifacts. This commission was able to collect some During this evacuation most of the museum equipment museum of Afghanistan, the idea was dividing Tepe together with carpets and other equipment of looted material from the museum as well some material damaged but the artifacts were not harmed8. collection to many places. This was because they were the museum as well a part of the museum documents looted from the archeological sites. The second evacuation happened in 1985 when the thinking that in case one place is looted the other burnt12. On November 22nd, 1994 the special Alongside recovery of artifacts inside the country, some Bactrian treasure was transported to Koti- Baghcha places remain intact. This idea worked very well and representative of the UN together with Journalists and artifacts were also recovered from outside the country, palace and later to the central bank vaults. The collections in two refuges were preserved10. Although famous Bactrian treasure, which was excavated by the major part of the collection remained in the Soviet- Afghan archeologists, led by Viktor Sarianidi museum building were looted. transferred to the national museum of Afghanistan in 1979. It was kept in the national museum until 1985 Looting and Destruction 1990-2001 and displayed for a short period there9. It is said that the first damage and looting of the The third evacuation happened in 1989 when the most artifacts happened after King Amanullah was forced significant artifacts that were still kept in national to leave the throne. The statues were smashed and museum building transferred to the central bank some objects were looted, but it is not certain. The and Ministry of Information and Culture building in the first major destruction and looting of about 70 % of center of the city. In 1989 as the result of anti-Soviet the collection remained in the museum building war that reached around Kabul, the museum displays happened during the civil war (1992-1995) when these closed and the artifacts transferred to the storages. artifacts together with 45,000 ancient coins and a As per request of the national museum and approval collection of early cars and carriages from the royal of the authorities the packing of the most important family were looted and destroyed. One of those cars artifacts started and transferred to the presidential has been photographed owned by a commander. Many palace where the Bactrian hoard was already housed. of those cars were destroyed and the remains were ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS Left: Golden Ram, Part of a Nomadic Headdress, Tillya Tepe Tomb IV, 100 BCE - 100CE. Right: Crown, Tillya Tepe Tomb VI, 1st century AD.

12 13 region. With all these, there are many issues that are not of Afghanistan cultural legacy was establishment of except a few ivory pieces from Begarm and a Buddha very well undertaken by them. Afghanistan museum in exile’ which started functioning statue. These artifacts looted from the museum during First of all, they have not been very active in their relation in 2000 in order to receive donated objects looted from 1992-1996. The Buddha statue that was accidentally found with the military group authorities who controlled a part Afghanistan16. As the result, a collection of the 1423 in Sarai Khwaja 33 km north of Kabul with another similar of the country, so that they somehow convince them to artifacts collected in this museum and handed over statue in 1965 belongs to the 2nd - 4th century CE and is protect the cultural heritages of the country. I think, the to the national museum of Afghanistan by its director a masterpiece of the national museum. It represents the best way to preserve a country’s legacy is to make the Paul Bucherer in early 2007. Most of the collection were great miracle of Buddha in Sravasti. This Statue which has ruling power of that country aware of the importance of ethnographic objects but also included some rare pieces been published in the Catalogue of the National Museum their heritage. This may need some strategic agility and of archeological objects including two pieces of ivory, a (1931-1985), was bought by a Japanese dealer and finally wise approach, which I believe SPACH had it. gargoyle from Ai khanum, and a few Buddhist arts. it has been bought by a generous person with help of the Second, the nature of relation of SPACH with Pakistani Although the establishment of this museum was a very British Museum for the National museum of Afghanistan government is uncertain. I wonder if they ever talked good and encouraging action for recovery of looted in memory of Karla Grissman. with Pakistani government officials about prevention of pieces but unfortunately were not able to collect most Besides the Buddha statue, two collections of Begram ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 looted artifacts from Afghanistan or not. Many high rank valuable pieces from Afghanistan sold in antiquity ivories from national museum collection were bought by officials of Pakistan government including the previous markets in Europe. It is because the museum was based this generous person. The first collection was bought in minister Naseerullah Babar bought collections on donations of people and usually those who smuggle 2001 with the help of Karla Grissman, which was given back of the national museum of Afghanistan, which is a clear or buy smuggled artifacts, do not donate objects, except to the national museum of Afghanistan and sent to Guimet indication of lack of dialog about looting issue with them. in some cases. Anyway, the initiation of making such a museum for safe keeping. A few of those ivories were Although Nasserullah Babur had quoted that he will museum and donation of objects by those individuals then displayed in Afghanistan art exhibition in Guimet return artifacts to Afghanistan once the security situation whether ethnography or archeology is appreciated. If this museum. The second collection of ivories was sent to the is better15. museum was built in early 1990s when the museum was national museum in 2012 after it was displayed together Chair bracket with leogryph of a mythical creature from Indian mythology. Ivory. 1st Century CE. Begram, Kabul. Another good and appropriate action for preservation looted, probably more objects were collected. with preserved treasure of Afghanistan exhibition in early 201217. Cooperation of National Museum of Afghanistan mainly by organizations like SPACH and Museum of Cooperation with British Museum and British Museum still continue and after 2012 the Afghanistan in Exile and others. Countries like, , Since 2009, the United Kingdom returned two huge national museum with the help of British Museum were Denmark, Iran, USA, United Kingdom, Switzerland and collections of artifacts in two shipments in 2009 and 2012. able to return a collection of 215 Kushan coins and an Japan returned more than 10000 Artifacts. Most of these These collections also contain some significant objects, Islamic Era vessel. artifacts are from looted sites except of a few which are especially of those from , . All these from National Museum collection. objects are not of national museum previous collection SPACH, an organization founded by cultural heritage lovers of Afghanistan started its activity in 2004. This organization was able to collect 48 rare objects while functioning in Pakistan. Considering their location in a place where all looted antiquity from Afghanistan first landed, this organization has not been able to collect more pieces. This was because they had to buy artifacts. They bought only those pieces that belonged to the national museum and they could afford to buy it14. Establishment of such organization was a very good step and unique in its kind. The recovery of at least 48 objects from national museum collections and the post war assistance of this organization to the National Museum were outstanding while most well-known international organizations in these issues were not present in the ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS A clasp depicting Dionysus and Ariadne in gold and Different Objects from Tillya Tepe Tombs, 100 BCE - C100CE. , Tillya Tepe Tomb IV, 100 BCE - C100CE.

14 15 Conclusion The contribution of each individual and organization relics are situated, thus it clearly shows the professional to the preservation of cultural heritage of Afghanistan being of real looters. could save important part of the National Museum Third, the documentation of the collection was given less collection, especially those committed individuals importance. Even some artifacts were not completely who established and run organizations like SPACH and inventoried in the national museum and provincial Museum of Afghanistan in Exile, and contributed in any museums. Those available documentations were also not way to protect cultural heritages of Afghanistan besides completely preserved. It was remained in the national museum staff. With all these achievements, many things museum building, where they were partly burnt when have not been done accordingly. the museum took fire. Although there are documents First of all, the pre-war measures were not sufficient. in many local publications about most of the artifacts of Interior view of Afghanistan National Museum. The government of Afghanistan had not signed many the museums collection, but complete preservation of important conventions of UNESCO, including 1970 the documentation from museum would make post-war ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 convention. Which was necessary for returning artifacts. recovery of artifacts easier. Endnotes: References: The cultural authorities had not learnt from experience In addition, the preserved documents especially 1- Malekiar, De Hewad Mozyamono ta Yawa Katana: A •Adamec, Ludwig W. Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. Glimpse to the Museums of the Country in De Afghanistan 2nd ed. Lanham, MD.: Scarecrow Press, 1997. 176. of other wars around the world. The preservation of thousands of photographs from artifacts never happened Kalani: Afghanistan Annual, 64. •“Bactrian Gold, Unparalleled Treasure from Afghanistan.” Armitage and Louvre collections during the Second 2- Wahaj, Museum, De Afghanistan Kalani: Afghanistan In Bakhshi Az Tareek-e Hefz Shoda Afghanistan: Part of to be published and shared with Interpol, Italian Annual 64-65. Preserved . Kabul: National Museum World War were a good lesson for them and a good carabinieri, and other organizations to prevent looting of 3- Hadda after the Three Last Seasons of Excavations at Tepe of Afghanistan, 2005. Shotor (1974-1976).” Afghanistan, 60-89. •Cassar, Brendan, and Ana Rosa Rodriguez Garcia. “The method. antiquity. In 2006, ICOM published a list of Afghanistan’s 4- Kotah Gozareshi az Kawosh Hay-e Moqademati Tepe Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan’s Cultural Second, the educational mission of museum and other endangered antiquity in the red list of antiquity. It was a Maranajan: Primary Report from Tepe Maranjan excavation Heritage: An Overview of Activities since 1994.” In Art and in Archeology Journal, 57-61. Archaeology of Afghanistan: Its Fall and Survival: A Multi- cultural institutions have been very weak. The locals good step and very helpful for the prevention of artifacts 5- Massoudi, Personal Communication. Disciplinary Approach, edited by Juliette Van Krieken- 6- Massoudi, Personal Communication. Pieters, 15-37. Leiden: Brill, 2006. did not know the importance of cultural heritage so that 18 looted from the archeological site . But it was slightly late, 7- Adamec, Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan, 176. •Dupree, Ann, Louis Dupree, and Ali Ahmad Motamedi. they could take part in preservation of cultural heritage they started publishing this red list in 2000 but they didn’t 8-Massoudi, The National Museum of Afghanistan. In A Guide to the Kabul Museum, the National Museum of Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World,35. Afghanistan,. 1st ed. Kabul: Afghan Tourist Organization, during the war. Even though the National Museum had a give priority to the artifacts from Afghanistan. This was 9- Bactrian Gold, Unparalleled Treasure from Afghanistan. 1964. great number of visitors before civil war but that was not also somehow related to the weak relation of Afghanistan In Bakhshi Az Tareek-e Hefz Shoda Afghanistan: Part of •Dupree, Nancy Hatch. “Kabul.” In An Historical Guide to Preserved History of Afghanistan. Afghanistan, 79. Kabul: Afghan Tourist Organization, 1971. enough for the public awareness. Majority of Afghanistan authorities with ICOM and other organizations. Afghan 10- Massoudi, Personal Communication. •Dupree, Nancy Hatch. “Kabul.” In An Historical Guide population live in the provinces; therefore, only the 11-Massoudi, The National Museum of Afghanistan. In to Afghanistan, 92-93. 2nd ed. Kabul: Afghan Tourist authorities could have contacted ICOM and give them Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World,37. Organization, 1977. National museum in Kabul and some other provincial the list of looted artifacts from Afghanistan. At least they 12-Massoudi, Personal Communication. •Dupree, Nancy Hatch. “Museum Under Siege.” Archeology, 13-Grissman, The Kabul Museum: Its Turbulent Years in Art 1998. Accessed May 3, 2015. http://archive.archaeology.org/ museums were not enough for the public awareness. In could share the photographs of looted artifacts from and Archeology of Afghanistan Its fall and Survival: A Multi- online/features/afghan/. addition, those active museums did not have a proper museum, those which were certainly looted. They could Disciplinary Approach, 66. •“De Hewad Moziamono Ta Yawa Katana: A Glimpse to the 14-Cassar and Rodriguez Garcia, The Society for the Museums of Country.” In De Afghanistan Kalani: Afghanistan educational policy. This lack of public awareness caused also take help from excavations reports. According to Preservation of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage: An Annual, edited by Toofan Malekiar, 64-67. Vol. 34. Kabul: De that local people without consideration of importance of Overview of Activities since 1994.” In Art and Archaeology Etlaato Aw Koltor Wozarat: Ministry of Information and Grissmann (2006), ICOM intended to publish the missing of Afghanistan: Its Fall and Survival: A Multi-Disciplinary Culture, 1966. heritage destroy and loot cultural heritages, even they item from Kabul museum but they were not sure of Approach,21-22. •Grissman, Carla. “The Kabul Museum: Its Turbulent Years.” 15- Dupree, Museum Under Siege. In Art and Archaeology of Afghanistan: Its Fall and Survival: A were just a tool that were used by those warlords who what was missing19. If it was the case, then it shows lack 16- Grissman, The Kabul Museum: Its Turbulent Years in Art Multi-Disciplinary Approach, edited by Juliette Van Krieken- dealt with illegal trade of antiquity usually, lead through of communication between stakeholders of the cultural and Archeology of Afghanistan Its fall and Survival: A Multi- Pieters, 61-75. Leiden: Brill, 2006. Disciplinary Approach, 73. •“Kotah Gozareshi Az Kawosh Hay-e Moqademati Tepe those so-called scholars who studied in humanity heritage in Afghanistan and international organizations. 17-Simpson, The Begram hoard: Indian ivories from Maranajn: Primary Report from Tepe Maranjan Excavation.” discipline to harm humanity. With a short glimpse in a Afghanistan. Archaeology of Afghanistan, no. 2 (1983): 57-61. While I respect and appreciate the act of some 18- Red List of Afghanistan Antiquity at Risk. •Massoudi, Omarakhan. “The National Museum of looted site after excavation one can easily understand individuals on the preservation of national Museum 19- Grissman, The Kabul Museum: Its Turbulent Years in Art Afghanistan.” In Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient and Archeology of Afghanistan Its fall and Survival: A Multi- World, edited by Pierre Cambon and Fredrik Hiebert, 35-44. that looting is not work of a local without knowledge of Afghanistan collection, the act of organizations like, Disciplinary Approach, 73. London: British Museum Press, 2011. of the past, but rather it is professional excavation ICOM, and ICCROM are not very outstanding. Countries •Motamedi, AA. “Hadda after the Three Last Seasons of Excavations at Tepe Shotor (1974-1976).” Afghanistan Kabul for a specific antiquity in a specific place of the site. In with antiquity market and collectors whether museums 32 (1979): 60-89. archeological site which is recently under •“Museum.” In De Afghanistan Kalani: Afghanistan Annual, or private collectors are all encouraging this illegal trade edited by Saraj Ul-din Wahaj, 64-65. Kabul: De Matboato excavation the smugglers holes either lead to the chapels and bought museum collections. Mostaqil Reiasat: Independent Directorate of Press, 1957. •Simpson, St John. The Begram Hoard: Indian Ivories from where statues are usually situated or to the where Afghanistan. London: British Museum Press, 2011. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

16 17 18 ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS National Museum ofArt Republic ofAzerbaijan anEtac,Ntoa uemo At f h eulco Azerbaijan, . the Republic of of Arts Main Entrance, National Museum of from theAzerbaijanigovernment. the museumreceivedNationalMuseumstatus 2011, On 10June was completelyreconstructed in2006. and thenofEuropean Museum Standard(EMS),and themuseumwas declared tobeofNational In 2001, 1936. from status received theindependentmuseum but Museum, Azerbaijani State Department of Art on thebasisof The Museum was created in1924 of 17th–beginning20thcentury, of Russianartschoolend works offamousmembers The and French Russian sectionhas painters of16-19. German of works and see and Dutchartists Flemish of centuries, seepaintings of 16-18 and ceramists artists can seeworksofItalian In theEuropean halls, visitors the Republicandabroad. who arewellknown of Azerbaijani both within artists the sectionof20thcentury,thereareworksarts and jewelry.In handwritten books,nationaldresses and and rugs;miniatures ancient carpets high art; of of metal and items age ceramics ancient andmiddle of beautiful samples Russian andAzerbaijani artists, European, of Western the works presented Here are ages topresentdays. artworks fromtheearliest the treasuryofover17,000 and is Mustafayev, Rustam designer andtheatreartist scenic after in Azerbaijan.Named museum art is thelargest The AzerbaijanNationalMuseumofArt

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The 3rd building of Azerbaijan National Art Museum. French paintings hall, Azerbaijan National Art Museum, Photo by Urek Meniashvili. History Museum Collections have always been fond of art and culture the need to establish a separate museum, solely Many items of the collection has been acquired from There are also ceramic pieces found in Nakhchivan, and have a tradition of collecting beautiful artworks. devoted to culture and art. The Art Department was the personal collections of Bakuvian oil millionaires Mingachevir, , Sheki and Goygol, decorated During the first Azerbaijani oil boom at the end of separated from the Azerbaijani State Museum. This during the early 20th century. Later, as part of a plan with archaic figures, including candlesticks from the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the first was established as an independent art museum under to further develop the museum collection, some the Salcuglu period; 13th century pieces from Bayil Bakuvian oil millionaires were purchasing expensive a state decree, signed on 31 March 1936, with the first exhibits were received as gifts from the Hermitage Castle; 16th century Korans; Eastern miniatures from artworks from across Europe and Russia for their exhibition opening the following year. Even at this Museum and State Russian Museums in St Petersburg, the 17th and 18thcenturies; metalwork from the 18th– personal collections. During the Soviet period, the nascent stage, it already contained more than 500 the Tretyakov State Gallery in , the Pushkin 20th centuries; silk and wooden artworks; national pearls of these collections were transferred to the sculptures, paintings and other pieces from the 19th State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow and numerous costumes; carpets and jewelry. newly created Azerbaijani State Museum. and 20th centuries, brought from the Netherlands, other Eastern and Chinese museums. Simultaneously, The Museum contains the richest and most varied In addition to artworks, many items of ethnographic , , Germany, Russia and other countries. pieces of Azerbaijani decorative applied and visual collection of Azerbaijani art in the country, including or historical interest were collected. This justified Since inception, the museum received state support. arts were added. During visits to various regions of Following the passing of a State Decree in 1951, the Azerbaijan, experts further augmented the collection Baroque-style De Bour mansion became the main with additional artefacts, and have continued to do so location for the Azerbaijani National Museum of Art. In to so far. The works of Azerbaijani painters, and gifts 1992, the museum was granted another neighbouring from famous Azerbaijani and foreign artists, have building, which was formerly the Mariinsky further developed the collections. Gymnasium for Girls and later the headquarters of Altogether, there are more than 17,000 items in two the Baku branch of the Azerbaijani Communist Party. primary collections– Azerbaijani art and international In 2013, the two were connected, thereby art. The collection of national art is more ancient becoming one complex. The buildings in which the and rich, the oldest pieces dating from the Neolithic museum is currently located are significant examples period. The collection also includes items from the of Bakuvian architecture. Bronze Age. A Japanese Artwork, Azerbaijan National Art Museum. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS A Japanese artwork, Azerbaijan National Art Museum.

20 21 Exhibitions works by the foremost Azerbaijani painters from graphic artists. artists as Latif Karimov and Kamil Aliyev, portrait carpet The museum regularly holds exhibitions of national across the centuries. Thus, the museum can present The museums has examples of socialist realism from maker, examples from all the Azerbaijani carpet schools, and international importance to commemorate the highest level of Azerbaijani art to local and the Soviet period because as in all Soviet Republics, including Qazakh, Quba, Shirvan, Baku, Ganja, etc. famous painters or historical events and have international visitors. Numerous 19th century artists socialist realism was the official and predominant The ceramics collection is also unique, comprising pieces established a tradition of organizing exhibitions on are represented in our collection, including Mir- style in Azerbaijan from the 1930s until the end of the from 16th–20th century Italy, France, Germany and a national and international level. During 2012-2017, Mohsun Navvab (1833–1918); Mirza Kadym Irevani 1980s and therefore, such style is evident in the work Japan, of similar quality to those in some of the world’s the museum organized more than 20 international (1825–75); and ornamentalist Usta Gambar Karabakhi of not only almost all Azerbaijani painters of that leading museums. There are also bronze, marble, granite exhibitions and hosted exhibitions from numerous (c.1830–1905), who was responsible for creating the period, but also in ceramics, carpets, architecture, and wooden sculptures from Western Europe, alongside international museums and organizations. For incredible interior of the Khan’s Palace in Sheki. and carving. The works are well-executed and of high- those from the Near- and Middle East. example, the museum accommodated exhibitions There are also collections of major 20th century quality, including the impressionistic work of Mikayil Furthermore, the collections include sculptures, from the Tretyakov State Gallery in Moscow, Victoria Azerbaijani artists, including Sattar Bahlulzade (1909– Abdullayev (1921–2002) and Nadir Abdurahmanov paintings, graphic works and decorative applied and Albert Museum in London, and many museums

74), founder of contemporary Azerbaijani landscape (b.1925), who created his own colourful style and artworks from Russia, Asia, Africa and Western in Japan, , Austria, and CIS countries. The ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 painting; (b.1928), one of the leading worked extensively outside of Azerbaijan, providing Europe. This includes those by some of the foremost museum also aims to showcase works representing exponents of the ‘severe style;’ Togrul Narimanbekov unique perspectives on , Afghanistan and North European engravers, Dutch and Flemish painters and different periods, art movements, artists and their (1930–2013), who combined the abstract and figurative Korea, amongst other countries. many exhibits from Russian artists, including Wassily developments. In fact, such exhibitions serve to with national symbols; and Maral Rahmanzadeh There are also around 500 carpets in the museum’s Kandinsky. bind nations and people together, as real art has no (1916–2008), one of the most evocative Azerbaijani collection, including those designed by such great borders and expresses an international language.

