Uzbekistan Nukus & Savitsky Art Museum
Nukus & Savitsky Art Museum; Group Dinner and Entertainment
Family travel Uzbekistan, Family Russell-Smith Travel. Nukus, Moynak and the disappearing Aral sea
Day two film. Nukus, Moynak and the disappearing Aral sea.
We flew from #Tashkent to #Nukus with Uzbekistan airways with the main aim of visiting #Moynaq and the Ship Graveyard. However Nukus was a pleasant surprise as we were not expecting much but there is enough to do for a day with a visit to the impressive Karakalpak Museum of Art and we would highly recommend a visit to the Nukus Bazzar as you really get an authentic experience of an Uzbek market.
We rented a taxi for a day ($50) and drove for 3 hours further North to Moynak and visited the ship graveyard. Moynak was once a bustling town with fishing being the main industry but it is now more of a ghost town since the sea left its shores. The boys loved collecting shells and playing on the rusty old ships pretending they were pirates in the middle of the desert!
Savitsky Museum: the most outstanding museum in the world!
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The Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art named after I.V. Savitsky - also known, simply, as the Nukus Museum - hosts the world's second largest collection of Russian avant-garde art (after the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg). It is also home to one of the largest collections of archeological objects and folk, applied and contemporary art originating from Central Asia.
Igor Savitsky (1915-84), a Russian born in Kiev and the Museum's founder, first went to Karakalpakstan in 1950 as the artist in the Khorezm Archaeological and Ethnographic Expedition led by the world-famous scientist, Sergei P. Tolstov. Fascinated by the culture and people of the steppe, he stayed on after the dig (1950-57), methodically collecting Karakalpak carpets, costumes, jewelry, and other works of art. At the same time, he began collecting the drawings and paintings of artists linked to Central Asia, including those of the Uzbek school, and, during the late-1950s/early-1960s, those of the Russian avant-garde which the Soviet authorities were then banishing and destroying. Today, the Museum houses a collection totaling about 90,000 items, including graphics, paintings, and sculptures, as well as thousands of artifacts, textiles and jewelry, ranging from the antiquities of Khorezm’s ancient civilization to the works of contemporary Uzbek and Karakalpak artists.
Perhaps the most remarkable, indeed unique features of the Savitsky Collection are the paradoxes surrounding its existence. For example, Karakalpakstan - the remote northwestern region of Uzbekistan where the Museum was founded - was, and remains one of the poorest of the entire former Soviet Union. On the other hand, despite its poor economic prospects, Karakalpakstan’s culture has been preserved and provided the intellectual raison d'être and nourishment for the Museum’s creation in 1966.
Second, the Museum may be one of the few places in the world where Russian avant-garde art hangs alongside that of Socialist Realism - the former slandered by the Soviet State, the latter glorified by it.
Third, the Museum’s collection of Russian avant-garde is the only one that was initially condemned officially by the Soviet Union and, at the same time, financed partly by it, albeit unwittingly. Evidently, Nukus’ status as a ‘closed’ city and, especially, Savitsky’s good relations with the Karakalpak regional authorities enabled this to happen.
Finally, Savitsky, the European, trained the Karakalpaks, his Asian counterparts, in the value of their own culture and the importance of preserving it. His approach and sensitivity instilled trust not only in the older generations of Karakalpaks who sold him their textiles and jewelry but also in the local government which played a large role in the Museum’s foundation and continued existence. It was this mutual affection and trust that has ensured the renaissance of both a forgotten nation and a neglected generation of artists and their work.
This pearl in the desert - or, as the French magazine Télérama recently called it, 'Le Louvre des steppes' - is located in Nukus, the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan in northwest Uzbekistan at the southern base of the now dying Aral Sea, which until the mid-1960s was the world's fourth-largest inland lake. Although the ancient Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva may be better known, the Nukus Museum is, in fact, the fourth splendor of Uzbekistan. Indeed, the Savitsky Collection has been called one of the most outstanding museums of the world by the UK's Guardian newspaper.
The Savitsky Museum. Nukus, Karakalpakstan
The museum is located in the centre of Nukus. Its collection includes about 100,000 exhibits. Exhibitions are divided into three main sections: Visual Art; Karakalpakstan Folk Arts and Crafts and Ancient Khorezm Art.
