In memory of a great voice of the Jadids

On August 1, the Central Exhibition Hall opened an exhibition-competition featuring works dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahmudkhodja Behbudiy, a founder of the Jadid movement, an outstanding writer, and a public figure.

The exhibition features 7 pieces from the State Museum of the Memory of the Victims of Repression's collection, as well as over 40 works created by local artists as part of a creative competition for visual artworks inspired by the life and work of Behbudiy.

According to the competition results, works deemed of high artistic value and approved by the Art Expert Council under the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan will be acquired for the collection of the State Museum of the Memory of the Victims of Repression.

Curator and organizer of creative projects on the topic of the Jadids, Maksud Askarov, who visited the exhibition, wrote on his Telegram channel Vasvasa muzeyi: 

“I visited the exhibition-competition dedicated to Mahmudkhodja Behbudiy. ‘Buried Words’ by Erik Kulmanov is one of the few works that truly evokes emotion. Life in it feels turned inside out: as if we are the ones buried, and above us breathe and try to speak those distant and close, clear and obscure, imagined and projected Jadids – from Behbudiy to Cholpon.

Everyone hears in this whisper what they want to hear – their own truth about the country, justice, and the order of the world.

Uzbek poet Gulchehra Nurullayeva once wrote lines dedicated to them:

A chasm between us…

Tell me – where are you hurrying?

We set out on a journey – 

long, anxious –

to find our way back to your hearts”

The exhibition is open until August 10.

Photos courtesy of Umar Kurbanov.