Banishment of Iliadore, Charles Le Brun (1619–1690). Peter I of Russia and Louis XV of France, Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870). ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

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Antique and Medieval Azerbaijan art collection, Azerbaijan National Art Museum, Photo by Urek Meniashvili. Antique and Medieval Azerbaijan art collection, Azerbaijan National Art Museum, Photo by Urek Meniashvili.

The highlight of museum works was the successful international exhibitions and projects; in 2008, 2009 After Independence exhibition of artworks, in 2012, lent by the Louvre and 2016, some of the collection of works by Tahir Following the regaining of Azerbaijani independence present important works that had remained hidden Museum, Musée d’Orsay and the Pompidou Centre, Salahov were shown at the Belarusian National Arts in 1991, some changes have taken place in the in the museum archives. This included an exhibition amongst others, realized with the support of the Museum and the Tretyakov State Gallery in Moscow; presentation or selection of artworks, such as the devoted to Javad Mirjavadov, founder of the Heydar Aliyev and TOTAL S.A., entitled the manuscripts from the Middle Ages were shown presentation of approaches and art research in a Azerbaijani avant-garde movement. Accompanied French Pleasures – French Art and Culture from the at the Vatican; and in 2015 works were lent to the less politically biased manner. The museum also by dramatic effects and soft national music, Renaissance until today. Moscow-based exhibition ‘We fight Nazism together’, specifically exhibited the artists whose work had his works were exhibited in conjunction with ancient Another joint event, organized in conjunction with devoted to the 70th anniversary of victory in the fallen foul of the Soviet authorities, including Javad porcelain, weapons and metalwork. the Yunus Emre Institute in 2013, was entitled ‘Sultan Great Patriotic War. Moreoaver, works were lent to Mirjavadov (1923–92), Ashraf Murad (1925–79), Tofiq Following the regaining of Azerbaijani independence, of Sultans’. In 2014, the museum organized the Saraku the Azerbaijan Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale Javadov (1925–63), Kamal Ahmedov (1940–94) and the started to further explore the country’s historical exhibition of modern Japanese painters, and in 2015, with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. others. Such artists have had an incredible impact and cultural heritage and present this in an easily it hosted the ‘Ways to Escape’ private exhibition by on the history of Azerbaijani art. Furthermore, an accessible manner. The exhibition entitled ‘Azerbaijan the painter Akbar Behkalam. exhibition titled ‘On the Crossroads of Centuries’ throughout the Millennium’ was inaugurated in The museum has also loaned artworks to various was organized in 2011, which served to publicly 2013 and provided an invaluable chronological

Panoramic view of the second Azerbaijani art hall, Photo by Sefer Azeri. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

24 25 those focusing on Flemish and French art, another exhibition being on the Sardar Castle of and its historic cultural environment, comprising pieces brought from the Georgian State Museum. The exhibitions formed the core of the celebratory events, but additional events exhibitions, seminars and concerts were also planned new books published to demonstrate the importance of the museum in the cultural and intellectual life of the Republic. Modern museums are not merely places where Antique and Medieval Azerbaijan art collection, Azerbaijan ancient and valuable exhibits are kept, but they serve National Art Museum, Photo by Urek Meniashvili. to promote heritage, stimulate research and help Azerbaijanis and international visitors spend their

representation of Azerbaijani art, comprising many ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 free time in a worthwhile and educational manner. existing exhibits and new pieces. To organize this exhibition, the museum experts visited all Azerbaijani regions to collect many interesting and valuable A Japanese Artwork, Azerbaijan National Art Museum. A Chinese Artwork, Azerbaijan National Art Museum. pieces.

Museum’s Online Activities References: •“The Azerbaijan National Museum of Art at 80 – In the age of the internet and social media, the has been working on this for years and is trying to apply for some schools, and make visual presentations to Looking to the Future”, Extract of the interview made museum have developed programmes for various age the experience of other museums across the world. by Neil Watson, chief editor of TEAS Magazine, on July engage more children. 28, 2017 with Professor Chingiz Farzaliyev, Director groups, designed to attract the younger generation It has already established a youth community, and In the year 2017, the museum commemorated its 80th of the Azerbaijan National Museum of Art. Retrieved February 25, 2019 from http://www.visions.az/en/ and meet the interests of children. The main objective continues to encourage the exhibition of their works anniversary and organized a number of international whats_on_ in_ azerbaijan/925/. •‘The Azerbaijani National Museum of Art’. Retrieved is to encourage children to visit museums, and to in the museum, to which they invite their classmates exhibitions, including exhibits drawn from the February 25, 2019 from http://nationalartmuseum. appreciate and understand the exhibits. The museum and parents. It also organizes mobile exhibitions museum’s own collections. Exhibitions included az/pages/72/about. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS The 3rd building of Azerbaijan National Museum of Art. German Art Hall, Azerbaijan National Art Museum, Photo by Urek Meniashvili.

26 27 28 ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS Republic ofIran Islamic National Museum ofthe

29 ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 Iran Bastan Museum

The Museum is the first building specifically designed In the Middle Paleolithic period, bands of humans same region of the west-central Zagros. and built in Iran as a museum. It was designed by subsisted through actively hunting and gathering The Upper Paleolithic period, which began around the French architect André Godard and built by two plant foods. During this period, Neanderthals 40,000 years ago and came to a close about 20,000 Iranian masons, Abbas-Ali Me’mar and Ostad Morad and early anatomically modern humans were years ago, coincides with the arrival of anatomically Tabrizi between 1933 and 1936. Its traditional facade roaming western Asia. Representative stone modern humans (also known as Homo sapiens) was inspired by the famous of Taq-e Kasra in tools of this period made from flint and other in Iran. In this period, making stone tools such as Ctesiphon, one of the famous examples of architecture rock types, and animal bones, some with cut marks, blades and bladelets expanded. Personal ornaments of the Sasanian period. The buildings brickwork are on display in the Museum. These remains come like pendants made from shell, animal teeth, and a

exhibits the Persian tradition of brick construction. from caves or open-air sites in the Zagros Mountains reddish-black iron mineral (hematite) appeared in this ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 The permanent exhibition covers a surface area and the Iranian Plateau. Important stone tools of this period, of which some examples from Yafteh Cave are of some 4,800 square meters over two and a period include points and side- scrapers used for on display. Red ochre was also used quite abundantly. , and over 2,000 selected artifacts in butchering hunted game and processing animal hides Among important sites dating to this period are Yafteh chronological order from the Lower Paleolithic period as well as other tasks. and Kaldar caves in Lurestan, Warwasi, Malaverd and (ca. 1,000,000 years ago) to the of the Sasanid period Examples of stone tools of this period from caves and Ghar-e Khar Cave in Kermanshah, Sefid-Ab in Kashan, (651 CE). The first floor galleries contain prehistoric rockshelters and open-air sites in the Zagros region and Eshkaft-e Gavi and Boof Caves in Fars. Artifacts objects including Paleolithic, Epipaleolithic, Neolithic (Bisotun, Lurestan, Arsanjan, Qaleh Bozi) and central from some of these sites are on display in the Museum. and Chalcolithic artifacts. The ground floor galleries Iran (Mirak, Niasar, Parvadeh, Zaviyeh) are on display The next period - called the Epi- Paleolithic (meaning contain historic objects including Bronze Age, Iron in the museum (Gallery 2). One of the oldest human terminal Paleolithic) - is characterized by composite Age, Elamite, Achaemenid, Selucid, Parthian, and Core - chopper Kashafrud Khorasan Razavi, fossil remains from Iran, discovered in a small cave tools, tools for processing plant material, and Lower Paleolithic Sasanian artifacts. called Wezmeh near Kermanshah in the west-central installations for storing food stuff. The Epipaleolithic Zagros, are on display. This is a human premolar tooth period begins around 20,000 years ago and goes on Prehistoric Galleries representing a late juvenile individual who may have until to the end of the Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago. The Paleolithic Period been the prey of carnivores such as hyenas and wolves Examples of tools and ornaments of this period from Mobile Hunter-Gatherers whose remains are abundant in the Wezmeh Cave. A Ali Tappeh and Kornishan caves in , Pa (ca. 3.3 million to ca. 12 thousand years ago) human radius (forearm) fragment from a Neanderthal Sangar Rockshelter in Lurestan and a number of other In the long span of the Paleolithic period, humans foraging, and used stone tools for cutting animal has been discovered in Bisotun cave is located in the sites are on display in the Museum hall (Gallery 3). lived in small bands with a sedentary life-style, flesh, making wooden tools, and other implements

making a living mainly from hunting wild animals and and objects. Remains of this period - mostly stone Arjaneh Points, Yafteh Cave, gathering wild plants. This period is characterized by tools - have been discovered at archaeological sites Lorestan, Upper Paleolithic the use of chipped stone tools and later antler and such as Kashafrud in Khorasan, Ladiz in and bone tools and the appearance of Paleolithic period Baluchistan, Shiwatoo in Kurdistan, Ganj Par in Gilan, is sub-divided into: Lower Paleolithic (ca. 3.300.000- all open-air sites, and Darband Cave, also in Gilan. 250.000 years ago), Middle Paleolithic (ca. 250.000 - 40.000 years ago), and Upper Paleolithic (ca. 40.000 – 20.000 years ago), followed by Epi-Paleolithic (ca. 20.000 - 12.000 years ago). The most ancient artifacts in the museum (Gallery 1) are stone tools dating to the Lower Paleolithic period. Shell pendant, Ali Tappeh These tools belong to times when early humans lived Cave, Mazandaran, Epipaleolithic by means of hunting, scavenging, gathering and Levallcis Core, Harsin, Kermanshah Middle Paleolithic ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

30 31 The Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods The Formation of Early States and Urban Societies The Age of Permanent Villages and Early Towns (ca. 3300 to ca. 559 BCE) (ca. 10,000 to ca. 5,000 years ago) The people belonging to artifacts, but of particular importance is the late Old Paleolithic bands and the Elamite period and, especially, the Middle Elamite Neolithic-Chalcolithic period, when Elamite civilization reached remarkable autonomous societies were heights in political power and cultural glory, perhaps predominantly equal but, best demonstrated by the Ziggurat complex at Chogha as the Chalcolithic period Zanbil. Some of its finds from there (e.g., the inscribed drew to a close, some bull, tubular glass, glazed knobs, and terracotta bovine Painted pottery beaker, Susa, Khuzestan Pottery vessel, Sialk, Kashan, Clay Boar Figurine, Tappeh Sarab, societies became ranked figures) decorate ca. 4300-4000 BCE ca. 3750-3350 BCE Kermanshah, Ca. 7000·6100 BCE From the Late Epipaleolithic period, mobile bands of another manifestation of such religious beliefs, the and eventually stratified, the Museum hall. meaning that some people The Elamites had hunter-gatherers gradually settled down in very small nature and structure of which are not known to us. ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 villages comprised of a handful of related families. Examples of these figurines discovered at Sarab and belonged to lower status their own distinct The earliest of such villages were established in the Sang-e Chakhmaq, are on display in the Museum. ranks with lesser access language that was Chlorite stone vessel, Jiroft, piedmont regions of the Zagros Mountains, where Stone tools hafted with bone or wooden handles Kerman, 3rd mill. BCE to goods, while some initially written wild species of , , sheep, goat and pig were were used in this period to harvest cereals, of which belonged to higher ranks in a pictorial native. As these early villages managed to domesticate one from Sang-e Chakhmaq is on display. This early with more access to resources. This development and script, but such species and attained control over their food Neolithic development was truly revolutionary in the division of people into different classes paved the which was soon supplies, populations grew and new villages were the long history of the human species. The “Neolithic way for a major landmark in human history: the rise replaced by an adaptation of the established in areas outside of the nuclear zones in Revolution” freed humans from the constant of states and the formation of civilizations. Blue glazed terra cotta Bull with Elamite the alluvial plains and lower broad valleys, such as search for food and shelter. Control over food and The earliest and more extensively studied (albeit still Mesopotamian inscription, Chogha Zanbil, Khuzestan Middle Elamite Period, ca. 1250 BCE Khuzestan, Fars and the Central Plateau. a sedentary life quickly resulted in unprecedented little-known) civilization that emerged in Iran was cuneiform script. While the use of stone tools and stone vessels were growth in population. As the population grew and Elam. Elam-perhaps the longest-lasting civilization in Afterwards, the lowland Elamites, at least, used known prior to the establishment of the early villages, social interaction and conflict arose, the fabric of the the Near East (from 3300 to 550 BCE)-encompassed a Elamite, as well as Sumerian and Akkadian for the most important invention of the early Neolithic society became more complex and new social norms fairly sizable area from the Susiana Plain in the west administrative and economic purposes, while Elamite period was the use of baked or fired pottery vessels. and regulations developed to solve social problems. to Fars in the east, in which the Elamites established was primarily used in royal inscriptions. This important craft, that seems to have been This inevitably led to the emergence of an elite class Iran’s first cities (i.e., Susa and Anshan). Examples of all of these different scripts and developed first in western and southwestern Iran, to lead the community; economic differentiation, too, Elamitologists divide languages, dating to different periods, are on display underwent a rapid change from crude, undecorated developed. This entire web of social development the long span of Elamite in the Museum hall. simple containers, to well-baked and sophisticated eventually led to another fundamental social change: history into eight As Elam flourished, in other corners of Iran we see vessels of many different shapes and decorated with the “urban revolution” and emergence of state periods: Proto-Elamite other societies emerging and developing to become exquisite painted designs. societies. period (ca.3300 to 2700 independent polities. However, our knowledge of these Similarly, the simple adobe houses of the of the Just prior to the age of the “urban revolution” around BCE), First Intermediate civilizations ranges from scanty (Simaski, Marhasi, ...) early villages, made of packed mud (known as pisé) 4000 BCE, control of the economy by both individuals Period (ca. 2700 to to meager (Gutians, Lullubians, ....). In the meantime, and thatched roofs, rapidly developed into multi- and social organizations, such as the temple or the 2500 BCE), Old Elamite there are assemblages from regions such as Jiroft and Painted pottery vessel, Shahr-e chambered houses made of mud bricks, and some community’s chief house, was expressed by stamp period (ca. 2500 to Sokhteh, Sistan, 3” mill. BCE Shahdad, as well as Lurestan Bronzes, that occupy a were even decorated with multi-colored paintings. seals that were developed around 5000 BCE. This 1700 BCE), Second prominent place in this period, but the ethnic identity The complexity of social relations and crystallization early device for ownership and control of the flow of Intermediate Period (ca. 1700 to 1500 BCE), Middle of their makers still remains an enigma. of religious ideas led in some larger villages to goods became another layer of social and economic Elamite Period (ca. 1500 to 1000 BCE), Third During the Middle Bronze Age, the Iranian Plateau the erection of large and monumental buildings complexity that finally around 3500 BCE resulted in Intermediate Period (ca. 1000 to 850 BCE), Neo- experienced a short fluorescence of urbanism. Urban (temples) as the sites of communal worship. A huge the emergence of political organizations and states. Elamite Period (ca. 850 to 646 BCE), and Terminal centers on the plateau, including Shahr-i Sokhteh, collection of variously shaped decorated and plain Examples of such early seals, from sites like Bakun, Elamite Period (646 to 550 BCE). All of these periods Hissar; Yahya, Shah dad, and Jiroft, were linked through clay figurines from almost every ancient village is Giyan and Seh Gabi, are on display. are represented in the Museum with splendid an exchange network that connected the plateau with ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

32 33 range) on to the central plateau and from there to the and his son and successor stone-masonry, stone-carving, new heights, as shown south (to later become the Persians), or to the west Cambyses, Darius the Great by several fine examples on display in the Museum (to later become the ), while some took the embarked on consolidating hall. Another innovation that can be seen in the northern route (north of the Alburz range) into the and structuring the Empire. Museum on several Caspian basin where their splendid remains have been It was he who introduced stone inscriptions is discovered in numerous graveyards such as Marlik. standardized coinage, called the Old Persian script The new culture with its distinctive grey pottery that darics, that along with an introduced during appeared in the northeastern plateau and replaced extensive network of roads the time of Darius the southern coast of the Persian Gulf and existing pottery at sites in the facilitated contact and the Great. Despite its the Sea of Oman, Elam, and Mesopotamia. Gorgan Plain is commonly interaction between people power and glory and Highly desirable commodities in this network included believed to represent the from distant corners of the policy of tolerance, the from central and southeastern Iran and Oman, gradual migration of these Empire, both culturally and lapis lazuli from Badakhshan in Afghanistan and Iranian-speaking peoples on commercially. failed to withstand ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 Quetta in Pakistan, and stone from southwestern to the Iranian Plateau. While Egyptian objects discovered the better-equipped, Iran and Oman. These materials reached their final in southwestern Iran the at Susa and Persepolis are battle-hardened, destinations either in the form of raw material or Elamites were engaged in fine examples of this large- and tactically Golden beaker, Marlik, Gilan, as finished goods. Lapis lazuli have been Iron Age, 1st mill. BCE warfare with the Assyrians, Stone statue of Darius the scale cultural contact and more competent Polished black limestone, statue of a large mastiff seated on a base, discovered at Shahr-i Sokhteh and Hissar, while in northern regions, (i.e., the Central and Northern Great, Susa, Khuzestan, interaction among the and Macedonian and Greek Achaemenid Persepolis, Fars, Achaemenid Yahya and Jiroft seem to have been centers for carving Zagros mountains and the center of the plateau), a glazed brick-working reached army led by Alexander various objects from steatite and chlorite. A number number of newly established polities stepped out subjects of the Achaemenid Empire. Arts also the Great and fell in 330 of these carved products are on display in the ground into history, consolidated their roots, watched the flourished in the Achaemenid period: metalworking, BCE. floor of the Museum. conflict between the Elamites and the Mesopotamians, A major technological breakthrough in the Bronze gained experience and in due course unleashed their The Seleucids Age was the introduction of bronze alloy by mixing force upon the Assyrians (the most powerful state in (313 to 146 BCE) copper and . This provided a suitable medium Mesopotamia at that time). culture in Iran. This phenomenon influenced both the for a whole new range of artifacts, especially arms Seleucids and their eventual successors, the Arsacids, of different kind (for clubbing and stabbing and who rose up in defiance of the Seleucids in northeast types of projectiles), harnesses for beasts of burden, Iran, and after a century of fighting drove them from vessels of various types, and a whole array of personal Iranian soil. ornaments. Examples on display in the Museum hall speak of a high level of craftsmanship. As the indigenous cultures of Iran experienced a period of decline in the mid-second millennium BCE, waves of newly arrived Iranian-speaking peoples Bronze head of seleucid ruler, Shami, migrating into Iran from Central Asia began to inject Izeh, Khuzestan, Seleucid a new spirit into Iranian life. The majority of these One of Alexander’s generals who succeeded him, people took the southern route (south of the Alburz Seleucus Nicator, chose Iran as his domain and Mannaean Glazed Brick, Qalaichi. Boukan, 7th century BCE established the . Seleucus had The Achaemenids married a Persian princess and therefore attained (559 to 330 BCE) his legitimacy before Iranians through his wife, but Of the Iranian-speaking peoples who migrated into and formed a polity comprising Persian and Elamite the discovery of a few sanctuaries for Greek gods Iran, one in particular - the Persians- chose to head elements that eventually led to the rise of the largest and goddesses and the many Greek inscriptions and south, where they apparently settled in Fars (ancient empire the world had seen up to that point. statuettes in Iran (some of which are on display in Greek Inscription, Nahavand, Anshan), mingled with the native Elamite population, Following the wars of conquest by Cyrus the Great the Museum) is a testimony to the spread of Greek Hamedan, Seleucid, 193 BcE ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

34 35 The Parthians Museum of Islamic Art & Archeology of Iran (250 BCE to 224 CE)

Just as the Achaemenids-named after Achaemenes- that made their empire period was contemporary with the formation of the were the ruling clan of the Persians, the Arsacids- far less homogenous and Iranian dynasties such as the Taherid, the Buyid, the named after Arsaces, the legendary founder of the centralized than those Samanid, and the Ghaznavid, among which the art of dynasty, were the ruling clan of the Parthians, another of their predecessors the Buyid was superior. The copies of the Quran of Iranian tribe inhabiting the north-eastern parts of Iran. (Achaemenids) or successors this period were written with the Kufic inscriptions As the Seleucid grip on this distant part of their empire (Sasanids). This system made on parchment with gilded decorations.

began to loosen, the Arsacids and Parthians sought to the Parthians vulnerable to Saltman, Zanjan, Parthian, In early Islamic times Nishabur, Rey, Gorgan, Susa grasp the opportunity to pursue their independence. their new western neighbor, ca. 200 CE and Siraf became trade centers for different artistic The Parthians were master riders and marksmen who the mighty Roman Empire, which was gradually and utilitarian crafts such as pottery, glass work and are still remembered today in expressions such as “the encroaching upon Western Asia, traditionally textile. In architecture, most of the early Islamic

Parthian Shot”. considered to be an Iranian territory. period buildings were decorated by stucco working ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 They were divided, however, into several clans technique and fresco. Sabz Pushan palace in Nishabur and Rey Arg, near Tehran are two such examples. The Sasanids The art of pottery making reached its zenith. Molded (224 to 651 CE) decorated pottery, glazed and plain as well as painted

approach also translated into major construction Holy Quran, Mohaqqaq Script, decorations covered with transparent glaze, splash works within Iran, including several cities that Signed by Ahmad Sohravardi, 14th century AD and lustre wares are among the achievements of the have been excavated (i.e., Veh Ardesir and Bisapur) The octagonal plan of the Museum of Islamic Art and early Islamic potters. In this period, the Persian Gulf and many others (e.g., Jundisapur, Ivan-e Karkheh, Archaeology of Iran is inspired by the Sassanid palace port of Siraf was one of the most important centers Darabgerd, etc.) that await the archaeologist’s trowel. at Bishapur and covers some 4000 square meters with for glass work, and Nishabur became a main trade Similarly, in the arts, the Sasanian period witnessed three floors as a state Museum and a part of National center in northeast of Iran. The glass artifacts of this a major renaissance, from many rock-reliefs and Museum of Iran belonging to Iranian Cultural Heritage, city were imported to faraway cities such as Gorgan decorative stuccoes to personal ornaments, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization. The building and Rey.