Karaklapakstan State Museum of Art named after I.V. Savitsky is the most attractive place in Karakalpakstan. It is named after its founder and first director, artist I.V.Savitsky. The museum has approximately 10,000 articles of folk art and crafts dating back to the late XIX – XX centuries. They include household items, rugs, horse equipment, wood products, and traditional clothes and jewellery, including the famous tobelik and saukele, traditional Karakalpak female headdresses. In addition, the museum has rich collections or Karakalpak, Uzbek, Kazakh and Turkmen jewellery.
Outside Savitsky Museum Nukus Karakalpakstan February 2016
И.В. Савицкий атындағы музей / Nukus Qaraqalpaqstan
И.В. Савицкий атындағы музей / Nukus Qaraqalpaqstan
Journey of Discovery - Nukus Art Museum
The Journey of Discovery stops in Nukus, a remote town with a very special art gallery.
Please follow our Journey
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Нукус музейининг келажаги борми?
Лондондаги Frontline журналистлар клубида Нукус Давлат Санъат музейи раҳбарининг ишдан олиниши ортидан музей ва ундаги асарлар келажаги борасида анжуман ўтказилди.
Шу йил август ойида Жаҳон бўйлаб Савицкий коллекцияси дея танилган Нукусдаги Қорақалпоқ Давлат Санъат Музейи директори Мариника Бабаназарова ишдан бўшатилганди.
Ўзбекистон Маданият Вазирлиги Бабаназарова хоним ўз хоҳиши бўйича ишдан кетиш борасида ариза ёзганлигини билдирди. Аммо унинг ўзи кейинчалик ариза ёзишга мажбурланганлигини айтди.
Шу орада расмийлар музей захирларидан баъзи асарлар йўқолгани ва уларнинг ўрнига нусхалари қўйилгани ҳақида даъволарни ўртага ташладилар.
Мариника Бабаназарова Нукус музейидаги ўта ноёб коллекцияни сақлаб қолиш йўлида фаолият қилиб келган раҳбар сифатида кўриларди.
Би-би-си Ўзбек хизматининг видеоларини bbcuzbek.com да ҳам кўришингиз мумкин.
Savitskiy Museum in Uzbekistan
There are many historical expanses in the museum
Soviet avant-garde art from Uzbekistan exhibited in Moscow
(21 Apr 2017) LEADIN
A rare exhibition of Soviet avant-garde art from Uzbekistan has gone on display in Moscow.
The show contains many works collected by 1950s painter Igor Savitsky.
STORYLINE
A group of art fans take in Alexander Volkov's 'Brigade entering the field'.
It's one of 200 paintings from the Savitsky State Art Museum of Karakalpakstan to have gone on display at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.
This rare travelling exhibit is from a gallery widely regarded as having one of the world's best Soviet avant-garde art.
Vladimir Lysenko's painted bull stares at the viewer with flat, black eyes, one of his horns festooned in a mosaic of bright rectangles, the tip of his tail stretched toward a glowing orange globe that may be the sun.
What he intended with this classic painting of the Soviet avant-garde is unknown; it is from an era when unconventional art was literally arresting. Lysenko was arrested in 1935 and what happened to him afterwards is unclear.
Over the years, the painting has become one of the most renowned images of the artistic ferment that bubbled under the strictures of insipid Soviet social realism.
But until recently, anyone who wanted to see it had to travel to an isolated city in Uzbekistan's desert.
The show also draws attention to the history of the museum, which is as remarkable as the works it holds.
In this museum we have gathered some truly unique collections of things that, first of all, tell the story of Turkistan avant-garde. It is a very special field of study, says Director of The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Marina Loshak.
In the 1950s, painter Igor Savitsky got work in an archaeological expedition in Uzbekistan.
He became fascinated by the intricate weavings and elegant pottery of the local Karakalpak ethnic group and collected extensively. Local officials, flattered by his interest, helped him establish a museum in the city of Nukus.
Savitsky was also concerned about the fate of the works of the Soviet Union's more adventurous artists.
In the early 20th century, Russia had been a hotbed of bold art experimentations: Suprematism, Constructivism and visions too idiosyncratic to fit into any category.
But by the early 1930s, authorities decreed that art must express Soviet ideals and be comprehensible to the average worker.
Bold colours, dancing polygons and strange faces disappeared from the public view, replaced by muscular construction workers and children devotedly presenting bouquets to Josef Stalin.
