Presentation of an artifact. Photo: Center for Islamic Civilization press service
A ceremony was held in Tashkent to mark the donation of unique artifacts to the museum of the Center for Islamic Civilization (CIC). The donors included museums from around the world as well as private collectors.
The event took place in the conference hall of the Sevimli telemedia complex following the close of the forum “The Heritage of a Great Past as the Foundation of an Enlightened Future” on September 26–27. More than 200 scholars from over 20 countries participated.
The ceremony featured performances by popular singers and a dance troupe. Each donor came on stage or joined online to present their artifact, share its story, and congratulate the leadership of Uzbekistan and the CIC.
British participants showed particular interest in contributing to the museum’s collection after meeting CIC representatives during a recent visit to London. The David Aaron Gallery donated pre-Islamic necklaces, used both as adornments and as a form of currency. London’s Momtaz Islamic Art Gallery presented a unique Safavid-era wedding axe, which the CIC had originally planned to acquire this year but postponed. Yacob’s Gallery sent a collection of Timurid-era lyagans (ceramic dishes). British collector Sam Fogg contributed a set of medieval metal and bronze items. Dr. Firuza Melville, on behalf of Cambridge, gifted an early 20th-century carpet. The Mansour Gallery presented pages from a 16th-century copy of the Shahnameh.
From Russia, the Medina publishing house donated a collection of scholarly and educational works on religious themes.
Uzbek donors also enriched the museum’s holdings. The Sevimli TV channel presented a set of models of 20 of the country’s most famous architectural monuments. The Tashkent auction house Art Vernisage donated a set of 18th-century astrolabes. The Mahalla Charitable Foundation contributed Qurans dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. The World Society for the Study, Preservation, and Popularization of Uzbekistan’s Cultural Heritage (WOSCU) donated a unique hoard of Kushan coins from the 1st–3rd centuries, discovered in Surkhandarya Region, as well as a set of geographic maps. CIC Director Firdavs Abdukhalikov personally donated a family-acquired collection of 5th–6th century gold objects once belonging to Byzantine soldiers and unearthed in Tashkent Region.
The forum “The Heritage of a Great Past as the Foundation of an Enlightened Future” was organized on the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. It brought together more than 200 scholars and experts from over 20 countries, including representatives of TURKSOY, ISESCO, IRCICA, and Al-Furqan.
The Center for Islamic Civilization was built in Tashkent next to the Khast-Imam complex. Designed in the style of medieval architectural monuments, the building features four portals, each 34 meters high, and a central dome rising 65 meters. It houses a Quran hall, a 460-seat conference hall, and a museum whose exhibitions span Uzbekistan’s history from pre-Islamic times to the present. The CIC is intended to serve as a platform for studying the heritage of the past and rethinking its relevance today, in cooperation with the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan and academic and educational institutions worldwide.