The bust of a male personage, or gilded vessels, textiles, stamp seals with exquisite was renovated and reopened in 1996. In the summer The metalwork of this period followed the former Hajiabad, Fars, Sasanian designs, and last but not least, beautifully executed of 2006, another restoration and reconstruction phase Sassanian style in Tabarestan and Rey. In the year The Sasanids were from Persia - the homeland of and realistic images on coins. Several examples of began and the new museum was reopened in 2015. 640 AD a type of silver coins (Arab-Sassanid) was the Achaemenids - and therefore had claim the different categories if Sasanian artifacts are on display The ground floor was allotted for the auditorium and produced, on which the face of the Sassanian king was Achaemenid Persian legacy. Once the Arsacids had in the Museum hall. the temporary exhibition hall. The Islamic artifacts accompanied by Kufic inscriptions of “Besmellah” lost their divine mandate due to multiple defeats The Sasanids succeeded in creating another golden are exhibited chronologically in first and second at the hands of the Romans, the Sasanids, under the age in Iran but, towards the end of the dynasty, floors. The first floor houses the holy Quran hall, and ambitions Ardashir I, a local dynast from the city of incessant war with the Romans, as well as internal artifacts of the Timurid, Safavid, Afshar, Zand and Istakhr, not far from Persepolis, rose in rebellion and feuds over the imperial throne, and economic Qajar periods while the second floor contains the defeated Artabanus V, the last Arsacid king-of-kings. problems due to salinization of agricultural land in early Islamic, Saljuq and Ilkhanid periods. A large They established a new dynasty, called the Sasanids, Khuzestan and Mesopotamia (the bread-baskets of number of objects in these exhibition halls come from named after Sasan, the grandfather of Ardeshir I, the Empire) exhausted the Sasanid Empire and made archeological excavations and famous collections evidently the chief priest of the temple of the goddess it an easy prey for mounted tribesmen emerging from such as those from Sheikh Saffi Al-Din Ardebili. Anahita in Istakhr. Arabia and bringing with them the message of Islam. The early Islamic artifacts show remarkable influences Unlike the Arsacids, the Sasanids strived to create a The murder of Yazdgird III and the escape of what by the Sassanian art, which makes it difficult to centralized and homogenous empire that allowed them was left of the Sasanid royal family to China in the distinguish the early Islamic style from that of the to embark on a far more aggressive approach towards mid-seventh century CE marks the fall of the Sasanid Sasanian. During the late 8th and early 9th A. D., the Romans, pushing them back across the Euphrates, dynasty and the end of ancient Iran, only to be artists utilized the Kufic inscriptions of the Quran as followed by yet another glorious period under Islam. Tile, Neyshabur, Khorasan Razavi, 16th – 17th centuries AD ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS sometimes even farther west. The new Sasanid the first decorative element of the Islamic art. This

36 37 and “Besmell- ah-e Rabbi” most of the industrial art centers were damaged or rewrote the book in 1347 AD. This book was registered period and the following early Timurid period, the art that is, “in the name of lost their importance, resulting in the relocation of in 2008 as a world heritage. of tile making reached its most sophisticated stage God” and “in the name artists moved to northern Mesopotamian cities. During the Ilkhanid period, under the Islamic by the development of the “Moarraq” technique. In of God, our Lord.” On the In addition, the art , which was formed in inspirations and influence, a number of beautiful this technique, artists used white, dark blue, yellow, obverse of such coins the eastern Iran, developed in the western regions and Mihrabs (prayer niches) were constructed; these turquoise and green colors. The technique of Moarraq name of Sassanian king the Iranian style in metallurgy was expanded in some architectural elements were decorated with stucco flourished during the 15th century A.D. in Mashhad with Pahlavi inscriptions cities such as Mosul. Bronze objects inlaid with gold working and tiles. The most elegant example, dated to and Esfahan. Under glazed painting, monochrome was retained. A few and silver decorations were prevalent. The motifs Pottery deep bowl Neyshabur, 1329 AD was found in the Oshtorjan Jame in and blue and white potteries with different Iranian decades later, coins were Khorasan Razavi Razavi 9th consisted of royal scenes accompanied with Kufic and l0th centuries A.D. . and Chinese motives were also common. minted without the face Naskh inscriptions. The center of art and architecture was relocated

of Sasanian kings. During the year 696 AD, the Dinar In addition to the Minaii ware, the most beautiful ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 from Herat to and then to Qazvin and finally gold coins were minted on which the Tohid sura was lustre glaze wares were produced in Kashan Rey to Isfahan with the rise of the Safavids in the 16th written on one side. From the year 698 AD, production and Soltan Abad. The motifs on the vessels show century AD During this period, in addition to academic of the Arab-Sassanid coins was abandoned. humans with Mongol faces and geometric decorations and literary texts with beautiful calligraphies and the In this hall, the visitor can Herat and Isfahan schools of paintings, very exquisite see types of the early Islamic Qurans were written in the Naskh and Solth styles of coins with the name of calligraphy with gilding decorations were produced. rulers, kings and places are Calligraphers such as Emad Al- Hasani (Mir Emad) and shown. Rey and Nishabur were two important cities for textile industry. Rey was well known because of Pair of Gold Earring, Enameled and Inlaid, Reticulated double shelled its silk and double wefted North of Iran, 19th century AD vessel, Ilkhanid Gallery, Iran fabrics, while Susa and National Museum Shushtar became famous for Masalek-al Mamalek, 1347 AD The First Floor their “Taraz” textiles. The oldest textile in this hall is accompanied with Persian poems. A limited number a piece of double face silk cloth that was discovered of the Seljuq styles such as the gilded lustre glaze With the formation of the Timurid Dynasty in the late from the Rey excavation; this fabric was decorated painted and Minaii wares and glass objects were 14th and early 15th A.D., its Samarqand with Sassanid motifs along-ide the Kufic inscriptions. also produced in this period. Furthermore, a type of became a major center for art and architecture. Timur The art of the Ilkhanid period illustrates a deep reticulated double shelled vessel was also produced invited most of the contemporary glassblowers to influence of the Persian during the Ilkhanid period. Samarqand; consequently, Samarqand became the on the non-Iranian Coincided with Khajeh Rashid-al Din, the Persian glass art center of the period. Timur’s sons, Shahrokh, cultures. The Mongol minster of the Mongol dynasty of Ilkhanids, the art of Ologh Beyk and Baysonghor Mirza encouraged invasion in the early 13th bookbinding was developed and a number of exquisite different industries and arts, especially bookbinding. AD caused a setback in decorated books were created. The apex of these arts were calligraphy, illuminating, art; however, beginning Calligraphers such as Ahmad Sohrevardi, Yaghut bookbinding and paper industry. with the rule of Qazan Mosta’semi and Arghon Kameli played an important One of the most important achievements of the Khan, a development in role in the development of calligraphy. One of the Timurid period was the emergence of Herat School the social and economic magnificent books on geography, written by Abu of painting. During this period, Herat, Tabriz, Kashan spheres, the artistic Bronze candlestick inlaid with Es’haq Ebrahim ben Mohammad Farsi Estakhri (alias silver, Bouzinjerd, Hamadan, and Kerman were the most important centers for Folio from Holy Quran probably singed productions were increased. 12th-13th centuries AD Karkhi), was Masalek al Mamalek. Abolmahasen textile and carpet industries. At the end of the Ilkhanid by Baysonghor Mirza, 15th century AD 19th century AD

ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS With the Mongol invasion, Mohammad Ibn-i Nakhjavani (alias Ibn-e Savoji)

38 39 Alireza Abbasi created wonderful works of art. One who built a number public, citadels, and religious Quran. In this hall, some copies belong to the early of the most beautiful Nastaliq calligraphies was the buildings in Shiraz. Islamic period and were written on parchment. One Quranic Hamd sura by Mir Emad. Some of arts such as carpet weaving industry of the most interesting Qurans has Ali-Ibn-i Abitaleb’s The beginning of the oil painting was contemporaneous developed noticeably. The workshops in Kerman, signature. with the end of Miniature paintings in this period. Kashan, Arak, Isfahan produced beautiful carpets. In The Qurans in this hall are written in Kufic, Naskh, Exquisite pen cases and mirror frames were produced. Isfahan velvet weaving and cashmere art in Kerman Reyhan, Mohaghegh, Solth and Ghobar script. In The Isfahan school of painting developed, which was and Qalamkar (Calico) were common. The short inter- the center of this hall, a large page of the Quran, an Iranian school and was different from the Timurid episodes of political events during the Afshar and written by Baysonghor Mirza, is shown. This Quarn ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 schools. Zand dynasties had profound impact on formation was brought by Nader Shah from Herat to Ghuchan. During the Safavid period calligraphy either directly of the Qajar period. The Afshar and Zand art styles It is assumed that he carried the Quran in front of written (calico/ghalamkar) on or woven into textiles had deep relationship to their former cultures on the his army for protection. Unfortunately, some of the developed. In this hall, a piece of textile with Quran one hand, and were influenced by social and political pages of this Quran were burnt in his wars and other verses is shown, in which the sentences are written situations of their era, on the other. pages are scattered in various museums. in the Kufic, Solth, Ghobar and Naskh script and In the 18th and 19th centuries some arts such as inlay is decorated with lapis lazuli, vermilion, gold and and mirror-work on wood as well as gilded iron and saffron. This textile was created by Yusof Al-Ghobari Minakari (enamel working and decorating metals by the order of the king Shah Tahmasb as a votive with colorful and baked coats) were produced. During of Abolfath Mirza Shah Esmaiel Safavi in order to the Qajar period metallurgy, especially steel working

present it to the of Sheikh Saffi Al-Din Ardebili, Page of calligraphy signed and weapon technology also developed. The Safavid his ancestor tomb. by Emad al – Hasani,17th century AD art of “seven-color” glazed tiles continued into this

Another example is related to calligraphy on textile, He endowed all these vessels to his ancestor’s shrine, period as well. the famous Shirt of Ayat Al-Korsi (victory Sheikh Saffi Al-Din Ardebili. Most of the vessels Historical themes, portraits of kings and princes and of garment), also known as “Nad-e Ali” Shirt. This exhibited in this hall bear the Shah Abbas’s endowment natural scenes were the main subjects of paining, but shirt had phylactery function and was used seal. During the Ilkhanid and Timurid periods the he style was heavily influenced by the contemporary in the case of sickness problems and even in wars glass working art was forgotten in most of the cities European style. Such subjects also appeared on pen under armors to protect its owner from dangers. in Iran. When Shah Abbas was presented with Venice holders, mirror frames and murals. Carpet weaving industry and art decorated with glasses, he invited the glassblower masters to Iran to In the style of painting known as Qahveh Khaneh images of flowerpots, garden scenes, inscriptions, recreate this art and industry in Shiraz and Isfahan. (Coffee shop style), epic scenes from the , Mihrab (prayer niche) as well as bergamot motifs Also presented in this hall are a number of beautiful particularly those of the battle of Rustam and Sohrab, reached their zenith. Carpets made of silk, metal Moarraq tiles, which were different from the former were common, and became a separate artistic tread and wool ware was also made and developed. Timurid types, were produced. The “Haft Rang Tile” genre. The art of calligraphy further developed by In addition, a number of beautiful metal repousse and or seven colors tile was characteristic in this period. the invention of the cursive Nastaliq script. The fenestrated works were created in the workshops of Generally, a number of different colors were utilized appearance of stone press resulted in the production western Iran and Isfahan. Furthermore, the industry to paint this type of tile. of illustrated books. of blue and white pottery was common in Kerman, Although the Qajar period artifacts do not show the In the Islamic culture, Quran is considered as the Mashhad and Yazd. high level of elegance of their Safavid predecessors. main base of different activities of the believers. Shah Abbas was interested in the blue and white For this reason, the space under the central of Nevertheless, Shiraz, in a limited way, played a similar Stucco mihrab tame’ Mosque, Oshtorjan Isfahan, 1308AD porcelain and started to collect exquisite examples. role to Isfahan during the rule of Karim Khan Zand, the Islamic museum’s first floor is allocated to the ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

40 41 National Art Museum of Iran The First Specialized Museum in Iran ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 By Mahshid Ilkhani1, Monir Daraei2 , Manijeh Hadian Dehkordi3

Introduction During the ups and downs of history of Iran, art has sprouted, a bird sang on a tree, a river roared or water been one of the greatest traits and achievements whispered, an image was drawn on a canvas, or woven of Iranian history and one of the many gifts of the on a carpet and a new design emerged in the ancient Iranian people to the world history. Iranian art, with texture of Iranian art. all its familiar colors and characteristics, has survived The National Art Museum has collected such beautiful thousands of historical challanges and still continues samples; it has simply presented such art so as to 1Research Institute for Cultural Heritage & Tourism, Email: [email protected]. to shine upon our borders. Iranian art reflects the preserve and transfer it to futhre generations and also 2 Director of National Art Museum of Iran. passionate life of the country. Wherever grass 3 Research Institute for Cultural Heritage & Tourism. pave the way for the potential followers of this way. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

42 43 History

From 1811 to 1813, during the reign of Fathali Shah (the Qajar king), there was a great garden in Tehran Till half a century ago, extending from the now called Hedayat Street in the north to Baharestan Square in the south. The royal palace there was a large circular and government departments were all constructed in this large garden. Negarestan castle and garden palace marble pond between complex (Fig 1) was built through the efforts made by the experienced art masters of that time, including the pillars into which Abdollah Khan and Agha-Jani Esfahani. Today, only a fragment of the palace and garden has survived which has the water was flowing been home to the National Art Museum of Iran since 1888 (Fig 2). from inside th‌e pillars, creating a beautiful Fig 3: View of National Art Museum of Iran landscape. his father was an experienced and literate man who The cross-shaped building of museum built in the first was much concerned about training of his children,

half of the thirteenth century was reconstructed into especially Abdolhossein. Master Taherzadeh Behzad ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 the form of a rectangular, with some parts added to was very interested in painting since childhood. the northern and southern edges, to both fit its new Before the establishment of the National Art Museum, function as museum and provide more space for the he was appointed as the director of the Carpet Designing contemporary artists (Fig:3). Institute, head of the Ancient Arts department and also In 1930, “The school of Ancient Industries” including school of Fine Arts in 1929. For many years, he worked National Art Museum of Iran and National Arts so hard to produce large paintings and decorate of the Administration was established with the intention of Marble Palace and other palaces. reviving and renewing the national and traditional Also master Hadi Tadjvidi (1893 Isfahan-1939 Tehran, a arts of Iran throught the efforts made by Hossein teacher at Kamalolmolk school, in an exam held among Taherzadeh Behzad. several artists including Master Hossein Behzad and Master Taherzadeh Behzad was born in Tabriz in master Naeb in Iranian miniature, was selected as the 1887 in a religious family and according to he himself, first miniature teacher that school.

Fig 1: Negarestan Garden

Fig 4: Panoramic View of the Museum Interior.

Aesthetics & Structure of Building decorative screws on its body symbolizing flowers in The buildings plan with its cross-shaped design and the a pot. The museum floor of the is covered by carpets surrounding four alcoves (royal seats) leads directly similiar to the works of the masters carpet artists, to the garden without any doors and windows. Its thus complementing the values of the unique building

ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS dome-shaped is set on four pillars using sixteen (Fig.4). Fig 2: Façade of National Art Museum.

44 45 The buildings exterior has been decorated with bricks and seven-colored tiles (Fig. 5), but the building’s interior has been ornamented with white and blue plastering (Fig. 6). However, the new interior architectural levels are painted based on the old and original design of plastering (Fig. 7). The outside plinths and pillars of are made of stone. Covering an area of around 560 meters, the museum

is now in the of the Ministry of Culture and Fig 5: Facade decorations. Fig 9-1: Sculpture of the flutist by Abolhassan Khan Seddighi Islamic Guidance in Tehran. The museum collection comprise of the best samples The flutist looks at the museum with a live look while of national arts created during the recent years in the he tucks up his lips for playing the flute. It seems country in the fileds such as miniature, ‌illuminated he tries to make the viewer see the days when he ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 manuscript, Khātam, tiling, carpet weaving, textile, roamed in Baharestan Street and played the flute. brocade, velvet weaving and enamel. The flutist’s sculpture put on the left side of Space A is the work of Abolhassan Khan Seddighi, the student of Kamalolmolk. It is made of plaster and put on a Fig 9-2: Sculpture of the flutist by Abolhassan Khan Seddighi Exhibition Spaces & the Museum Objects wooden base (Fig. 9-1, 9-2). All of the 1000 objects of the museum have been created Fig 6: Interior decorations. and painted by artists of the surrounding workshops and . Some of these objects have been consigned The left side of the entrance of the museum is the visitor enters the main space of the museum (Fig. to other countries such as Germany and England or decorated by a tableau with tiles at the background. 10) and can see pure Iranian art by watching the azure transferred to other museums of the country such as These tiles, bearing the familiar design of the Iranian of the museum decorated ith white plastering. Khoy, Rezaeei, Abadan, Sanandaj, Kashan, , carpet, were made about fifty years ago by artists of Most of these works are memorials of the surrounding Decorative Arts, the Audiovisual Organization and the studios around the museum. Furthermore, at the studios such as khatam, woodcarving, ceramic, Qazvin museums. left side of the entrance, there is a tableau put close to painting (including miniature, illuminating, and So presently, there are 563 objects on display in 11 Fig 7: Old plastering vs. painting based on the origin. the that shows samples of woods used in mosaic design of carpet), rug weaving, brocade weaving, and exhibits in this museum (Fig. 8). These objects are made and woodcarving. velvet weaving studios. of ordinary and painted wood, metal, textile, ceramic, Having passed the mihrab vault made by lattice woods, khātam, mosaic, leather, enamel, glass and oil painting Fig 10: Space ‘A’ & entrance of the main space. and also includes minature works and exquisite carpets. have been placed To enter the museum, there is a which has been tiling and it is based on a large wooden door with glass grid. Two doors that were made more than sixty years ago decorate the two sides of the museum’s entrance. Woodcarving curtain rods placed on the top of the doors and the cameo velvet curtains made by artists in the museum studios protect the doors. In the right side of the entrance of the museum (space A), the statue of Haj Moghbel (the negro, happy flutist who used to play flute in Baharestan St. about seventy years ago) welcomes the visitors.