Savitsky began collecting as much of the unofficial art as he could, reportedly filling train sleeping compartments with paintings to bring them to Nukus, some 2000 kilometres (1200 miles) from Moscow.
Savitsky has been praised as a patron of the Nukus art sanctuary and unknown artists of the region.
Many of the works likely would have been destroyed or become irreparably deteriorated if he had not been able to spirit them to the city far away from the central government's attention.
He collected works without taking into consideration whether this was a well-known name or not well-known. He collected art with an orientation on the art itself, says curator Irina Kim.
Bazarbai Serekeyev is an Uzbek artist whose works was spotted by Savitsky in the 70s:
Savitsky looked at my work and asked Did you paint this yourself?, I said yes. After that he bought three of my paintings and told me that I should paint more. He gave me some recommendations. His words inspired me and I started painting more, he says.
Many of the works in the show had to be lovingly restored before they were displayed.
The exhibition in Moscow runs April 21 until 10 May 2017.
You can license this story through AP Archive:
Find out more about AP Archive:
Uzbekistan’s Forbidden Art Treasures
How suppressed Soviet-era art worth hundreds of millions of dollars found refuge in the desert.
Originally published at -
Near Savitsky Museum Nukus Karakalpakstan February 2016
Keepers of the Lost Art - Uzbekistan
June 2002
On the dusty steppes of remote north- west Uzbekistan is one of the most extraordinary museums in the world. It is locatedin the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan, from where foreigners and most Russians were barred until the late 1980s. This made the capital, Nukus, the perfect place
to 'hide' tens of thousands of works of art banned by Stalin's regime. Dateline's Kim Traill reports from Uzbekistan on a rare collection of dissident art and the man who saved it for the world.
Produced by SBS/Dateline
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures
Pride and fears for Uzbekistan's 'Louvre of the Steppes'
More than 50 years after its founding, the Nukus Museum of Art in Uzbekistan's remote Karakalpakstan region still startles and charms visitors in the spirit of its eccentric late founder. But having survived Soviet censorship and predatory foreign art dealers in the 1990s, some fear the world's second-largest collection of Russian avant-garde art, faces a fresh threat.
Uncertain future for Uzbekistan’s avant-garde museum
The remote Uzbek city of Nukus may seem an unlikely destination for art lovers.
But thanks largely to the efforts of by one man, Igor Savitsky, it is now home to a world-class collection of avant-garde paintings, rescued from destruction by the KGB, the committee for state security, in the Soviet era.
But the future of this unique museum could now be on the line.
Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen reports from Nukus,
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#Uzbekistan #NukusMuseum #IgorSavitsky
Soviet avant-garde art from Uzbekistan exhibited in Moscow
(22 Apr 2017) LEADIN
A rare exhibition of Soviet avant-garde art from Uzbekistan has gone on display in Moscow.
The show contains many works collected by 1950s painter Igor Savitsky.
STORYLINE
A group of art fans take in Alexander Volkov's 'Brigade entering the field'.
It's one of 200 paintings from the Savitsky State Art Museum of Karakalpakstan to have gone on display at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.
This rare travelling exhibit is from a gallery widely regarded as having one of the world's best Soviet avant-garde art.
Vladimir Lysenko's painted bull stares at the viewer with flat, black eyes, one of his horns festooned in a mosaic of bright rectangles, the tip of his tail stretched toward a glowing orange globe that may be the sun.
What he intended with this classic painting of the Soviet avant-garde is unknown; it is from an era when unconventional art was literally arresting. Lysenko was arrested in 1935 and what happened to him afterwards is unclear.
Over the years, the painting has become one of the most renowned images of the artistic ferment that bubbled under the strictures of insipid Soviet social realism.
But until recently, anyone who wanted to see it had to travel to an isolated city in Uzbekistan's desert.
The show also draws attention to the history of the museum, which is as remarkable as the works it holds.
In this museum we have gathered some truly unique collections of things that, first of all, tell the story of Turkistan avant-garde. It is a very special field of study, says Director of The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Marina Loshak.
In the 1950s, painter Igor Savitsky got work in an archaeological expedition in Uzbekistan.
He became fascinated by the intricate weavings and elegant pottery of the local Karakalpak ethnic group and collected extensively. Local officials, flattered by his interest, helped him establish a museum in the city of Nukus.
Savitsky was also concerned about the fate of the works of the Soviet Union's more adventurous artists.
