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UZBEKISTAN 1
I travelled from Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan by road in the 1990s and returned in the fall of 2017. |
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...Uzbeks make silk and cotton wall hangings and coverlets such as beautiful suzani (embroidery; suzan is Persian for needle).*
Possibly the most accessible Kazakh textile souvenirs is a tus-kiiz (tush-kiyiz in Kyrgyzstan), a colourful wall hanging made of cotton and silk.*
The most well-known qala is impressive, mud-walled Ayaz-Qala, which is actually a complex of three forts about 23km north of Boston (Bustan).*
...the music of Central Asia remains closely related to the swirling melodies of Anatolia and Persia.*
dombra/komuz (two-stringed Kazakh/Kyrgyz guitar), kamanche (Persian violin, played like a cello) and gijak (upright spiked fiddle),
Rendered in a style that foreshadows that of Persian miniature painting, some splendid friezes have been unearthed in the
Most Central Asian peoples have their own traditional rug or carpet styles.*
Contemporary art is, like the media, tightly controlled by the state.*
Academic Russian Drama Theatre: Classical Russian and Western drama as well as some more modern pieces, all performed in Russian.*
Tashkent's main cultural highlight is this progressive theatre (Ilkhom Theatre), which stages productions in Russian but often with English subtitles.*
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Susani are made in a variety of sizes and used as table covers, cushions and ruijo (a bridal bedspread), and thus were a key part of a bride's dowry.*
The oldest, most unique, and most difficult-to-pronounce fort is circular Koy Krylgan Qala, which archaeologists believe doubled as a pagan temple and an observatory complex.*
The instruments used are similar to those found across Iran, Afghanistan and Chinese Turkestan;
ney (flute), doira (tambourine-drum) and chang (zither).
excavations of the Afrosiab palace (6th to 7th centuries), on the outskirts of Samarkand, depcting a colourful caravan led by elephants.
The famous 'Bukhara' rugs - so called because they were mostly sold, not made, in Bukhara - are made largely by Turkmen craftsmen in Turkmenistan and northwestern Afghanistan.*
Known for bucking trends, and racial subjects, putting off more conservative elements of Uzbek society.*
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Rich with floral or celestial motifs (depictions of people and animals are against Muslim beliefs), an average suzani requires about two years to complete.*
Two other not-to-be-missed qalas aer Toprak Qala and Kyzyl Quala...The former was the main temple complex of Khorezm kings who ruled this are in the 3rd and 4th centuries.*
the rabab (rubab;six-stringed mandolin), dutar (two-stringed guitar), tambur (long-necked lute),
Bozori Kord is an age-old Bukharan bathhouse where little has changed for centuries.*
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*These captions are from Central Asia -- Lonely Planet's travel guide.