Museum Plan.

ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS Fig 8:

46 47 Fig 11-1: Space D Fig 11-2: Space D Fig 15: Samples of objects in space F. As indicated on the museum plan, Space B is located The exhibited objects in the space E are: a vitrine in the The next exhibition named space F on the plan is wooden, painted partition and a vitrine exhibiting

on the right side of the entrance and is dedicated to left corner, work of Iranian woodcarving (Monabat- ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 located in the right side of exhibition E. These objects metallic works made of silver as well as miniatures. the museum storage. The objects stored here include: Moaragh), a desk made of walnut wood, painted stone have been exhibited here: khatam wooden works, a miniature paintings, rolled brocade weaving fabrics, pillars, a round eight-person wooden table along with oil paintings, tiling tableaues, ceramics, books and chairs decorated with oysters and bones, miniatures, The miniature painting “ring of dervishes” or papers, painted wooden doors, albums, wooden boxes, a wooden khatam door, a khatam buffet, a metallic In Space G, located in the left side of Space E, these Fig 17: mysticism including 28 faces, Size: 37.5 × 28.5 cm, By sofas and metal boxes. table covered with watercolor paintings, a woodcarved objects have been exhibited: a big woodcarved Abotaleb Moghimi Tabrizi, 1966, Item No. 876, National Art Museum of Iran, Space G. The museum’s administration is located in Space (Monabat- Moaragh) cupboard (Fig. 13, 14). (Monabat- Moaragh) table made of walnut wood, C located on the left side of the museum entrance. A miniatures and paintings (Fig. 16, 17). desk, wooden vitrine, library, heating system and the CCTV system are to be found in this area. In Space D, there is a dome-shaped, wood-carved entrance. Here, the have been decorated with white plastering on a blue background. The objects exhibited in this section are: miniatures paintings, a wooden khatam desk and a wood-carved desk made of walnut wood (Fig. 11-1,11-2 & 12). Fig 13: General view of Space E.

After space E, there is a (Space H) where the following objects are on display: a glass desk with khatam wooden base ‌and a khatam wooden chair as well as miniature paintings (Fig. 18, 19).

Fig 19: Miniature painting named “the story of and Bijan”, Size: 36/5 × 22 cm., By Abotaleb Moghimi Tabrizi, Fig 12: The miniature painting named “Shah Abbas’s 1936, Item No. 7, National Art meeting with artists of the time” with 39 faces, National Museum of Iran, Space H. Art Museum of Iran, Space D. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS Fig 14: The khatam wooden display cabinets, the group Fig 18: Space H work of Sanie Khatam Shirazi’s ,1941, Space E.

48 49 50 ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS wooden table, a khatam wooden table with khatam wooden table,akhatamtablewith vitrines withsilverworksandenamel,fabrics,apainted the followingobjectsareexhibited:paintedwooden sides ofthehallway.TheleftroomisnamedJwhere After SpaceH,therearetworoomslocatedonboth woodcarved wooden lattice frame, a table with tiling woodcarved woodenlatticeframe,atablewithtiling wooden chairs,twohalvesofapainteddoor, Fig 21:Khatam wooden dressing-table, Created by agroup f rit ne h uevso fMaster Sanie Khatam, of under the supervision artists of 91 ainlAtMsu fIran,Space J. Museum of 1941, National Art Fig 20:Space J metalworks, carpets,bigpotterypots,woodcarving- wooden tableau,paintedvitrinescontaining are: avitrinewithmetalworks,woodcarved-mosaic extension namedSpaceI.Theobjectsondisplayhere The roomontherightsideofSpaceHispart 21, 22). cover andawoodentablemadeofwalnutwood(Fig.20, yHjMraAh mm,Ntoa r uemo Iran, Museum of by HajMirzaAgha Emami,NationalArt The fuel mosaic-leather (Soukht-Moaragh) madeFig 22:The Space J. & Majnoon” depicting 22figures,& Majnoon”depicting Size:30 × 20, created by Fg2:Mnauepitn tesoyo Lilly of Down, Left: Fig 24:Miniature painting “the story Master HosseinAltafi in1951,.Item No. 85,National Art Above, Right: Fig 25:Space K uemo Iran, Space I. Museum of Fig 23:Space I and colorasthehall’splastering(Fig.25). a woodcarvedchair,paintedfollowingthesamestyle miniature paintings,and khatam woodendecorations, following objectsareexhibited:amihrabtablewith At theendofhall,thereisSpaceKwhere basin section(Fig.23,24). created followingthesamestyleofplasteringin works. Thisareaisdecoratedwithwallpaintings mosaic woodenclosets,tilingtableaus,andminiature Museums Journal,WinterVol12. country”, the of view “Museum’s Shirazi, Bagher,1972, • arts, Officeofculturalstudiesand planning and culture of Ministry Tehran: Iran, of museums the about • Generaladministrationofmuseums (1971),Information culture andarts. the expansionofmuseuminIran,Tehran:Ministry • Generaladministrationofmuseums(1971),Foundationfor References:

51 ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 National Museum of the Republic of

Kazakhstan ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019

The National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the youngest and largest museum in Central Asia. The museum was established in the framework of “Cultural Heritage” State Program on behalf of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.

A View of the Hall of the Modern Art ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

52 53 The Decree of the Government of the Republic largest. of Kazakhstan #675, on the establishment of the In the atrium of the National Museum, monumental Museum Sections Republican State Institution “National Museum of works of the Kazakhstan artist Erbolat Tolepbay are the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Ministry of Culture installed, as well as a series of epic panels “Magic of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, was issued on 2 July El”, consisting of 12 parts, is reflected in the triptych Hall of Ancient & Medieval History 2013. “Zhakarkan Dala”, “Akurykai”, “Takdyr”. The main

The museum is located on the main square of highlight of the museum’s atrium was a soaring bird Kazakhstan is a country with rich historical and Iron Age and the Middle Ages. the country - the Independence Square, which of golden color, symbolizing freedom, loyalty and cultural past which is located in the heart of Eurasia. There are more than 500 exhibits out of 5000 on harmoniously blends into one single architectural courage. The stylized silhouette of the golden eagle

Long-term surveys conducted by Kazakh scientists view, which remain deposited in the holdings and are ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 ensemble with the Kazakh Eli (Kazakh Land) reflects the desire of the sovereign state to reach the across the country helped gather rich and unique gradually replenished by the researchers. The display monument, the Independence Palace, the Palace of heights of world civilization. material perfectly illustrating the ancient and begins with demonstration of historical development Peace and Harmony, the “Hazret Sultan” mosque and The museum has stylistically distinct halls or mini- medieval history of Kazakhstan, which can be seen in of humanity when the basic tools and weapons were the National University of Arts. museums within, including the Hall of Independent the exhibition hall on the second floor of the National made of stone. Modern vision of life of the Kazakhs’ With its unusual external form called by Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, the Ethnographic Hall, the Hall of Gold, Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. ancestors is based on studying dwelling sites, caves, President “a new masterpiece of contemporary the Hall of Modern Art, the Hall of Astana and others. The archaeological collection introduces visitors to grottoes, workshops and quarries where stone tools - architecture”, the museum building is eye-catching. Touchscreens in Kazakh, English and Russian help the history, economy, religion, crafts, architecture of the remnants of human labour - have survived. Covering more than 74,000 square metres consisting visitors navigate the museum and there are electronic tribes inhabiting the territory of Kazakhstan during A horse was first domesticated on the territory of of 7 blocks of variable number of floors (from 2 to and multimedia exhibits along with more traditional four eras including the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Early Kazakhstan. In Botaisk settlement in the north of 8 floors), the museum is already among the world’s displays in each hall. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS Exterior view of the National Museum of the Republic of Kazkahstan.

54 55 Hall of History

Kazakhstan a large number of artefacts have been From the 6th century A.D. onwards, the territory discovered which are associated with domestication of Kazakhstan was crossed by the Great Silk Road. of a horse, a fact that played a vital role for people In the middle of the 14th century, a powerful living in Kazakhstan for interrelationship and further state was established in Central Asia by Timur and development of cultures of the entire Eurasian construction of towns and mausoleums began in the ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 continent. unprecedented scale for that time. The exposition In the Bronze Age, Kazakhstan was one of the major ends with the restored medieval streets and iconic centres for extraction of nonferrous metallurgy architecture of Kazakhstan, where the shows a functioning during 2nd - beg. of 1st millennium BC. magnificent architectural complex of Khoja Ahmed Original economic-cultural type of nomadism started Yasawi. Entering this part of the exhibition, a visitor to take shape in the early Iron Age, and it replaced the can get to the so-called medieval market and plunge agricultural and pastoral settled life of the Bronze Age. into the atmosphere of the time. Touch-sensitive In the Middle Ages, the territory of Kazakhstan entered stands introduce Kazakhstan’s ancient and medieval the Western Turkic Khanate. Medieval nomads being architecture and the towns along the Silk Road. the Turks left stone sculptures for their descendants, The exhibition hall also displays objects from other which are silently looking at the visitors keeping the countries that have been found in the medieval towns mysteries of the past. of Kazakhstan.

The centuries-old history of the Kazakh people photographs of 18th – 19th centuries and rare books. is presented in History Hall which is loaded with The exhibition covers all periods of Kazakhstan’s important historical and sometimes crucial relics. The history and “Kazakhstan in the USSR” time has not exposition begins with the presentation of the Kazakh become the exception. “Kazakhstan in the USSR” state emergence in East Dasht-i-Kipchak, Semirechye exposition is located on the second floor of the and Turkestan. History Hall, with all sections reflecting the key Original, unique spiritual and material culture of the events of different historical periods of the country. Kazakh people including lyrical and epic poems, zhyrau The hall is equipped with modern multi-media art, akyns as well as the images of great thinkers of technologies. Via its ‘Glass vision’ media equipment, steppe are reflected in the exhibition. Here, the most the History Hall exposition provides the visitors with interesting things to arouse the visitors’ interest are some themed videos that naturally complement the armature of Kazakh warriors: altyn dulyga – a material and documentary showpieces of the golden helmet, aibalta, bows and arrows, maces and a Hall. Moreover, nine screens broadcast videos on matchlock gun. historical events from 1917 to 1986. The hall also First exhibited are oriental miniatures collected has interactive tables, where visitors will be able to during the implementation of the state program obtain information about the exhibits of the History called “Cultural Heritage”; a renovated shapan (vest) Hall, and get acquainted with the biographies of belonging to Kazbek -biy, ceramic bowls, unique prominent figures of specific periods of time. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

56 57 Hall of Ethnography

of the Kazakh people. In the hall, a wall projector shows visuals of the culture and traditions of the Kazakh people, based on documentary photos and video footage. Visitors can also get complete information about the design ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 and build order and installation of the traditional felted home from the video projected on the glass (Glass Vision). A special place in the exhibition hall is occupied by a hologram presenting the visitor a unique work of art of Kazakh masters. Four stalls located in the hall provide background information on traditional dwelling of the Kazakh people, arts and crafts, traditional culture and traditional foods. In such a way, the exhibition hall shows the millennial distinctive Kazakh culture, embodied in a stable system of the nation’s material and spiritual values that have survived to modern times.

Located on the third floor of the National Museum, tanning, weaving and carpet making, embroidery the Hall is dedicated to the traditional material and as well as works of ironmongery and jewelry clearly spiritual culture of the Kazakh people, their economic reflect the depth of knowledge and philosophical order, in which the overwhelming importance outlook of the Kazakh masters. belonged to nomadic herding combined with settled Ethnography hall is equipped with an innovative agriculture, where demonstration of fishing and technique that allows showing material and spiritual hunting objects reveals features of multifaceted culture of the Kazakh people. In the centre of the economic and cultural lifestyle of the Kazakhs. Hall above the traditional, portable, felt dwelling of The traditional, portable, felt dwelling of nomadic nomadic Kazakh people, there is a projected effect of Kazakh people displayed in the exposition is one of the the sky, a circumferentially mounted circular screen cultural aspects of Kazakh life that have absorbed all (Circle Vision), which shows a video with images of aspects of social, cultural, legal and regulatory forms of a traditional village. These audio-visual techniques the society’s life. Spiritual culture of Kazakh people is create the effect of reality and presence of a viewer in shown through objects of music, household and ritual a Kazakh village under traditional natural landscape culture, attributes of religious beliefs and practices. environment, and allows the audience to experience a Unique products of felt, bone-carving art, woodwork, sense of belonging to a priceless centuries-old culture ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

58 59 Hall of Independent Kazakhstan Hall of Gold ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019

The Hall’s exposition is aimed at highlighting the development of the country’s economy, science Established to display Kazakhstan’s gold masterpieces Following the principle of historicism and respecting historic role of the first President of the Republic of and culture to date through exposition of volume to the world community, the Hall of Gold is a treasury the chronological order, the Hall of Gold exposes such Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in establishing layouts of Proton-M rocket and KAZSAT-2 Kazakh and collection of gold and unique highly-valued rarities as a gold earring from the Mayemer burial and strengthening the independent state, adoption of satellite that reflect the achievement and potential of artifacts found in the territory of Kazakhstan. On (East Kazakhstan), more than 200 apparel items of the new attributes and symbols of the sovereign republic, Kazakhstan in the space industry. display there are gold products covering the time “Golden Man” from the grave called Taldi-2 , 7th – 6th demarcation and delimitation of the state border, The history of the country is being presented in wide period from the Bronze Age to the . centuries BC (Karaganda oblast), and among them maintaining the integrity and unity of the democratic and diversified thematic complexes. By utilizing the The main part consists of golden ware from the Saki there are more than 1,800 gold ornaments in the state and the recognition of Kazakhstan as an equal latest hardware, thematic exposition complexes archaeological finds. form of fish flakes and more than 20,000 small golden member of the international community. clearly show the path of Kazakhstan since becoming Hall of Gold is divisible into two sections. Most striking ornaments. Golden ornaments of Kargali and Zhalauly The Hall reflects the history of independent a new state, implementing political and economic manifestation of the culture of early nomads in Saki treasures are displayed as splendid patterns of metal Kazakhstan since the proclamation of the republic as reforms, construction of a new industry, foreign time, aesthetic approach to the world around them, and ancient Usun and Kangly people. an independent state in 1991 to date. The exhibition policy achievements, reforms in education and is the “Scythian triad” - standard models of weapons, The main exhibit at the exhibition is the “Golden presents the state symbols of the Republic of science, culture and sport. horse harnesses and art objects. Each of these cultural Man” (dating back to 5th – 4th centuries BC), which Kazakhstan: the emblem, anthem, flag and Standard Large LED-screens and touch screen stalls display components is impressively represented in the was found during excavations of ‘Issyk’ barrow by a of the President, Kazakhstan’s Constitution adopted historical photographs and materials as well as objects found in the famous Saki cemeteries. group of archaeologists led by Kemal Akishev. The in 1995 as the fundamental law of the Republic. infographics reflecting the implementation of all A special place in the exposition is given to piece is a striking sample of Saki art’s “animal style” A separate section is devoted to state medals of the Messages of the President of the Republic of reconstruction model of genuine human grave in and includes more than four thousand gold products Kazakhstan, banknotes, types of passports and stamps Kazakhstan in the field of foreign and domestic policy burial structures. Good examples are the models of made in various techniques like forging, stamping, issued in Kazakhstan, and so on. since independence. the king’s barrow Baigetobe and the famous Issyk engraving and granulating. The scientists consider In addition, one can see a demonstration of the burial. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

60 61 Hall of Astana

the golden jewelry of ancient nomads equivalent to had previously been sacked, one discovered valuable the world’s masterpieces. Today, the Issyk “Golden materials, amounting to more than 4,000 gold ornaments Man” is known throughout the world having become and garment items. Larger golden jewelry comprise of a sensation and a symbol of independent Kazakhstan. 360 units. The latest “Golden Man” – a Sarmatian woman – was Exhibited Savromat and Sarmatian golden jewelry from found in West Kazakhstan in Taksai-1 mound complex and Segizsay area (Lebedevka), the Middle Ages gold jewelry ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 is one of the most surprising findings of archaeologists, from Kokmardan and Shauelder, the findings of the which manifests the wealth and power of the ancient Turkic-era burial Karakystak, products from Shengeldy Scythians. In the cemetery, there were also found apparel and archeological golden finds from Turkic ritual items, fragments of a pointed headdress, a crest depicting complex Sarykol are also of interest to the visitors. Each a chariot with a couple of characters. item found allows a better understanding of the history Special place in the exhibition belongs to the Baigetobe of Kazakhstan and also detail certain historical processes burial in the Shilikty complex, which is a construction and thereby causing interest and respect to the common of a complex architectural structure. The large size of history. The exhibits of the Hall of Gold are annually the king’s barrow shows the high social status of the replenished with unique items made of gold and precious deceased. According to scientists, the buried person metals discovered under the state program “Cultural is a “king - ruler.” Despite the fact that the cemetery Heritage”.

Hall of Astana is a systematic collection of the most Astana has been host to the Congress of Leaders of important legal acts, exhibits, documentary photo World and Traditional Religions, Astana Economic materials reflecting the history of Astana formation Forum, and other internationally significant events; and development as the capital of independent OSCE Summit, anniversary summits of SCO and OIC, Kazakhstan. The materials are presented in newsreel participants and guests of VII Asian Winter Games, and documentaries within 9 Halls and 16 stalls etc. The capital is in friendly and twin-city relations allowing the visitors to trace the history of the city with more than twenty cities around the world. In July from antiquity to modern era and placed. of 1999, Astana was handed UNESCO Award “Cities for The halls include: «Ancient and Medieval history of the Peace”. Since 2000, the main city of Kazakhstan is a capital», «Akmolinsk in XIX-XX centuries», «Astana member of the International Assembly of Capitals is the new capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan», and Cities. In a short time, the new capital, which was «Architectural look of the capital», «Economy, born by the First President of Kazakhstan, acquired industry and transport», «Education, public health the status of a national idea, became a symbol of service, culture and religion», «Sport», «Greenbelt», independence and the global success of the young «Astana in the centre of international, world and state. Eurasian policy». ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

62 63 Other Facilities Hall of Modern Art

In order to the national heritage, the museum programs in the form of interactive sessions and The exhibition in the Hall of Modern Art includes has a Research Institute. There are also children’s gaming excursions. ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 works of artists of different genres created by various museum and art centre, two showrooms, restoration The National Museum aims to become a modern generations, whose work belongs to the most relevant workshops, laboratories, professional depositories, a intellectual cultural institution, a place for analysis, areas of the fine arts of Kazakhstan. scientific library with a reading , a conference comparison, reflection, discussion, and evaluation Here, graphics are also represented by the works of hall and souvenir stalls. of statements on historical and cultural heritage of the most famous representatives of this period. Their The museum is fitted out with equipment of Kazakhstan. Contemporary museum is always an genre preferences are diverse - from historical to international standard using modern exhibition open dialogue with the visitor. This museum has everyday genre, landscape, portrait. Also important technology for expositions .The museum has been done everything possible to make its visitors active is the fact that the exhibition has all kinds of this art: developing various kinds of excursions - survey participants in the conversation with the history. watercolor, drawing, etching, lithography, linocut. and thematic, philosophical – and organizes special

References: •‘Museum History’. Retrieved December 9, 2018 from http://nationalmuseum.kz. •‘Inside The Biggest Museum in Central Asia’. Retrieved December 9, 2018 from https://weproject. kz/articles/detail/vnutri-samogo-bolshogo- muzeya-v-tsentralnoy-azii/. •Amirova, Kamila. ‘National Museum of Kazakhstan - a reflection of past, present and future’. Retrieved December 9, 2018 from https://strategy2050.kz/. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

64 65 National Museum of Fine Arts

Kyrgyz ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 Republic

Named after Gapar Aytiev, the Museum is Beginning with the first Republican exhibition ’s main art treasury. The Picture in 1934, the museum’s funds are systematically Gallery, later renamed the Kyrgyz State Museum replenished with works by Kyrgyz artists. of Fine Arts, was opened on January 1, 1935. The To date, the museum collection has about 18 basis of the museum collection were 72 works of thousand items of storage. The structure of the Russian artists, received from the State Tretyakov collection is based on the types of fine arts – Gallery and the People’s Commissariat of the paintings (about 4 thousand exhibits), graphics RSFSR, personally selected by the founder of the (about 9600), sculptures (about 1 thousand), arts museum, the founder of the Kyrgyz painting, S. A. and crafts (more than 3 thousand). Chuikov. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

66 67 Museum Sections

Decorative & Applied Arts The department of arts and crafts was formed in 1967. , embroidery (tush-kiyiz, tekche, ayak-cap), men’s and Alakiyiz has the softness of plastic forms and a major From the stems of the chia reed plant growing near The basis for its creation was the exhibits transmitted women’s clothing, jewelry (balerik, topchu, soyko, combination of colors. In contrast to the labor- the mountain lakes, special mats were made — ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 in the 40-50s from the central museums - the State etc.), horse items (terdik, tokum, dzhulpoch) and intensive shyrdak, when colored layers of felt are screens (ashkana), which separated the economic Tretyakov Gallery, the Hermitage, State Museum of modern decorative art. harvested, the pattern is cut and sewn, the alakiyiz is part in the yurt, enclosed the walls of the yurt (rope). Arts of the Peoples of the East. Since then, over 40 Felt art is one of the most ancient. Ornamented performed by a one-time rolling in of the ornamental The most difficult thing in this kind of art is to create expeditions were organized in different regions of the shyrdaki, alakiizyz on manufacturing techniques are composition into felt. a solid piece that is folded into a carpet composition republic and about two thousand works of Kyrgyz folk different and each in its own original. The bright Weaving occupies a large place among the home from individual chia stalks braided with colored art were collected. Shyrdak makes an impression with its color and crafts. There are several types of patterned weaving - wool. According to the style of the and The collection of the museum’s braised fish is extensive composition. A clear pattern of the ornament with the terme-taar, kadzhary, beshkeshte. The most common color, chiev mats have something in common with and diverse. Currently, the department has a collection selected contour, the contrast of the background and type is terme, that is found everywhere. The color patterned fabrics and nap carpets. of more than three thousand exhibits representing all the pattern give it a graphic look. Shyrdak is made in scheme is composed of combinations of red and blue, Kyrgyz carpets - kelems and other pile products have kinds of traditional folk art - felt (shyrdak, alakiyiz, felt mosaic technique, applications, embroidery is rarely brown and orange, red and yellow, orange and blue. A their ancient origin. Original, colorful, they represent products), utensils made of wood and leather (dishes), found, although it is the most ancient type of felt woven geometric pattern consists of diamond shapes, the material culture of the South of Kyrgyzstan. fabrics, woven cloths (terme-taar, bashtyk, kurdzhun) product. triangles and polygons. Tushkiyiz is a wall carpet consisting of a field ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS Felt art of the Kyrgyz people.