In the early 20th century, Russia had been a hotbed of bold art experimentations: Suprematism, Constructivism and visions too idiosyncratic to fit into any category.
But by the early 1930s, authorities decreed that art must express Soviet ideals and be comprehensible to the average worker.
Bold colours, dancing polygons and strange faces disappeared from the public view, replaced by muscular construction workers and children devotedly presenting bouquets to Josef Stalin.
Savitsky began collecting as much of the unofficial art as he could, reportedly filling train sleeping compartments with paintings to bring them to Nukus, some 2000 kilometres (1200 miles) from Moscow.
Savitsky has been praised as a patron of the Nukus art sanctuary and unknown artists of the region.
Many of the works likely would have been destroyed or become irreparably deteriorated if he had not been able to spirit them to the city far away from the central government's attention.
He collected works without taking into consideration whether this was a well-known name or not well-known. He collected art with an orientation on the art itself, says curator Irina Kim.
Bazarbai Serekeyev is an Uzbek artist whose works was spotted by Savitsky in the 70s:
Savitsky looked at my work and asked Did you paint this yourself?, I said yes. After that he bought three of my paintings and told me that I should paint more. He gave me some recommendations. His words inspired me and I started painting more, he says.
Many of the works in the show had to be lovingly restored before they were displayed.
The exhibition in Moscow runs April 21 until 10 May 2017.
You can license this story through AP Archive:
Find out more about AP Archive:
Нукус музейи ходимлари машҳур директор ишдан олинишидан норози
Нукусдаги Қорақалпоқ Давлат cанъат музейи директори Мариника Бабаназарованинг 21 август куни Республика маданият ва спорт ишлари вазирлиги буйруғи билан ишдан бўшатилишига музей жамоаси норозилик билдириб, вазир имзолаган буйруқ остига Бабаназарованиниг лавозимига қайта тикланишини талаб қилган ёзувларни қолдирмоқда.
Нукусдаги Қорақалпоқ Давлат cанъат музейи ходимларидан бири Озодлик радиоси билан суҳбатда жаҳонга “Савицкий коллекцияси” сифатида танилган музейнинг директори Мариника Бабаназарова расман ўз аризасига биноан ишдан бўшатилганини айтди. Ходимнинг билдиришича, музейнинг 86 кишилик меҳнат жамоаси Бабаназарова ўз хоҳиши билан ариза ёзганига ишонмайди ва у вазирлик босими остида ишдан кетишга мажбур бўлган, деган фикрда.
- Уни ишдан бўшатишгани йўқ, у ўзи ариза билант ишдан кетди. Бироқ биз бу гапга ишонмаймиз. Чунки ҳозир Савицкийнинг юз йиллигини нишонлашга тайёргарлик кўрилаётган эди. Директоримиз музейни, меҳнат жамоасини бундай оғир шароитда ташлаб қўйиб, ишдан бўшаб кетадиган одам эмас эди, - деди ўз номини айтишимизни истамаган музей ходими.
Collection of the State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan named after I.V. Savitsky
A documentary dedicated to the ninth edition of the book-album Collection of the State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan named after I.V. Savitsky ”from the series“ Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the collections of the world ”.
Louvre in desert (by А.Yakubov) State Museum of Arts by I.Savitsky
Igor Savitsky built up a vast collection of Soviet art from the 1920s and 30s, saving it from communist destruction. To keep it safe, he housed it in a small, in hospitable town in remote Uzbekistan. Now it is being rediscovered. Amelia Gentleman, The Guardian
Savitskiy muzeyi rahbari bilan suhbat/Savitsky Museum in Nukus
G'arbda tillarda doston Savitskiy muzeyi va undagi qariyb 90 ming bebaho asar Qoraqalpog'iston va O'zbekiston xalqi mulkidir. Uni asrab-avaylashda davom etamiz, - deydi muzey direktori Marinika Babanazarova, Amerika Ovozi bilan suhbatda. Babanazarova xalqaro miqyosda tan olingan madaniyat arbobi. Vashingtondagi Yevrosiyo Jamg'armasi uning xizmatlarini yuqori baholab, Amerikaga professional safarga taklif qildi. Bu esa Marinika Babanazarova uchun ona xalqi, tarixi va madaniyati haqida so'zlab berish, uning boshqaruvidagi azim muzeyni ko'z-ko'z qilish imkoniyatidir.