On November 28, an international media forum on “Crossroads of times: the great legacy of the past–the basis of an enlightened future” has begun in Tashkent.

The event, organized by the National Association of Electronic Mass Media of Uzbekistan in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan, the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, representative offices of UNESCO and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (Germany), is being attended by senators, deputies, heads of ministries and departments, representatives of leading museums, libraries, scientific institutions, international organizations, scientists and experts. 

It is known from history that the outstanding thinkers of Uzbekistan made a great contribution to the development of human civilization. The unique works created by them form the basis of our spiritual life today, serve as a source for fundamental research and scientific studies. 

At the initiative of the President of our country Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a large-scale activity is carried out on careful preservation and study of the scientific and spiritual heritage of our great thinkers. The resolution of the Head of our state “On measures of further improving the system of storage, research and propaganda of ancient written sources” of May 24, 2017 serves as a guide to action in this activity. 

Unique sources concerning the rich cultural heritage of Uzbekistan are kept in numerous museums, scientific research institutes, galleries and archival collections of the world. Within the framework of the media project “Cultural legacy of Uzbekistan”, a large-scale activity is carried out on finding them and returning to the homeland. Within the framework of the international forum, presentation of a new series of the project "Masterpieces of written monuments of the East” was held. 

An important event of the forum was donating of a facsimile copies of manuscripts kept at the Institute of the Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Library of France. These are copies of the “Qur'an from Katta Langar”, “Miraj-name” (“Ascension”), “The Code of Temur”, “Rauzat-as-Safa” (Garden of Purity). These copies are created on the closest to the original types of paper with the use of gold blotches, it is difficult to distinguish them from original folios. 

In May of this year, the first presentation of the project “Cultural legacy of Uzbekistan in the world collections” was held at the international scientific and cultural congress on “Cultural heritage of Uzbekistan – the way to dialogue between nations and countries”. 

The next five books-albums that are included in this series were presented at the conference. These collections tell about masterpieces of the rich cultural heritage of Uzbekistan. In particular, the sixth volume is dedicated to unique musical instruments and notations kept in the Glinka Museum of Musical Culture. The seventh volume contains information on valuable monuments kept in collections of written heritage of the Institute of the Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The eighth and tenth volumes contain information about exhibits related to the history and culture of our people, stored in the State Hermitage Museum, the State Museum of History, the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art. The album (the ninth volume) dedicated to the cultural heritage of our people, kept in Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art named after I.Savitsky was published for the first time. The book narrates about the unique examples of Turkestan avant-garde. 

At the event, these collections were handed over to representatives of 136 museums and libraries from 49 countries. 

Information was provided on books-albums and films, which are scheduled for release in 2018. The books will be dedicated to the unique examples of our history, stored in the funds of France, Great Britain, Japan, Russia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. 

On the first day of the media forum, reports were heard on various cultures and art traditions in the territory of Uzbekistan and the art of Uzbekistan in world collections. New technologies presented by Japanese scientists on determining the age of museum exhibits aroused the interest of participants. 

Presentation of the documentary film “Uzbekistan: Newly Found Revelations” of the Russian TV channel “Culture” also made a great impression. Rare archival records, made in the 1920s in our country, were offered for the first time. They are stored in the funds of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the city of St. Petersburg.