68 69 of monophonic velvet fabric, silk - and a wide The tree served for the manufacture of the yurt core, folk legends. Silverware has always been revered by the identity. embroidered border on a dark background framing it chests, , and various household utensils. Kyrgyz. The decoration of a man’s suit was a belt with Modern decorative art has grown on the basis of the from above and from the sides. From the top border, The master knew well the advantages and properties silver plates (Kemer-hens). Kyrgyz women’s favorite folk art. Keeping the traditions, artists of decorative art one, two or three embroidered triangles - the tumar of each type of wood, revealing the artistic qualities, jewelry — rings (shacks), bracelets (balerik), earrings developed them, introducing new themes, mastering - fall into the middle. The color scheme, the wealth texture, and color laid down in the material itself. (soiko, iymek), buttons (treadmills), braids to pendants new types, materials and techniques, creating the image of ornamental motifs make these carpets very Thin-walled bowls were cut out of woods - an ayak, (chach-ushtuk, chach-pack, chopol) —was oval, diamond- of a new interior. D. Umetov, Sh. Mambetaipova, T. spectacular. Embroidery decorated many items in the a choychok, tobacco, emphasizing the shape with a shaped and inlaid with carnelian, coral, pearl, turquoise. Kasymov, R. Akhmatova transformed the felt, enriching yurt, embroidered clothes, decorated horse blanket. simple linear ornament. Carved pattern on the doors They contained a blackened motif of a pattern, decorated it with plot, space and texture. Artistic leather processing (Bulgaras) is a special field of the yurt, chests used for storing products plus cases, with beading, notching, engraving, openwork lining. Tapestry artists M. Abdullaev, N. Sidneva, T. Lysenko, E. ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 in Kyrgyz folk art. Domestic utensils - cocoon, tip, stands, saddles were all completed by the ornamental The large, at the same time exquisitely made decoration, Lysogorov, A. Bolokova, R. Korgoldoeva creatively made kumara - were decorated with embossed patterns, items of the nomad’s environment. looked elegant and solemnly in combination with a synthesis of cultures, creating a new Kyrgyz tapestry. which enlivened the uniform surface of the skin. Artistic processing of metal is associated with ancient the costume, emphasizing its silhouette and national Kyrgyz ceramics is represented by the names of E. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

70 71 Sculptures

Maleina, E. Kylychbekov, E. Toktogonov, B. Tenizbaeva, original compositional solutions. The museum J. Artykbaeva, D. Tashieva. In their works, the element collection contains works by jewelers V.Ruppel, of mythology is strong, traditional yet meaningful V.Syrnev, S.Dayyrbekov, I.Osmonov, L.Podjidaeva, in line with the modern trends of decorative art. and others. Spatial thinking, plastic looseness in the game with Kyrgyz decorative and applied art is still developing: ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 the material (clay) and fluency in the language of it is diverse and multifaceted, presenting a wide ceramics makes a very different type of art. panorama of new themes and forms. But the The same processes of synthesis of traditions and collection of decorative art is not limited to Kyrgyz innovations occur with other types of applied objects; It also contains remarkable monuments of art. Nowadays, artistic leather treatment is being artistic culture of the East and West. revived, in which masters V. Dudarev, I. Chalanov, A. Malenkulov and others successfully work. The art of jewelry stepped beyond the limits of the national canon. It expanded and became complicated in its forms, showing examples of very

Exhibition dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the birth of the famous sculptorist, Olga Manuilova.

The sculpture collection first formed at the end of the of the USSR. The solo works of F.Abdurakhmanov, 30s. Currently, this collection has 967 storage units. In A.Ambrazyunas, V. Borodai, L.Langinen, D.Jumadurdy, the arsenal of the fund, all types and genres of easel I.Ochiauri and other famous artists illustrate the sculpture, projects of monumental monuments as well originality of the multinational art of the former Soviet as medal art are available. Union. The museum has a valuable collection of works by Thanks to the work of the stock-purchasing commission major Russian masters who worked in the second of the museum, the spectrum of Soviet sculpture was half of the XIX and XX centuries such as E. Lansere, expanded. During the 50-60s, a number of works were A. Golubkina, S. Konenkov, I. Ginzburg, M. Vrubel, V. created abroad and in the Soviet Union by S. Konenkov Mukhina. including - “Lesovik”, “Cosmos”, marked by the seal of In the formation of the Soviet section, the Museum the artist’s popular worldview; the portrait “Athletes” was significantly supported by donations of works of and others inspired by the breath of Hellas. Later, more than a hundred authors, the Vuchetich All-Union the funds were replenished with works of Moscow Production and Art Association, exhibition funds of sculptors: E. Belashova, Y. Chernov, D. Tugarinov, the USSR Ministry of Culture and the Union of Artists animal painter A. Marz, Kazakh sculptor E. Mergenov. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

72 73 Paintings

his mark on painting. Portraits of prominent people of the republic - akyn Toktogul. Satylganov, poet Aaly Tokombaev, narrator of the national epic “Manas” Sayakbai Karalaev, etc. - demonstrate another facet of his talent. The artistic concepts of the 40s and 50s were reflected in the portraits and genre compositions created by G.Arapov, V.Puzyrevsky, K.Koshkin, O.Minkova, N.Lodyagin, G.Tupogo - visiting sculptors who worked in the republic during this period. ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 The systematic flow of works in the department of sculpture began in the late 50s and early 60s when a new generation of artists with fundamental professional training entered the Kyrgyz art scene. One of the first in this international galaxy was A. Mukhutdinov whose The paintings collection was established a year before Russian painting of the XVIII-XX centuries is almost all works are collected in the museum. the museum was opened in 1934 when a large parcel represented in the KMMI in such a way that it can serve A number of diverse works created by sculptor T. Sadykov, of 72 paintings selected by S.A. Chuikov were received. as an illustration of the history of the fine arts of Russia the leader of the national plastic school and a prominent All subsequent years, the collection was replenished by in all its chronological stages and stylistic directions. public figure who was awarded the high title of Kyrgyz the exhibition funds of the Ministry of Culture of the The collection contains 24 icons, the earliest of which, The museum is also supported by donations of artists. The Al Baatyry (People’s Hero) are also the property of the USSR and the Union of Artists of the USSR. There were “The Savior, Not Made by Hands”, dates back to the most valuable of them are the “Portrait of N. Roerich” by A. museum. repeated receipts from the State Tretyakov Gallery, the 17th century. The painting of the XVIII-XIX centuries Bukovsky and the marble composition of S. Kazaryan “The The gallery is rich in concise, realism-based works of V. Goe, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. is represented by great names such as D.G. Levitsky, Dream”. Shestopal and artistic, original plastic art of Z. Habibulin. Pushkin, the Museum of Art of the Peoples of the East, V.L. Borovikovsky, O.A. Kiprensky, A.A. Ivanov, I.K. The most informative section of the collection is Kyrgyz The works of the S. Bakashev, V. Dimov, A. Kamensky, as well as the private collections, authors and theirs Aivazovsky, the largest peredvizhniki - N.N. Ge, I.E. sculpture section, which presents an overview of the A. Voronin and the sculptor D. Heidze has contributed heirs. Repin, V.I. Surikov, A.K. Savrasov, representatives development and quality of the national plastic art aesthetic, stylistic and genre diversity to the department. The funds of the painting department comprise more of various artistic trends of the turn of the XIX-XX since when the first sculptors appeared in the country. In the 60-80s, the works of applied artists E. Kylichbekov, than 3,800 units and comprise the following sections: centuries - P.P. Konchalovsky, R.R. Falk, B.M. Kustodiev, Exhibitions comprise the main source of acquisition of E. Toktogonov, S. Amankulov were also acquired. The Western European painting, Russian and Soviet art, and K.A. Korovin, P.V. Kuznetsov and many others. the section. Most of the work was included in the meeting section of medal arts (arts and commemorative medals paintings by artists of Kyrgyzstan. The largest section Soviet paintings in the museum’s collections are widely through the State Procurement Commission of the and plaquettes) is presented by works of V. Kopotev and is the collection of Kyrgyz art which fully reflects all shown, from artists whose work began in the 19th Ministry of Culture of the Kyrgyz SSR. A. Soloviev. periods of the historical, spiritual and cultural life of century (N. M. Chernyshev, V. N. Baksheev) to 40–50 The museum houses 8 portraits and the relief In the Kyrgyz sculpture of the second half of the twentieth the republic. interesting artists (S. V. Gerasimov, A. D. Drevin, AG “Stakhanovsky slaughter” of a Hungarian immigrant century and the beginning of the 21st, all artistic trends The founder of Kyrgyz painting, S.A. Chuikov, is Tyshler) and 60-80 (V. Popkov, E. Strulev, V. Ivanov, I. L. Mesarosh, who contributed to the birth of sculpture inherent in modern world plastics (from realism to represented by 90 works, including small etudes dated Orlov, N. Nesterova). in Kyrgyzstan and founded the first sculpture studio in avant-garde currents) developed. Over the past decades, 1917-1919, parts of the famous “Kyrgyz Collective Western European painting section is very small and is Central Asia. the museum has been enriched with unique works of Farm Suite”, some of the best landscapes of the Kyrgyz represented mainly by works of unknown authors, but The extensive creative heritage of O. Manuilova was such creative individuals as V.Zukhin, D.Jolchuyev, painting such as “Autumn Jailoo” and “Touch of among them there are genuine masterpieces, such as collected in the department, which approved sculpture as a A.Sharshekeev, S.Azhiev, A.Kozhegulov, T.Mederov, Eternity”, V.V. samples represented by 17 works, and “The Woman’s Portrait” by an unknown 16th century form of fine art and gave a new impetus to its development M.Ogobaev, M.Jumaliyev, A.Turumbekov and other the first national painters, G. Aitiev and S. Akylbekov - French artist and small works by Dutch and Flemish in Kyrgyzstan. talented artists defining the current level of Kyrgyz 134 and 159 - respectively. masters. G.Aitiev, the most prominent painter of Kyrgyzstan, left sculpture. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

74 75 Graphics ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019

The funds of the graphics department of the museum came from the State Tretyakov Gallery. In 1946, the Foreign graphics are represented by engravings of arrival of young forces significantly expanded the comprise more than 7 thousand works of Kyrgyz, State Hermitage Museum transferred a small collection Chinese, Japanese and Western European masters, as boundaries of the Kyrgyz graphic arts. They brought Russian, Soviet and foreign art. of foreign graphics. In the 1960s, from the funds of well as calligraphy by contemporary Japanese artist their intellect, their interests and searches, their The first graphic works were acquired from the USSR Ministry of Culture and the A.S. Pushkin, Morimoto. The basis of the collection consists of world of images and artistic bias into art. Narkompros museum fund in 1934. These included the museum received a large collection of works by graphic works of artists of Kyrgyzstan, acquired from The collection of the department of graphics of the the watercolors of P. Radimov and N. Udaltsova, P. Russian artists of the 18th century - engravings by A. various exhibitions and authors. Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts. G. Aytiev is Pletnev and the drawings of G. Aytiev and V. Obraztsov Zubov, the Český brothers, works by masters of the The works of artists of the older generation are widely constantly updated and expanded and today, it has acquired by the Department of Arts of the Kyrgyz XIX - early XX centuries K. Bryullov, V. Makovsky, F. represented - L. Ilina, A. Mikhalev, L. Truskovsky, A. more than 7 thousand exhibits of Kyrgyz, Russian and Republic from the Republican art exhibition. Jordan, N. Mosolov, V. Mate, I. Shishkin, H Utkin. In Sgibnev, N. Efremenko, who came to art scene in the Soviet art abroad. In 1939, L. Ilina and A. Mikhalev, who defined the 1967-1968, the museum acquired a series of Moroccan 50-60s - M. Omorkulova, A. Ostasheva, R. Nudel. The character of the Kyrgyz graphic art with their pastels by Z. Serebryakova. In 1984, the widow of the graphics of the 70s-80s represent such names as T. creativity 20 years ahead, came to Kyrgyzstan. Later A. artist A. Mogilevsky presented the museum with a Herzen, B. Dzhumabaev, E. Kuzovkin, M. Akhmedov, Sgibnev and I. Belevich began to work in the republic. large collection of the artist’s watercolors, made by A. Turumbekov, B. Koshoev, - who made a great In the 40s, the collection of the museum was him during the war in Kyrgyzstan. contribution to the further development of the Kyrgyz References: replenished with graphic works of artists from Moscow A certain place in the museum collection is occupied graphic arts. • ‘Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts named after Gapar and Leningrad, and artists who were on creative by the graphic artists of Russia, the Baltic States, Thus, the graphics of the 80-90s are represented by Aitiev’, Retrieved December 4, 2018 from http://knmii.kg. • ‘Kyrgyz National Museum Of Fine Arts Named After Gapar trips around Central Asia such as V. Favorsky, N. Transcaucasia, Central Asia including G. Zakharov, O. the works of artists of the younger generation - T. Aitiev’, Retrieved December 5, 2018 from http://www. Chernyshev, A. Mogilevsky, N. Kochergin. In the same Vereisky, I. Golitsyn, K. andRudakov, S. Krasauskas, I. Kurmanov, N. Imanalieva, A. Momunaliev, V. Bigay, G. minculture.gov.kg/. • Photo sources: fergananews.com, knews.kg, saramistbixian. years, etchings by Russian artists, as well as drawings Lukomsky, A. Osmerkin, D. Shterenberg, T Kaplan, A. Musabay, A. Biymyrzaeva, K. Davletova, Yu. Shygaeva, wordpress.com. Kasteev, E. Sidorkina. R. Dzhangaracheva, Z. Korotkova, A. Shvedova. The ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS by I. Repin, A. Orlovsky, V. Vasnetsov, F. Malyavin,

76 77 National Museum of Pakistan ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 Collecting, Preserving & Exhibiting Cultural History

The cultural Heritage of Pakistan is spread over in 1950, replacing the defunct Victoria Museum. As the thousands of years, starting from pre-historic soon as the institution was opened, the government time to the present day. There is plenty of evidence created a council to enrich the museum’s collection by from the pre-historic and historic period to support purchasing antiques and art objects and thus contains to this argument, e.g. fossil jaws of apes, circa 14 a rich collection of objects which portrait a colorful Million years ago found from photohar. They belong image of Pakistani regions. Some 70,000 publications, to “Sivapithecus Pakininsis”, said to be the ancestor books and other reading material of the Archeology of Man. There is also a two million-years-old earliest and Museums Department have also been shifted to stone hand axe, now displayed in Islamabad Museum. the National Museum so that they were accessible to In the subcontinent, Madras museum is considered the public. to be oldest museum in Indo-Pak region which was Unlike the British era museums of Lahore, Taxila, established in 1818 by the British government. The and Swat, this one was created after legacy of the Pakistani predecessors at the time of the Partition. In its initial days, the museum was located in independence, on August 14, 1947, came as a treasure Pakistan Quarters and was later shifted to Frere Hall, which may be called as Pakistan’s national heritage. where it stayed for the next 18 years. The Museum The National museum of Pakistan is the most was shifted to the present premises in Burns Garden, prominent institution in the country. Located in the Dr. Zia-ud-din Ahmed Road, in 1970. In 1970, there same vicinity as the Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, were only four galleries in the Museum; however, at the National Museum of Pakistan was established present, it has a total of 11 galleries. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

78 79 Museum Sections

chronologically placed material from Stone Age, to unravel many unknown facts about the ancient Indus Valley Civilization are evidenced in their use Pre-Historic village cultures of Baluchistan and the great Indus inhabitants of Indus Valley. and design of beautiful jewelry. The original bust of (2 Mil - 2500 B.C.). Valley Civilization, which flourished more than a The ruins of Harappa were first noted by Charles King Priest that is kept in glass case in the Museum In pre-historic gallery, some objects like stone tools, millennium from 2500 BC, influencing an area four Massin who made various journeys to Baluchistan testifies to the fact that both men and women wore bangles and statues belonging to the Stone Age are times that of ancient Sumer. Harappa and Moenjodaro narrated his findings of the site that started in 1922. ornaments made of semi-precious stones, gold, silver kept. The display here includes a two-million-year-old are now known as twin capital of this vast urban According to his findings, the historical result of and bronze. ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 Stone Age axe recovered from the Potwar Plateau and civilization. Baluchistan are divided into different region. History other artefacts from around Pakistan. What surprises the modern mind is careful town of Cholistan (2100 to 1600), (CHANHUNDARO 2000 to Late Harappa planning that went into building up Moenjodaro. 1500 B.C.), Moenjodaro and Harappa and different (2200 — 800 B.C.). Proto-Historic The carefully laid-out streets, well-aligned houses, antiquities object i.e embroidery work, pots, bangles, In this gallery, objects and statues belonging to late (2500 - 1500 B.C.) the efficient water-supply and drainage system and toys, made from the mud are presented. The famous Harappa period. The most significant feature of After the invention, the record of history has been rectangular blocks pre-suppose the rule of well- statue of “Dancing girl of the Moenjodaro” attracts to this gallery is the statue of the Priest King, wearing preserved in writing from this period is known as established and strong civil authority enforcing strict the visitors in this gallery. a Sindhi Ajrak, which is a most popular tradition of proto-history and cover the period form (2600 B.C. to laws. Humped and short-horned bulls, elephants, wild the Sindhi culture even today. It also reflects Sindh’s 1700 B.C.). This is also a significant period of Pakistani Charred remains of wheat and other cereals coupled boars, tigers, rhinoceros engraved on the seals tell of very old cultural heritage. Finding from the LOEBANR History. with drawings of certain animals and fish indicate their existence in that early civilization, just as clay II 1700- 1400 B.C. and Zarif Karuna 1600-1200 B.C. At the entrance of the gallery, large relief map of the intake of wholesome diet by people of the region. and faience, models of dogs, ducks, squirrels, doves, periods are also kept in this gallery. Some Portraits vast territory of South-Western Asia shows routes Mystery still shrouds the seal found in twin capitals parrots and peacocks that have been unearthed. are also displayed on the wall outside this gallery. that linked various regions. Inside the gallery is and pictographic script still remains to be deciphered The creativity and aesthetic sense of the people of ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

80 81 Gandhara Gallery (2nd-6th Century A.D.)

