Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 21 August, a press conference was held at the Youth Creativity Palace in Tashkent to mark the start of the Cultural Heritage Week “Uzbekistan - the Crossroads of Roads and Civilizations: Empire, Religion, Culture”.

On 26 August 2019, an international conference will be held in Samarkand under the auspices of UNESCO, which will bring together more than 200 scientists from forty countries of the world. “Preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage: current problems and strategies for solving them” - this is the name of the conference, which will be attended by more than 300 oriental scholars, UNESCO experts, and representatives of international media. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay also confirmed her participation.

Ahead of the international conference in Uzbekistan will be held a grandiose and unprecedented in scale and geography cultural event - the Week of Cultural Heritage “Uzbekistan - the Crossroads of Roads and Civilizations: Empire, Religion, Culture”, which will cover four cities of the Republic of Tashkent, Termez, Bukhara and Samarkand.

The rich and exclusive program of the Week will include over 15 events, each of which will amaze participants with its richness, scope, originality and color. The scientific part of the events will be closely intertwined with a visual, informative program specially compiled for eminent oriental scholars, many of whom have linked their fates to studying the unique cultural and historical heritage of Uzbekistan.

On 22 August, the Third International Congress of the World Society for the Preservation, Study and Promotion of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan will open the Week in Tashkent. The Congress will present 20 new volumes of book albums dedicated to the treasures of Uzbekistan in world collections and museums in Uzbekistan.

Leading specialists from Uzbekistan, France, the UK, Poland, the Czech Republic, Japan and other countries took part in creating these albums. A unique feature of album books is their use of the latest technology. Books are published with the effect of augmented reality. It implies introducing into the field of readers’ perception video materials prepared by the project’s film crew when the smartphone approaches a barcode specially printed on the album’s pages. This will allow readers to more fully and vividly perceive the material presented in the book-album. This technology is being first undertaken in Uzbekistan when publishing books.

In addition, documentaries on cultural and historical heritage collections in the world’s collections - “Following the Traces of Babur and the Princesses of the Baburids”, “Kattalangar Quran: Secrets and Reality”, which will premiere on the days of Heritage Week on the TV channel “Russia-”, will be presented at the III Congress Culture ”, the Internet portal of BBC Uzbek, as well as on TV channels of Uzbekistan.

A rare and luxurious gift for the participants of the Week, as well as guests and residents of Tashkent, will be a fantastic and unique exhibition “Treasures of Kushan” (“Gold of Dalverzin”) in the Gallery of Fine Arts of Uzbekistan.

The exhibition "Masterpieces of manuscript monuments of Uzbekistan" will also be held at the Abu Rayhan Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Its exposition will be composed of the oldest manuscripts written by the luminaries of their time, the great oriental scientists, poets, philosophers. Unique authentic manuscripts will be available for review for the first time.

Within the framework of the Congress, its participants will also visit the Center for Islamic Civilization and the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan under construction, where they will get acquainted with the most ancient manuscript monument, the rarest artifact - the Koran of Osman, as well as the Kattalangar Koran.

On 24 August, participants of the Week will move to Termez, where important events will unfold in the field of studying world history. Here for the first time in the framework of the archaeological conference "Uzbekistan - the crossroads of civilizations" sensational reports of famous orientalists from around the world will be heard. The highlight of the program is the famous Alexandria of Oksianskaya, the fruit of many years of research by scientists led by Academician E. Rtveladze in the ancient city of Kampyrtepa.

Then guests will get acquainted with historical monuments and sights of ancient fortifications and excavations in Surkhandarya region. They will visit the Buddhist temple complex of the 1st-3rd centuries A.D. Fayaztepa, as well as the Termez Archaeological Museum.

A part of the guests of the Cultural Heritage Week will visit Bukhara on 24 August, where they will examine the architectural monuments of the city. On 25 August, participants will arrive on a special flight to Samarkand to continue participating in the events of Heritage Week. For example, an exclusive tour “What are the monuments of Uzbekistan silent about?” will be organized for them. This is a kind of acquaintance with the messages of great rulers and prominent thinkers from the depths of centuries. World scientists will learn about education, enlightenment, peace and creation in the architectural epigraphy of Samarkand. Such excursions have never been conducted before.

In addition, an international conference of Islamic scholars "Light from the depths of centuries" will be held in Samarkand. The event will include the presentation of pilot versions of the new book-albums of the series “Architectural Epigraphy of Uzbekistan”, dedicated to the architectural epigraphy of the monuments of Khorezm and Bukhara (volumes 14 and 15), as well as a documentary prepared by BBC Uzbek and NAESMI with the support of the State Committee for Tourism entitled “Kattalangar Quran : facts and myths. "

It is also planned to visit the International Research Center of Imam Bukhari, built on the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The unique event of Samarkand events will be the colorful, vibrant festival "Samarkand - the heart of the Great Silk Road", which has a unique format and is distinguished by its stunning beauty and authenticity. The festival will be held in a new theme park, recreated in the image of one of the seven gardens of Amir Timur "Bogishamol" which will open solemnly on this day. The participants of the event, dressed in costumes of the peoples that they represent, as if by a time machine, will move into the atmosphere of the medieval era and visit the famous Samarkand bazaar.

The bright final event of the Week will be the opening ceremony of the XII International Music Festival “Sharq Taronalari” on Registan Square. Charming melodies of the East and the peoples of the world will turn the Festival into a real evening of friendship. Impressive lighting sets against the backdrop of a majestic architectural ensemble will undoubtedly make an indelible impression on the guests.