“Gandhara is the ancient name of a territory today Rich collections of Ghandhara art are also display in located in Peshawar and Rawalpindi districts of National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi. Some Stupas northwestern Pakistan. A cross-road of cultures and and Buddha are also displayed that it creates an as trade relations for India, Central Asia, and the middle atmosphere of a temple. These Stupas are also kept East- Gandhara developed a distinctive eclectic style in open cases even visitors are all to touch and take of art in which some of the earliest images of Buddha snaps (with permission). ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 were made. Outside the Buddhist gallery, a show-case display Excavation at Taxila reveal that after the Asoka the objects like terracotta figures, copper utensils, iron area was successively occupied by the Greeks, Central implements which furnish yet another proof of their Asia, Scythians, Parthians, and Kushans. Buddhism maker’s creativity and artistic skill. They were the A rare copy of Holy Quran displayed in Quran gallery National museum of Pakistan transcribed by Yaqoot Al- was adopted as the state religion which flourished and people who inhabited the vicinity of modern Taxila, Musali, in 1211 a.c./ 608 Hijri. Baghdad, Iraq prevailed here for over the 1000 years, starting form remains of ancient Gandhara region in North-west the 2nd B.C. until the 10th century A.D. in this time of West Pakistan. Buddhist legends dominate in Quran Gallery period Taxila, Swat and chrsaddah (old ) Gandhara Art. Among Northern wall are dioramic The Museum has a number unique, remarkable, Different types of gems as well as gold, silver and became the three important centers of the culture, panels depicting life-story of Buddha, arranged in antique collection of the Holy Quran. Quranic Verses copper have been used to ornament the borders in trade and learning Hundreds of monasteries and series. Along Southern side are other specimens of are inscribed by renowned artists on the walls of pages. The paper on which the ‘Surah’ is written has stupas were built together with Greek and Kushan stucco and terracotta figures and representation gallery in different languages such as Arabic, Persian, been processed by some technique that even today, it town such as and Sirsukh both in Taxila of Buddhist monastery at Takht-i-Bahi shows the Turkish and Urdu and various calligraphic styles smells rose; thus making it one of the finest examples (National fund for cultural Heritage, 1998). living quarters of Buddhist monks and quadrangle of including Nastaliq and Kufi. of book production of that specific period. Presently, From this center of a unique art of sculpture originated worship and prayers, while a tall towers over The most eye catching volume of Holy Quarn belongs the Quranic Gallery has more than 300 copies of the which is known as Gandhara Art all over the world. the scene. to the reign of Abbasi Caliph Mustasim Billah written Quran, of which around 52 rare manuscripts are on Today the Gandhara sculptures occupy a prominent Covered passage, leads to the next gallery, displays by Jalal al Din Yaqut al Mustasimi in Naskh Script. display. place in the Museum of England, France, Germany, gold ornaments and jewelry. The workmanship on U.S.A, Japan, Korea, China, India and Afghanistan these objects proves the high degree of advancement together with many private collections of world over reached by Gandhara people. Hindu Gallery (6th — 16th Century A.D.) as well as the museum of Pakistan. Next section displays Hindu sculptural art, which flourished in both East and West Pakistan, from 6th to 11th century AD. With few exceptions, smoothly finished and minutely detailed sculptures are in fine- grained, dark-colored basalt from East Pakistan. Main figures here are those of ‘’, ‘Surya’, the Sun-God and ‘Vishnu’. Sculptures from West Pakistan include two fine examples of brass statues of ‘Rama’ and ‘Brahma’, obtained from Tharparkar in Sind. Marble and wooden carving from Hindu Temples add to the exquisite craftsmanship and beauty found in this

ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS section.

transcribed by Yaqoot Al-Buddhist carvings at the National Museum of Pakistan.

82 83 Coins Gallery Freedom Movement Gallery Among the other relics of the past, coin occupy and The Freedom gallery is decorated with the portraits of eminent place. These are of the basic sources of history. the prominent leaders of the freedom movement from They are reflected the political, social and cultural Sir Syed Ahmed Khan onwards and includes renowned activities of a nation. The Numismatic Department female leaders such as Fatima Jinnah, Begum Shaista of the National museum of Pakistan possesses about Ikram, Begum Rana Liaquat Ali and etc. Some personal the 90,000 ancient Coins in its collection belonging to belongings of the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam different periods, a large number of them dating from Muhammad Ali Jinnah, few books on the freedom the earliest punch marked pieces to 19th century. movement are also on display in this gallery.

The credits for the acquirement of these invaluable ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 treasures goes entirely to Museum Acquisition committee, an honorary powerful body constituted by the government of Pakistan for the purpose. Ethnology Gallery

Ethnology gallery has collections of around objects belonging to and displaying the culture and lifestyle Calligraphy & Miniature Painting of different ethnics groups, tribes and part of the rural population living in different regions of Pakistan. The museum holds a fantastic display of royal adorn the gallery. A number of these paintings calligraphic works and miniature paintings dating depict hunting, court and romantic scenes. In these back to the sultanate period to the Mughal and miniatures, the delicacy of detail and linear grace Tughlaq dynasties and some from the British Raj. blend with the characteristic palettes of varied Miniature painting of portraits of Mongol emperors, greens, glowing reds and oranges. Islamic Art Gallery queens and princes, who patronized the art, also Islamic art gallery has very rich collection from Muhammad Bin Qasim 712 A.D. to last Mughal Empire Budhar Shah Zafar 1836 A.D. This gallery provides a clear picture of the history of Muslim rulers who ruled in the sub-continent for around 1100 years. Significant objects of Muslim culture consists of calligraphy, painting, Handicrafts, vases, pots, tools, weapons used in war, embroidery dresses of Islamic period etc..

Postal Stamp

Museum has a good collection of postal stamps but these stamps are not on regular display in any gallery; however, they are kept in a store and displayed only on special occasions like Independence Day, Pakistan Day, Defence day, Quaid-e-Azam day and Iqbal day etc. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS A portion of Islamic arts gallery (Calligraphy of Diwani Miniature painting depicting Dara Shikoh’s wedding, miniature depicting games played in sub-continent in and Nastialiq specimen) National Museum of Pakistan. National Museum of Pakistan. Moon light.

84 85 Library Exhibitions

National Museum of Pakistan has a reference library Persian, Arabic, Sindhi books plus materials on the to facilitate scholar, researcher, students as well freedom movement of Pakistan. as museum staff. It has also very rich collection of ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019

Exhibitions are also a very important activity of the References: museum. Every year, the National Museum organizes • ‘National Museum of Pakistan’, Retrieved December 23, Laboratory Building 2018 from http://www.caroun.com/museums/Pakistan/ different types of exhibitions on National, religious NationalMuseumofPakistan.html. The preservation and conservation is done regularly in conservation laboratory in the country with expertise and other occasions such as the Independence Day • Qamar, Saadia (2017). ‘Take a trip down memory lane at museum. A laboratory was established by the Federal in paper conservations and its related material used in (14th August), Pakistan day (23rd March), Birth & the National Museum of Pakistan’. Retrieved December 23, Government in 1983. This laboratory is located at the manuscripts, books and paintings but it’s also supports to 2018 from https://tribune.com.pk/story/1448145/take- Death Anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali trip-memory-lane-national-museum-pakistan/ ground floor of the National Museum and is the first paper preservation and conservation of other museum objects. Jinnah, Allama Iqbal and Koran Exhibition in the month • Muhammad Yousuf Ali (June 2010). National Museum of of Ramzan. These exhibitions help out introduce the Pakistan: Case Study. DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2145.6324 • F. Haider , Shazaf (2007, Jan, 19).Pakistan National museum and enhance the information and knowledge Museum Dawn. P. 15 Sunday Magazine http://www.dawn. of general public. It is also an opportunity of marketing com/sundaymagazine/p15 dated May 16, 2010. of museum. Special exhibitions are sometimes hosted • Aberdeen Art gallery ( 1873) http://www.aagm.co.uk/ AboutUs/glossary.aspx Retrieved on 22 May 2010 in the foyer and corridor area within the building. • Cummings, M. (1991). Encyclopedia Americana V13, New York, oxford University Press. pp. 276-277. • Feather, J., & Sturges, P. (Eds.). (2003). International encyclopedia of information and library science. 2nd Routledge. p 433 (6). • Jahan, Q. (1972). Bibliography of Selected rear manuscripts in the National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi (unpublished), Thesis, Department of Library and Information Science, University of Karachi, Karachi. pp 6. • Nasir, P. T. (1997). Rare Coins in the National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi. National Museum of Pakistan. • National fund for cultural Heritage (1998) Culture Heritage of Pakistan Retrieved May 26, 2010 http;//www. heritage.gov.pk/html_Pages/culture.heri.html (11) • National fund for cultural Heritage(1998) Gandhara Civilization Retrieved on May 27, 2010 http://www. heritage.gov.pk/html_Pages/gandhara.html ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

86 87 National Museum of Tajikistan By Shahmansour Shahmirza Tajikistan Cultural Expert, ECO Cultural Institute ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019

Covering a total area of 24,000 sq.m and 22 exhibit spaces spread over a total area of more than 15,000 sq. m, the «National museum of Tajikistan» was established following the Decree of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan No. 675 on the establishment of the State institution released on July 27, 2011. The National Museum of Tajikistan is composed of four exhibition departments: Department of Natural History, Department of Ancient and Medieval History, Department of Modern and Contemporary History and Department of Fine and Applied Arts. In the round shaped hall situated on the first floor of the museum, the visitors can observe an illustration of the Buddhist monastery of Ajinatepa that existed in the south of Tajikistan until the V-VIII A.D. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

88 89 Department of period of Tajikistan such as Ancient Settlement Ancient & Medieval of , culture and religion, History Acheminid Empire, Greco-Bactrian Empire, The Kushanid’s Empire, Ephtalists and Ancient Situated at the first and the second floors of the that have been found in the territories of Tajikistan. museum, the Department holds one of the biggest The findings from Panjakent Ancient Site (V-VIII A.D.) exhibitions in the museum consisting of nine like murals, curved woods in the shape of dancing girl, exhibition halls. With its rare and valuable exhibits ceramic vessels, wall paintings, etc. are the evidences of more than 3444 objects displayed in the exhibition of the rich culture of this civilization center, known halls and more than 133 auxiliary exhibits, this around the world as «Pompeii of the East». The oldest Department illustrates the history of the Tajik historical site of the Stone Age period of Tajikistan people from the beginning of the first century to the aged over a million years is Kuldara which is located beginning of the 20th century. Museum Sections in district of . The rest of ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 the first hall has objects belonging to the Bronze Department of Age period such as Zarchachalifa, Kangurtut, Gelot, Natural History Makony mor, Ittifok, Dashti Kozi and Kairokum. Halls of the Department of Natural History are located that department that represents the samples of the on the ground floor of the Museum. The Exposition precious and decorative stones, the paleontology of the Department of Natural History introduces section, and the fossils. In the middle of the Geology the visitors to the flora and fauna, special protected Hall, there is a stone tree that decorated with 19 natural territories and National Parks of the Republic thousand gemstone and decorative stones. of Tajikistan. There is a special Geological hall in

The First Hall The exposition begins with a map of historical monuments of the Republic of Tajikistan, which introduces the visitors with more than 2000 monuments located on the territory of Tajikistan. The exhibition displays objects from the Stone Age

Department of Modern & Contemporary History In the halls of modern and contemporary history are the foreign policy, achievements of the country in the displayed exhibits and documents on the history of the fields of economy, agriculture, construction of roads, period of the Soviet Tajikistan (1917-1991) indicating tunnels and cultural and residential complexes. the economy, socio-cultural life of the republic and the The exposition ends in a large round hall, where participation of Tajikistan’s population in the Great presented the gifts of the heads of foreign states and Patriotic war of 1941-1945. major international organizations to the founder of peace Also in the department of modern and contemporary and national unity, the leader of the Nation, President of history are shown the achievements of the Republic of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon. Tajikistan during the Independence period including ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

90 91 The Second Hall The Sixth Hall The sixth hall has on display objects from Ajina- The second hall tells about the pre-Islamic culture, Tepa Buddhist monastery dating to the 7th century historical finds, including ossuaries, the sacred book including one of the famous exhibit of the National of Avesta, the Zoroastrian calendar, holidays of the Museum of Tajikistan - the clay statue of a reclining Tajiks - Sada, Navruz, Mehrgon. Buddha (Also called “Buddha in Nirvana”) which is 13 meter.

The Third Hall The third hall begins with a section showcasing objects The Seventh Hall including whole or almost whole panels. belonging to the first Persian Empire of the world - the The seventh hall is on the second floor and is Moreover, the pieces of plaster on display mainly

Achaemenid Empire - and a unique object belonging dedicated to the golden age of the Tajiks - the represent plant, zoomorphic and epigraphic motifs. ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 the Amudarya (Oxus) treasure. Also displayed are Samanids state’s period. The town and palace of All the exhibits are unique in their own way, but one exhibits from Saksanohur, Takhti Sangin, Greco- is the most famous monument of this period. of them is the Iskodar Mihrab, one of the finest and Bactrian period, the Kushanid Empire etc. The bronze, glass and ceramic dishes that were found oldest mihrabs in the world. The wooden Mihrab has in Hulbuk territory are abundant and diverse. A set of been made without using any type of nail and glue chess pieces made of ivory is another unique finding. but by fitting the parts. Also part of this exposition There are products made of stone, found over five hall is occupied by samples of metal products and The Fourth Hall thousand fragments of a carved piece (alabaster), military armor of the X-XII centuries. The fourth hall holds unique exhibits tells about the Sasanids and (or Ephthalites) periods. The importance of the period of the Ephthalites is The Eighth Hall that during this period, the Tajik people fought for The eighth offers a display of calligraphy and freedom. In this room visitors can see a portrait of the epigraphic monuments including sample works Ephthalites King Khushnavas. of Hodji Husayni Khatloni, the well-known Tajik calligrapher of the XIX and early of XX centuries, marble dishes with Arabic script and metal items belonging to XIX and XX centuries. The Fifth Hall The fifth hall has on exhibit objects of ancient cities belonging the V-IX centuries including the Ancient The Ninth Hall Penjikent and Bunjikat. Sogdians adopted many The ninth hall is the last hall of the department of ancient achievements of the great civilizations of their time, and medieval history, which is devoted to numismatics. therefore in their art one can find both Byzantine, Visitors will have the opportunity to see the coins of the Iranian, and Indian features. With all this, Sogdians art Greco-Bactrian (II-III centuries BC), Kushans (II century had its own unique style, distinguished by a variety BC - IV in. AD), Sasanids (III-VII cent.), Bukharhudati of themes which are portrayed in the findings from (VII-VIII centuries), the Samanids (IX-XIV centuries), Penjikent and Bunjikat, such as woodcarving and mural the Karakhanids (XI century), the Chagatai (XII-XIII paintings presented in showcases. A separate section in centuries), the Temurids (XIV-XV centuries) and the this room is dedicated to the findings from Mount Mug. Mangitei (XIX century). There are also paper banknotes In the Islamic culture section, visitors can see the earliest of XIX - beginning XX centuries, and jubilee coins of the manuscript of the Holy Koran as well as other examples period of Independence of the Republic of Tajikistan on of calligraphy from Koran, fiqh, tafsir, hadith, etc. display. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

92 93 Iskodar Mekhrab Diorama of Mausoleum Department’s Highlights There is a diorama of the Mausoleum of the Great King, binni Ahmadi Somoni - Ismoili Somoni, in the museum. The original building was constructed in the ’s Pot Baking monument of the pre-Islamic period in Tajikistan. IX century in Bukhara and is one of the architectural masterpieces of Central Asia. The cubic volume of the Kulob’s pot baking furnace was discovered in 1993 Here, from the 5th to the 8th century AD, lived the building with extremely thick walls (the base of the by archaeologists Samoilik P. and Azizov M. within Sogdians - the ancestors of Tajiks in the Zarafshan Valley. mausoleum is 10.67x10.83 m, the height of the wall is the territory of Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadoni mausoleum. ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 10 m, the wall thickness is 1.8 m) is entirely laid out of However, only the combustion chamber and the The Ancient Panjakent was fortified by a wall which a light burned brick. The mausoleum does not have a burning section have been preserved to date. The protected it from the penetration of invaders. main facade, since all its sides are the same. furnace used to accommodate 100 vessels at the same Covering a total area of 13,5 ha, the city was built in The Mausoleum’s facade is covered with intricately time. an orderly pattern and plan and had an interior and an exterior part. During the 5th century, the city had a decorated brickwork. The syncretic style of the Takhti-Sangin Town sacred spot which believed to be its center. Moreover, shrine is reflective of the 9th and 10th centuries, and is approximately 35 feet high. It has four identically The town of Takhti-Sangin is located on the right it had two temples with similar designs. Panjakent designed facades, which gently slope inwards with bank of Amudarya at the foot of Vakhsh and became famous for its elaborate picture Paintings increasing height. To support the building, the Rivers’ confluence. The site links with the gorges of of legendary figures. The museum has some of the architects included four internal upon which Teshkintosh mountain ranges on the west side. The. paintings discovered in Panjakent. the dome is placed. At the top of each side of the The town consists of a defensive wall covering an area shrine, there are ten small windows, which provide of 85 ha, a citadel (164 x 235m) and houses built in Bronze Incense Censer ventilation for the interior portion of the mausoleum. north - south direction in one km distance. The main Dating back to the 11th century, and The bronze The building’s «four arch» style of design has been construction of the citadel had was the Oxus temple incense censer, decorated with vegetal ornaments, statement from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). adopted for use in several throughout Central (51x51m), a treasury of IV and III centuries B.C. two stars and two inscriptions was found in Hulbuk. In the translation the inscription reads: “Whoever There is an inscription on the vessel saying ‘master Ali during the prayers is in the first row after the imam, Asia. Ancient Panjakent ibn Abu Nasr made the censer’. then God forgives him all the sins”. Founded in V century, the Ancient Panjakent is a It is interesting to note that Mehrab has elements of Iskodar Mekhrab Zoroastrian culture of ancient Tajiks. For example, Iskodar Mehrab (Altar) dated 9th-10th centuries there is a vortex cross, a circle and other symbols. Diorama of Ismoili Somoni Mausoleum AD, was discovered in 1925 by Professor Andreev M. There are also pre-Islamic symbols in the Mehrab - in Iskodar village of , Sugd region. The in two the symbols of swastika are clearly wooden Mehrab (a niche in the mosque’s wall pointing visible, meaning the four elements - water, air, earth to Mecca’s direction) has been made without using and fire. At the top, there is a sign of the sun - a symbol nail and glue, but by fitting the parts. It consists of 300 of Zoroastrianism religion. The piece has been studied parts and more than 100 ornamental motifs. There is by famous scholars including Cheylytko V, Yakubov Kufi inscription on this Mehrab. Y, Voronina V.L, Smirnova O.I, and Khmelnitsky S. This inscription was not studied. Until 2000 when a scientific research fellow (now the Director) of the National Museum of Tajikistan, Sharifzoda A.K., studied it for the first time. This turned out to be a ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

94 95 Department of Fine & Applied Arts ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019

Department of fine and applied arts is located on the Abuali ibn Sina. third floor. The exhibition halls of fine and applied The third hall host works of those painters who arts displays various type of the art such as portrait contributed to the development of the national and landscape paintings, sculpture, decorative art school of arts during the 70s of the XX century such as etc. dating from 1930 of the XX Cen. which reflect Khabibulloeva Z.N, Abdurashidov R. Khushvakhtov H, the development of this type of art in the Republic of Nazarov V, S, Naimov B, and Dovutov Z. Tajikistan. The fourth hall displays kundal art with works of master There are samples of woodcarving art in the second Mirzorahmat Olimov and Karomatullo Gayurov. Also hall with the main highlights being the works of the in the department of fine and applied arts, a special famous Tajik carver, Sirojiddin Nuriddinov, whose hall is designed for temporary exhibitions, where best works are portraits of Abdurrahman Jami and domestic and international exhibitions are held. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

96 97 Ankara State Museum of Painting & Sculpture ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019

The Ankara State Museum of Paintings and Sculptures was built in 1927, by the architect Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu, upon the directive of Atatürk, the great leader of the Turkish Nation, in the area known as the Namazgâh Hill of Ankara. The building, which is one of the most beautiful examples of the 1st National Architecture Period during the Republican period, is the synthesis of Seljuk, Ottoman and Contemporary Turkish Architecture. This magnificent building was allocated to the Ministry of Culture to be the Museum of Painting and Sculpture by the initiative of the Ministry of Culture General Directorate of Fine Arts and the close interest of President Fahri Korutürk. The Ankara Museum of Painting and Sculpture was opened to service by President Fahri Korutürk on 2 April 1980. During the restoration of the building in 1980, and in following years, another important point, on which considerable emphasis was laid, is the construction of workshops of painting, sculpture and ceramics, which serve artists, both amateur and professional. The Museum is organized as a directorate of the central organization of the General Directorate of Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Within the museum, there is a restoration , a frame workshop for use in museum works, 10 exhibition halls, Turkish Room, Opera House, management department and warehouses. Museum collection includes painting, sculpture, ceramics, original print, photography, Turkish decorative arts and ethnographic works. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

98 99 of the virtues of the Republic government and the served for a short period as the Ankara Public Training History of the Structure Kemalist principles to the people, this building started Center and the same year it was once again given to to provide services as the Ankara Community Centre. the Turkish Nationalist Clubs Association. The Ankara Community Center stimulated the In 1965 the building once again changed hands and cultural life of the capital city. Important meetings, became part of the Ministry of Rural Affairs, however ceremonies, concerts, theatre, opera and ballet the Turkish Nationalist Clubs Association continued The structure in which the Ankara State Museum of performances were held in the magnificent hall of its activities. The building was transferred to the Fine Arts is located was constructed on Namazgâh Hill this building and a rich library was set up. Atatürk Ministry of Defense in 1971 and after a report from this by Architect-Engineer Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu (1888- frequently watched the above mentioned activities ministry, it was assigned to the Ministry of National

1982). This building was designed as the headquarters from the presidential loge. Education. During all these changes of owners, the ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 for the Turkish Nationalists’ Clubs and the structure After the Community Centers were closed in 1952, building became quite worn out and a portion of the is one of the most beautiful examples of the “First the building was turned over to the Treasury, with historical items were destroyed, the loges in the salon National Architectural Period”. permission given for its use to the Turkish Nationalist were dismantled and the stage became unusable. The Turkish Nationalist Clubs were organizations Clubs which were reopened. It was observed that In 1972, great changes were made when the building that received support from the state and were in between 1952-1961, besides being used for the was transformed into the Ankara Public Training established after the Second Constitutional Monarchy activities organized by the Turkish Nationalist Clubs Centre and the Evening Art School by the Ministry of and supported the War of Independence, Atatürk’s Ali Sami Yetik (1876-1945); Manzara (landscape) Association, it was also used for the Third Stage National Education. Rooms were joined together and performances of the State Theaters and by the Ankara made into an atelier, some windows were covered and principles, with an aim of spreading the virtues of the Turkish stonemasons died on the front during the Municipality for wedding ceremonies. Decay occurred carpenter lathe benches were assembled. The greatest the Republic government to the people by means War of Independence. Architect Koyunoğlu gathered here and there. After this, in 1961 with the order of damage to the building occurred in this period when of culture. A contest was opened in 1926 for the tombstone masters and brought marble with great President Cemal Gürsel, the building was handed over various vocational courses were opened and a portion Turkish Nationalist Club Headquarters building. difficulty from Marmara Island to complete the to the Ministry of National Education. The building of the internal and external decorations crumbled. With Atatürk’s instructions, the project of Architect construction of the building in April 1930. Marble A. Hikmet Koyunoğlu, who constructed the master Hüseyin Avni, metal master Hakkı, stonemason Ethnographic Museum on Namazgâh Hill, won first master Baki and Hüseyin of Ankara Effendis are the prize. The construction of the building, which Atatürk names of the masters who are remembered with liked and approved of from the watercolour painting, respect by the architect. was started on 21 March 1927. Atatürk went to supervise frequently throughout Eminent Atatürk wanted Turkish decorations to be its construction. According to the recollections of used in the building and ordered that only Turkish Koyunoğlu, on such a visit, Ataturk sat with laborers labourers work on its construction. A great number of on a snowy day, sipping hot tea from a wooden spoon with them amongst the boards and processed marble. This is also where Ataturk first mentions to Koyunoğlu the ‘Youth Park’ project. The site of the Turkish Nationalist Club Headquarters, when the clubs were closed around the beginning of 1931, was turned over to the Republican People’s Party on 10 June 1931. After the opening of the Community Centers in 1932, with the objective of ensuring the development of the Turkish people in

terms of education and culture and the spreading Neşet Günal (1923-2002); Bağbozumu (Grape harvest)

ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS Arif Kaptan. Soyut manzara – Bursa havuzlu; 1906-1979

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Arif Kaptan Hall İbrahim Çallı Hall Finally, this magnificent structure of Turkish Ministry and the maintenance and repair of these were concert hall was commenced in 1985. The rosewood Gazi”. Paintings on the walls at public institutions, in architecture from the Republic period, with an undertaken. The first collection of the museum was armchairs were repaired. The loges and decorations storage rooms and those purchased by the state were initiative by the Ministry of Culture, General acquired in this manner. The works of art that would be adopted the form they had in 1930. The stage was combed by a group of eight artists including Eshref Directorate of Fine Arts, was assigned to the Ministry exhibited in the rooms of the museum were determined made usable. The Hacı Ömer Sabancı Foundation Üren, Arif Kaptan, Orhan Peker, Refik Epikman, and of Culture through a keen interest of President Fahri by a selection committee composed of Prof. Erol, contributed to the repair of the concert hall. Towards Turan Erol, Shefik Bursalı, Mehmet Özel and O. Zeki Korutürk and with a decree by the Council of Ministers Prof. Devrim Erbil, Prof. Mustafa Pilevneli and Mehmet the end of 1985, the concert hall was opened. Oral. Up to 500 paintings were designated as worthy No. 7/1172 dated 25 October 1975 to be transformed Özel and were mounted in place. Today within the structure of the museum, there are of being placed in the museum. into a Museum of Fine Arts. The Ankara State Museum of Fine Arts was opened three fine arts galleries (the Korutürk, Arif Hikmet In accordance with a notification from the Prime The building was handed over to the Ministry to the public with a ceremony by the sixth President Koyunoğlu and Sedat Simavi galleries), three ateliers Ministry, these paintings were collected and by of Culture in 1976 and the restoration started in Fahri Korutürk on 2 April 1980. However, the (painting, statue, ceramics), the restoration atelier, undertaking their maintenance and repair, they conformity with the original building according to the basement of the museum building had still not been six exhibition rooms, the fine arts expert library, formed the largest collection at the museum. project of Architect Abdurrahman Hancı and under touched, the deficiencies of the concert hall had not Oriental Salon, concert-theatre hall, administrative As a result of the painting purchases started by the supervision of Architect Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu been completed and the landscaping of the garden section, cafeteria and storage rooms. Adnan Ötüken, the founder of the National Library7, who was alive at that time. On the one hand, while the had not yet been undertaken. a valuable collection of paintings appeared at the restoration continued, it was attempted to acquire In 1981, one of the Atatürk Art Awards was given to Museum Collections National Library. A group of works of art from this the museum collections. Four teams of two persons Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu, the architect of the structure. The collections of the Ankara State Museum of Fine collection were restored and added to the museum each consisting of Eshref Üren, Arif Kaptan, Turan Restoration of the basement started in 1982 and was Arts were acquired with great efforts, but with small collection. Works of art were also acquired for the Erol, Orhan Peker, Refik Epikman, Shefik Bursalı, completed in 1983, while in 1984 a place with soil expenditures. In 1976, the building was handed museum by purchasing paintings from the auctions Mehmet Özel and Osman Zeki Oral visited the public fill in the basement was utilized by the Sedat Simavi over by the Ministry of National Education together held abroad. Fikret Mualla’s 36 paintings were institutions and determined the works that could be Foundation and transformed into the Simavi Art with four valuable paintings. The first works of art purchased from Paris and brought to Turkey and placed in the museum. Gallery. Every year the International Sedat Simavi of the collection were Osman Hamdi Bey’s “The placed in the museum. Up to 800 works of art were discovered at various Caricature Contest Exhibit is held at this gallery. Weapons Merchant”, V. Vereshchagin’s “In Front of A significant number of works of art were obtained public institutions. About 500 of these were valuable Other than the magnificent concert hall whose Tamerlane’s Grave”, Zonaro’s “Portrait of a Young for the museum through donations. Examples of enough to be placed in the museum. These works of acoustical structure is excellent; all the sections had Girl” and Emel Cimcoz (Korutürk’s) “Gratitude to donations are Artist Sheref Akdik’s wife Sara Akdik’s

ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS art were collected after a notification from the Prime been opened to the public. The restoration of the

102 103 of these works of art are on display in the exhibition artistic works to the public institutions and the rooms. Turkish representations abroad have also been given In addition to the collections of works of art reflecting to the museum. the formation and the development periods of the Because the museum building was designed as a Turkish Plastic Arts, and its classification, and to cultural center, it has a 500 seat capacity concert the library of Plastic Arts which fills the gap in this hall with excellent acoustics and is decorated with field, enriched every year by the donations ofthe Turkish motifs. The stage, which has an orchestra public, domestic or foreign, and Foreign Embassies, pit, is appropriate for performances of operettas. The or by new purchases, the Archives of Turkish Artists Ankara State Opera and Ballet gives performances satisfactorily respond to the needs of researchers of operettas three times a week at his hall. On other ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 working in these fields. days the Ministry of Culture and other private artistic ensembles present concerts, movies are shown Museum Activities and folk dances are performed. Culturally oriented The main duties of the museum are to preserve the congresses, panel discussions and conferences are works of art in the collection and to give visitors also among the daytime activities. the opportunity of viewing them. The protection of As many as 60 national and international exhibits are the works of art, which is one of the most important opened at the three charming art galleries throughout responsibilities of the museum beside training, is the art season. The most important ones are the Asian- Osman Hamdi Bey, Silah Taciri (Weapons’ Merchant) Fahir Aksoy (1916-2008); Düşümdeki Resim done by employing a method particularly developed European Biennial Exhibit organized once every (Picture from my dream) to ensure the most satisfactory results when dealing two years, the International Sedat Simavi Caricature In the historical hall, which has been transformed to Sherif Akdik collection composed of 40 works of art, with problems arising from temperature, humidity Contest Exhibit and the exhibits of foreign artists its original design during the restorations, various Çelik Gülersoy’s calligraphy collection consisting of 7 and storage difficulties. Any damage identified due opened within the framework of cultural agreements. kinds of activities such as concerts, theatrical works of art, Emel Korutürk’s İbrahim Çallı portraits, to aging, which may occur in spite of all protection, Painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic arts and performances and film projections take place. Serving Bülent and İbrahim Cimcoz’s İbrahim Çallı portrait, is dealt with by experts in the special unit which has photography exhibitions programmed to take place in to public with its modern cafeteria, sales outlet and and the General Director of Fine Arts, Mehmet Özel’s been set up as a separate division within the Museum. Turkey within the framework of international cultural audio system, the institution, beyond its function as one each, from the art works of Ayvazovski, Hikmet The restoration atelier provides services first of all to agreements, are exhibited in the three galleries an exhibition location for old works of art, comprises Onat, Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu, Eshref Üren and Arif the museum, then to the public institutions and the reserved for periodical exhibitions; thus, the works all attributes of a modern Museum of Art. Kaptan. galleries. The most regular visitors to the museum of art of foreign countries are made known to the The Museum, has become an institution which Half of the art works at the museum are composed are the students working towards a master’s or a Turkish public. Occasionally, works are selected from comprises all properties of a modern museum, in a of those that have been purchased at exhibits. The doctor’s degree in the fields of painting, sculpture and the museum collections and exhibited within Turkey short period of time. Today the museum, is a center of works of art are evaluated and chosen by a selection ceramics. It can be said that the duty of furnishing and abroad hence giving way to increased promotion. art at which the most outstanding works of the artists committee. In purchasing, priority is given to the Besides these exhibitions, retrospective exhibitions who played important roles in the development of works of art that have won a prize at the State Fine organized by the General Directorate of Fine Arts, Turkish Painting and Sculpture Arts. Artistic activities Arts Exhibits. According to the Republic of Turkey’s individual exhibitions and competitive exhibitions are undertaken here seven days a week. From this Ministry of Culture and Tourism portal under Ankara are among the other activities of the Museum. point of view, the Ankara State Museum of Fine Arts Art and Sculpture Museum Directorate, there are a Organizing courses painting workshops, special has assumed the function of a cultural centre as well total of 1,289 works of art by 399 artists registered workshops for Turkish Ornamenting Arts, ceramic, as that of a museum. as the property of the museum as of 1 October 1992. and sculpture workshops and training courses at the References: ‘Ankara State Museum of Painting & Sculpture’. The distribution of these works by the field of art is museum ateliers are another activity of the museum. Retrieved June 9, 2019 from www.kultur.gov.tr, the as follows: 890 Paintings, 211 Statues, 118 Engravings, These courses are attended by talented people of all portal of the Republic of Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism under Ankara Art and Sculpture Museum 54 Ceramics and 16 Turkish Decorative Arts. Up to 250 Özdemir Altan (1931), Gerçek (Reality) ages and professions. Directorate. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

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State Museum of Turkmenistan Located on Archabil Avenue in the picturesque Kopet Dagh foothills, the State Museum of the State Cultural Center of Turkmenistan is the first and largest one of the 26 museums established following the independence of Turkmenistan. The official opening took place on 12 November 1998. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

106 107 Museum Sections

The Central Building Covering a total area of around 15,000 sq.m and an of exhibits that clearly demonstrate the features The exposition in the museum’s central building is artists of the nineteenth-twentieth centuries. The exhibition area of 3171 sq.m, the museum complex is of historical development, cultural heritage, devoted to the centuries-old history of Turkmenistan. collection includes early paintings, water-colors and built in the tradition of modern national architecture. ethnography, nature, and modern culture. Here the visitors can make a fascinating journey into icons among its exhibits. Moreover, the museum It is decorated with tracery metal grids, decorative In the year 2009, two new buildings were added to the world of the country’s past, recall historical events reveals the variety of Turkmenistan’s landscape; its cornices and tinted stained glass windows, Finnish the main one on both sides and were harmoniously and see authentic objects from different eras. flora and fauna, fossils and rare geological finds.

granite, precious woods, bronze, facing materials blended into the overall composition of the museum The expositions are offered on two floors and eight The central round hall on the ground floor is topped ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 from Turkey. The museum is also equipped with the complex. All three buildings are connected with a rooms displaying around 500,000 of Turkmenistan’s by a dioctahedral blue dome, divided into sixteen latest museum techniques, automatic power and colonnaded open gallery. most significant finds of the XX century; a large hemispheres and supported by twenty-five columns. water supply systems, restoration halls, laboratories The 105,000 sq. m. territory adjacent to the museum number of ancient Turkmen carpets and rugs; The flag, coat of arms, documents of Independence, and computer systems that control lights, humidity complex is decorated with flower beds, as well as an examples of national dress and fabrics; traditional neutrality, anthem, and constitution are on display in and temperature. ensemble of three fountains and a with household equipment; musical instruments; weapons; the center of the atrium. In the halls of the museum, there are thousands huge gilded statues of winged horses. jewelry; orders and medals, and historical documents. The first room is dedicated to the Independence Its unique collection of paintings, drawings and of Turkmenistan and the achievements reached sculptures includes not only Turkmen fine arts but over these years. On the second floor are exhibits masterpieces of some Russian and Western European acquainting the visitors with the country’s ancient ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

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history beginning with the map outlining the key of cities, temples, forts, as well as works of masters In this hall, one can see exhibits from other regions of Independence Museum archaeological monuments of Turkmenistan. The of microscopic craftsmanship of gold, turquoise and antique Turkmenistan – from Khorezm (in the north),

tour continues into the hall of the “Ancient World”. carnelian, potters and jewelers have been unearthed. the Kushansk empire (along the Amu-Darya rive) Independence branch of the national museum Here visitor find objects belonging to the first stage Gold and silver vessels found here are both elegant and and primarily from , the largest archeological of Turkmenistan is located in the same building, of settlements of primitive people in the country as sophisticated. Moreover, a large number of seals and site in all Central Asia which has yielded a number of constructed on two floors for the 10th anniversary of well as the history of the first city and state on the cosmetic accessories made of silver, bronze, stone and discoveries – from buildings to coins and tiny gems. the country’s Independence. territory of Turkmenistan. There are large flint flakes bone, decorated with scenes of mystical mythology In the Middle Ages hall, unique archaeological finds A major part of museum exhibits were collected belonging to the Upper Palaeolithic (60 thousand and an amazing variety of forms and technologies from the V century AD - fragments of Buddhist during the years of Independence. On the first floor, years BC), small flint flakes used as liners for knives, have been found here. architecture, statues and amphora repository found there is information on the development of the as well as used arrowheads of Mesolithic period (12 Hall of antiquity has objects belonging to Old Nisa - immured in a mortar covered with paintings, inside country from the day of gaining Independence to the thousand years BC .); Jeytun culture of the Neolithic one of the first capitals of the Great Parthian Empire, which were stored Buddhist texts in Sanskrit, are on present day, economic and political relations as well period as the first settlement in Central Asia (6 which was the residence of the treasury and the display. Also here one may find dishes decorated with as the country’s provinces and their geographical thousand years BC); the tools and rough molding Parthian rulers. The hall contains unique pieces of inscriptions in Arabic, luster ceramics, gold and silver location presented through special maps. band ceramics unevenly baked, decorated wavy lines, architecture, miniature figurines of Athena, Eros, coins of the medieval states. On the second floor, information on the history of filled with mineral paints from eneolit (4 thousand eagle, griffin made of silver and gilding, which amaze On the first floor, there is also Turkmen carpets hall Turkmenistan, including the historical personalities, years BC) - a sophisticated ceramic pottery, made on the visitors with their delicate depictions of small where a giant, 266-square meters carpet, is exhibited. is provided. Turkmen classic literature also has a the potter’s wheel, early urban culture of the Altyn- details. The carpet’s main ornament is gushly gel –a pattern special place. Here are exposed old-aged and modern depe settlement and its presented seals, ceramics, and A special pride of the museum are rhytons made of of Akhal-teke. Also unique rugs of XIX-XX centuries jewelry and ancient gold and silver coins. Museum layout of the temple in the form of Mesopotamian ivory, frieze of which was ornamented with scenes are showcased in this room. exhibits also focus on the people’s everyday life and ziggurat, etc. from Greek mythology, smooth trunk decorated with culture, serve as important historical sources. Most of the room is dedicated to the findings from floral relief and ended with the image of a mythical the country’s Margush region that existed in the 3-2 creature. In ancient times they were inlaid with centuries BC in the ancient delta of the Murghab precious stones and metals. Rhytons are made with

ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS River in Mary province where the grand architecture the principle of the golden section.

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Ethnography & Local Lore Museum

The three-story building of the museum, whjich is map and the map of water basins, soil monoliths and migration of many kinds of birds, inhabitants of historical monument of Margush belonging to the adjacent to the main building, was opened in May minerals. tundra, north seas, lakes, rivers, forests and steppes. 2nd millennium B.C. 2009. The ground floor of the museum houses an From the third to the tenth sections, the visitor gets There is a diorama of 109 types of birds in the museum Turkmen youth have always been distinguished by exposition of the nature of Turkmenistan while the acquainted with different regions of Turkmenistan. exposition, many of which are included in Red Data their courage and masterful use of weapons. Here are second one displays items related to the ethnography A trip begins with Koytendag mountains, which are book of Turkmenistan and International Community displayed shields, spears, swords and knives of XVIII- of the Turkmen people. represented in exposition by karstic Karluk caves, of Nature Protection. Show-cases devoted to Nature XIX centuries and guns used in battles. Nature and Local History Department consists of deep-water Kettekol Lake and others. The North of the Protection containing portraits of biologists of Farming was a primary occupation of the settled eleven sections. The first section deals with the country is presented by dioramas “Kaplankyr” and Turkmenistan complete the exposition. tribes whose hard work at the foothills of Kopetdag birth of the universe (where you’ll see one of the “Lake Sarykamysh” with their specific flora and fauna. In the ethnography part, customs and traditions, mountains have been demonstrated in this diorama. valuable exhibits – Kunya Urgench meteorite) and There is a unique place in the South of Turkmenistan everyday life, national garments, handicraft, arms, Other dioramas showcase tools and articles used in the evolution of life on Earth with sections where the – Badkhyz - and reserve of the same name, founded in musical instruments and jewelry of Turkmen people agriculture. fossils of ancient organisms and fingerprints found 1941. A splendid diorama in this part displays natural are on display. The exposition is created on the basis Water was always revered by the Turkmen people. on the territory of Turkmenistan are on display. monuments such as Yeroylanduz lake and wild of ancient historical information. Therefore, it begins In every village, there were elders (yashuly) who Among them, unique dinosaur footprints (aged pistachio trees. There is also collection of insects and with a showcase of the characteristic features of the exactly determined the place of future wells or kyariz about 150 million years), found in the south-eastern arachnids. earliest period of development of culture with its main (underground water galleries). One of the dioramas Turkmenistan (Hojapil plateau), traces of ancient One of the biggest dioramas is devoted to the flora exhibit being an ancient historical monument related showcases real size, well digging and other related camel Arvana (age of 2.5 million years), jaw fragment and fauna of Kopetdag mountains. Karakum desert to Jeytun culture, belonging to the 3rd millennium tools. with teeth of forest elephant and mandibular teeth occupies 80% of territory of Turkmenistan. Here the B.C. Seaside inhabitants were basically occupied with of Khazar elephant that lived 100-200 thousand years diorama is devoted to the different fauna of the region. The Bronze Age Altyndepe is considered to be the first fishing, which is demonstrated in a separate diorama. ago. Turan tiger on display in “Amudarya” diorama is one town in the territory of Turkmenistan. Agriculture, Nomadic tribes were busy with cattle breeding and The second section of the museum introduces of the valuable exhibits of Department of nature. arts and handicraft production have originated hunting. There are traps, shot, other articles and Turkmenistan’s geological features such as the climate Turkmenistan is situated on the way of seasonal here. Part of ancient history is completed by the information about hunting dog – tazy and falconry. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

112 113 Tamdyr - clay stove for baking, which is used at the times. Turkmen women have woven and still weave history of Turkmenistan beginning from ancient times the culture development of the independent neutral present time as well, is on display in real life size. genuine masterpieces of art out of Sardja sheep’s up to the gaining of Independence are displayed. state of Turkmenistan. Here a white yurta especially attracts attention. wool with a help of simple tools - keser (knife), darak Consisting of 3 parts, the Museum of Neutrality is on the The national symbols including the national flag, There are also such carpet products on display such (comb) and scissors. first floor: the first – democratic Turkmenistan’s society the arms and standard of the President of the as torba – wall bag for tableware; chuval - wall bag for National jewelry is made of silver and adorned and legal state; the second – Neutral Turkmenistan; the independent neutral state of Turkmenistan infuses clothes; akja yup - priceless heirloom; umur-duman– with gilded, semiprecious stones and differs by its third - diplomatic relations with foreign countries, epoch a spirit of the sovereign state immediately upon carpet for decoration of ceiling and floor carpets. special beauty and elegance. Not only women wore of new Revival and reforms. Here is the portrait of the entering the building. Turkmen people have ancient wedding traditions and adornments, but also men. Here, one can also see the President, State flag, emblem and anthem, which are the The museum presents an audio-visual account on the ceremonies which are still observed today. These works of a blacksmith, potter and shoemaker. The symbols of Turkmenistan as independent state and are life and works of the President of Turkmenistan as ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 are demonstrated in one of the large and beautiful most valuable steel swords and other weaponry of the protected according to law. the head of the state the fields of education, science, dioramas. XIX century are also exhibited here. The exposition is Halls of the museum are equipped with interactive culture, social life and cooperation with the world Turkmens considered a horse to be a member of the completed by an exhibit of women, men and children liquid-crystal monitors displaying information about the countries, personal belongings of the presidents, family. Pride of Turkmen nation, akhalteke horse, garments from the five provinces as well as the building and the exposition in three languages: Turkmen, gifts of state leaders, valuable archival documents decorates the exposition where the visitor can also national musical instruments. English and Russian. and photo materials, representing the country’s see special horse adornments made of silver. recent history, as well as attributes of the presidential Since the ancient times of the Silk Road, Turkmen inauguration. people have been busy with silkworm breeding, but Neutrality Museum President’s Museum The museum consists of three floors and 10 sections fabrics woven by Turkmen women differ in terms of The Neutrality Museum was opened in December 2011 As a part of the national museum, the museum of the beginning with a huge political map of Turkmenistan. their special, national and original coloring. on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of Neutrality President of Turkmenistan is another golden page in An account on the history of the development Carpet weaving has been in practice since ancient of the Independent Turkmenistan. Here objects of the the history of the country providing information on of the state since the day President Gurbanguly ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

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Berdymukhamedov took office are presented on two and the President’s colour are on both sides of are exhibited on special stands plus the awards and First of all, the museum is a scientific, research floors while the third floor houses administrative portrait. The main Code of law of the state is placed souvenirs presented to the him. Furthermore, there institute whose functions include acquisition, storage, premises. on a special pedestal. In another special showcase, are documents on the scientific achievements of the study and popularization of important samples of there is the copy of the Constitution “On corrections country and memorable and jubilee coins minted on natural history as well as physical and spiritual and additions into the Constitution of Turkmenistan” special occasions. culture and primary sources of knowledge about the signed by our President on 26th September 2008, and The fifth hall exhibits ethnographic items, ages-old development of nature and society. Constitution Museum the declaration on state sovereignty of Turkmenistan manuscripts and amazing musical instruments. As the reliable legal base of the powerful state, the adopted on 22nd of August 1990. There are also With the help of a touch screen display, the sixth Constitution Museum concentrates on the centuries- pictures of state awards of Turkmenistan in this hall. hall narrates the history of the legendary Oguz khan, old aspirations of the Turkmen people and such In the second hall are exposed books by the President his activities and the states founded in different conceptions as revival, consent, humanism, honesty, of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, periods. The exhibit also includes a map of modern liberty, patriotism and democratic mechanism of the legislative acts of the state and documents narrating Turkmenistan indicating the location of the world- government as well as the principle of Neutrality the history of Turkmenistan in different periods. known historical and cultural monuments. Here recognized by UNO. There are also texts of the national anthem of are also artifacts found during the archaeological The Museum consists of six halls where modern Turkmenistan, the sacred Oath and some citations excavations in different parts of the country. interactive equipment is installed and displays from the Constitution of Turkmenistan. A special ancient history of Turkmen people, their rich cultural peculiarity of this hall is an electronic library set up heritage and well-known personalities. using new interactive technologies. There is also Other Functions The first hall is devoted to the Constitution of information about the books in three languages of Contrary to what most people think of a museum Turkmen state and history of Independent and Turkmen, English and Russian. as being concerned only with the display of items References: •‘The National Museum of Turkmenistan’, Retrieved Neutral Turkmenistan, portrait of the President of The third hall of the museum is devoted to the pertaining to history, archeology and ethnography, January 14, 2019 from http://old.unesco.kz/heritagenet/ tm/turkmen_site/museum.htm Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, is in national economy and its main branches. In the fourth here such exhibitions comprise only a small part of •‘State Museum of Turkmenistan’, Retrieved January 14, the center of the hall. Imprints of national emblem hall the statements of the President of Turkmenistan the facility’s work. 2019 from http://www.museum.gov.tm/en/museum. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

116 117 The State Museum of Arts Republic of Uzbekistan ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019

The State Museum of Art of Uzbekistan was established in 1918. Its first name was the Museum of the National University. At that time, the fund of the museum numbered only a few hundred exhibits, representing the art objects of Russian and Western European authors nationalized after the revolution. The former palace of Prince Romanov was the first venue for the exposition of the Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan followed by the building of the People’s House. In 1974, the People’s House was demolished and replaced by the new building of the Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan. Three Soviet architects I. Abdulov, A. Nikiforov and S. Rozenblyum designed an unusual building for that time in the form of a simple huge cube, the facades of which were divided into squares by metal structures, lined with aluminum sheets on the outside. Now the museum exhibits the most valuable objects of the ancient and early medieval art of Uzbekistan, architectural decorations, embroideries, carpets, fabrics, copper coins, gold embroidery, jewelry and more. The most valuable exhibits of the antique and the early-medieval art of Uzbekistan are presented in the exposition of the museum including architectural decorations, embroideries, rugs, fabrics, copper- stamping manufactures, golden needlework, jewelry and others. Numerous scientific expeditions made in various regions of Uzbekistan provided absolutely unique collections of an architectural decorations, embroideries, copper and stamping products, calligraphic art and its samples such as hand-written books, inscriptions, etc. More than a half of the exhibits of the museum are traditional arts and crafts including parts of a carved and painted wood, samples of ganch art, ceramics, copper stamping, jewelry, carpets, fabrics, embroideries, gold sewing etc. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

118 119 Museum Sections

Applied Arts Uzbekistan is among the oldest centers of world There are valuable antique items of clay sculpture that their perfect forms and drawings. civilizations which flourished on the fertile floodplains once decorated the palace castle on the site of ancient The first – class ceramic models of Samarkand, of Central Asia. The main routes of the Great Silk Road settlement of Halchayan in Surkhandarya region in , Bukhara, Fergana, Termez and other cities passed through this country which was a central the 1st century B.C. These works demonstrate great are on the display and they are notable for their ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 point in the chain of civilizations and ancient states skill of the local sculptors, who were acquainted with excellent richness of ornament: equally with stylized stretching from Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. the traditions of Hellenic Art. images the calligraphically inscription were very The geographic location of Central Asia promoted In the earlier medieval period, the important centres widely used. the exchange of achievements between the advanced of urban civilization were Samarkand and Bukhara as Akhciket is one of the most ancient settlements of civilizations of the East and the West. The country was well as Fergana, Chacha and cities. The Fergana. The glazed fine ceramic of Akhciket of the X Irrigation ceramic dish, , one of the active hubs of interaction of the Central Art of this period, contains equal amounts of religious c. is presented by the delightful model of the elegant Samarkand, X-XI centuries. Asia with different cultures such as ancient Egyptian, and secular themes such as scenes of the palace semi-spherical chalice with the ornament on the of the XIII – XVIII cc. Among them is a mosaic panel Iranian, Chinese, Greek – Hellenic, Indian – Buddhist, life, mythological and epic topics. In the V – VII cc, white background. from Ulugbek’s madrasah in Samarkand (XV century), Roman – Byzantine, Arab – Muslim, etc. The country’s Buddhism made its way to the region from Tokharistan On display in the Museum is a wide range of fragments mosaic lattices –pandjara –from Gazayan mosque ancient settlements and wall paintings as well as in Fergana. The manifestations of Buddhist art are of the decorations of facades in the form of carved in Bukhara (XVI century), and majolica panels that sculptures, articles of ceramics, metal, jewelry and reflected in the themes of the sculpture from Kuva glazed terra cotta, mosaic and majolica, which were decorated the Bazari Gusphand mosque in Bukhara many others presented at the Fine Art Museum of temple in Fergana. used in decoration of the architectural monuments (beginning of the XVII century). Uzbekistan testify to such antiquity. Moreover, images of the militant defenders of Buddhist faith were carved on sculptures. The fragments of gunch ornament of the VII – VIII cc. A.D. retrieved from the former Bukhara rulers’ palace in of Bukhara region containing plants and animals’ motives plus hunting scenes reflect the secular tendency in the earlier medieval art. The archaeological excavations on Uzbekistan territory provide numerous models of ancient and medieval ceramics astounding by their fine, specific artistic quality. From VIII c., the glazed ceramics became largely popular across the territory of Uzbekistan. During the X – XIII cc., such ceramics found a special position not only in the art of Transoxania but the art of the Islamic world of that period and were thus, exported to many countries of the Moslem world. They were distinguished not only by high quality of pottery, glaze and colours but by ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS Suzane. Shafirkan, end of the 19th century. Suzanne. Samarkand, early. 20th century. Small suzani, calico, Jurmala, chain stitch. Shafirkan.

120 121 From the Spanish works a small canvas “The Boy- Seller” and others. Beggar” (XVIII century) stands out, the character of The illustrious master of the Holland genre, Jan Van which allows the author to be included among the Geisum, is represented by the carefully created Still artists close to the great Francisco Goya. Two works by Life work. The exhibition also shows the work of Juan Pantohi de la Cruz “Portrait of Philip III - King of painters B. Van der Gelst “Portrait of a Man”, Jan van Spain” and “Portrait of Margarita of Austria - Queen of Louthen “Landscape with Dunes”. Spain” (XVII century) are also presented here. The art of England in the XVII-XIX centuries is Among the paintings by German artists stand out the represented by the works of D. Dow “Portrait of P. romantic landscapes of L. Schoenberger “Mountain Davydova”, “Portrait of I. Udom” and H. Robertson Waterfall”, R. Folmar’s “Road in the Forest”. The “Portrait of M. Baryatinsky”. museum also has a collection of famous Maysen The State Museum of Art has a rich collection of works porcelain of the XVIII – early XIX centuries. of Russian art of the XV-XX centuries. The exhibition The paintings of the XV-XVI centuries Netherlands - a collection of icons, reflecting the main features

include pictures of artists such as I. Bosch (school) and artistic techniques of Russian icon painting. The ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 “The Temptation of St. Antonia, F. Pourbus, “Male museum has a rich collection of works by painters A. and Female Portrait,” F. Floris, “The Adoration of the Kuindzhi, I. Shishkin, I. Levitin, A. Savrasov, I. Nikitin, Magi.” R. Rokotov, D. Levitsky, V. Borovikovsky, A. Orlovsky, The Flemish artists of the XVII-XIX centuries are O. Kiprensky, L. Plakhov, V. Tropin, V. Perov, G. represented by the paintings of J. Bruegel “Adam and Myasoedov, N. Kramskogo, I. Repin, V. Verihagin, V. Eve in Paradise”, A. Brouwer “The Blind Musician”, Surikov, etc. D. Teniers “The Cirrus Monkeys”, J. Feith “The Game

Procession on the St. Mark square in Venice. XVIII century, by M. Marieschi.

‘Falconry’, by N. N. Karazin

Art of Russia & Countries of Western Europe

The art of Western Europe in the museum is The heyday of France - XVII century- reflected in the represented by the visual and applied arts of Italy, canvases of the works of the famous artists F. Scampen Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Flanders, “Lamentation of Christ”, P. Mignard “Woman’s Holland and England. Portrait”, F. Van der Meulen “Louis XIV watching the The exhibition presents artworks of Greco-Roman battle of Brugge”. The tastes of the society of that era antiquity and Italian works of the XV-XIX centuries reflect the furniture of the Buhl style, and here the – such as an antique marble statue “Venus with a exposition presents chinaware of the 18th – early 19th dolphin” - a Roman copy from the original Greek art of centuries of the famous Sevres plant. the Hellenistic era (III century BC), as well as beautiful Art of XVIII-XIX centuries France is presented by the copies of portrait busts of outstanding people of works of artists Sh.Vanloo “Triumph. Amphitrite “, ancient Rome (1st century AD). N.Lancre, K.Latura” Self-portrait “, F.Gerard” Amur The remarkable 19th century Italian marble sculpture and Psyche “, S.Ferra” Fair in the Egyptian city “, collection in the museum displays authentic works L.Tesson” Arabian courtyard “, E.Maskre” Woman of famous sculptors A.Canova “Cupid and Psyche”, T. portrait “, etc. The bronze sculpture of Claudion Solari “Venus with an Apple”, F. Barzagi “Phryne”, J. Michel “The Crying Faun” was mad in the spirit of that Houdon “Sabina Houdon”, etc. time. ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS

122 123 Art of the Foreign East Countries

The art of foreign orient in the museum is represented called “egg shell” served as key rings, decorative by works of art from India, China, Japan and South porcelain vases, figurines and much more. Korea. In the Indian art section, contemporary applied The art of South Korea is represented by modern art is exhibited including artistic metal “bidri”, light decorative and applied arts - these are sets for tea and transparent ‘sari’ — the main part of women’s ceremony made of stone, porcelain, celadon products, clothing - carved wood, ivory, lacquerware “Nirmal”, metal incense burners, woodwork, stone sculptures,

musical instruments, carpets, etc. masks made of papier-mâché and much more. Fine ISSUE 22, VOL. 8, WINTER 2019 China’s applied art is shown in a bronze collection: art is represented by several works of modern Korean the the earliest object is an incense burner of the authors, made in the technique of oil painting. 12th century in the form of a fantastic unicorn Chi- ling. Bowls, vases, trays, glasses, beads decorated with multi-colored paints using cloisonné enamel are also on display here. An example of the art of woodcarving

is the carved wooden bed of the 19th century: dragon References: figures carved in the trunk of the tree, pattern lace, •The State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Retrieved ivory and wood instruction — all testifies to the truly March 11, 2019 from http://www.stateartmuseum.uz. •Tashkent Museums: The State Art Museum of Uzbekistan, high level of this work of art. Retrieved March 11, 2019 from https://www.advantour.com/ The exposition widely presents chinaware, vases, uzbekistan/tashkent/art-museum.htm. household items of the 17th-20th centuries, IRIS. Tatiana Lee, oil on canvas. ancient Chinese painting, which is distinguished by Fine Arts refinement, beauty of lines, color and unusual form of paintings. The paintings are represented by vertical The collection of works of the fine arts of Uzbekistan The period of the late XIX - early XX centuries is scrolls of the XVII-XVIII centuries, written in the is the largest museum collection mostly displaying represented by the works of I. Kazakov, I. Karazin, R. technique of color and black ink. the history of development of this type of national Sommer, S. Yudin, I. Rozanova, L. Bure, whose work Attention is drawn to the huge porcelain ceremonial art. Acquisitions of the arts department of Uzbekistan is of great historical and artistic value. Their activity vases of the XIX century, which served as the began in the mid-1930s, when works of artists began is associated with the initial stage of development of decoration for the palaces and were also exported. to be acquired from exhibitions. Many of these works the visual arts, which is characterized by ethnographic Since ancient times, Chinese masters were famous for were included in the golden fund of Uzbek national art, which is explained by the interest of the artists in carving on lacquer: in the windows of the museum art. the life, history and architectural monuments of the are exhibited caskets with embossed floral patterns The exposition of the fine arts of Uzbekistan shows country. carved in several layers of red lacquer. a complex and unique way of the formation and An important role in the development of art of The examples of Japanese art are cabinets of red and development of national painting, sculpture and Uzbekistan in the beginning of the twentieth century black lacquers, inlaid with bronze, pearl and ivory. graphics over more than a century of history. The was played by artists: L. Bure, G. Nikitin, O. Tatevosyan, In the museum’s collection there are more than works presented in the museum testify to the V. Yeremyan, E. Korova, A. Nikolayev, A. Volkov, 500 Japanese woodcuts. The Japanese exposition thematic and genre richness of national art, the high V. Ufimtsev, P. Benkov, Z Kovalevskaya, N.Kashina, also includes porcelain of the XVIII-XIX centuries, professional skills of the artists of Uzbekistan, and the N.Karakhan, V.Rozhdestvensky, N.Rozanov, I.Kazakov, distinctive for amazing transparency and fragility.

ECO HERITAGE - NATIONAL MUSEUMS diversity of their creative personalities and styles. M.Novikov, M.Kurzin. These miniature netsuke figures of wood and ivory Broken trees. Gayrat Boymatov. 2006.

124 125 ‘The Truth of Human’s Nature in the Eyes of Scholars of the East’ Lecture Session

The 6th of the series of ECI’s monthly lecture sessions was presented by Dr. Gholamreza Awani, the renowned Iranian philosopher, scholar & a member of ECI’s Culture & Science Council. www.ecieco.org