Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 12 November, a closing ceremony of III Tashkent International Biennale of Applied Arts "Contemporary Applied Arts: Decor and Style" was held at the Central Exhibition Hall of Uzbekistan. The exhibition was held from 8 to 13 November 2021.

The closing ceremony was solemnly opened by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and Sports Aziz Abdukhakimov.

“The main goal of the third Tashkent International Biennale of Applied Arts is to preserve national traditions, strengthen ties of friendship and cooperation between different peoples by presenting modern applied art to our people and the world community, as well as restoring forgotten traditions,” Aziz Abdukhakimov said.

More than 60 masters from Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Sweden, Australia, Kenya, Japan, China, Pakistan, Turkey, Oman, Iran took part in the Biennale. More than 100 artisans from Uzbekistan presented their creative works.

The biennale presented Uzbek and foreign decorative arts, national ceramics, calligraphy, exhibitions of miniature works, master classes in pottery, painting, demonstrations of national and modern costumes of young designers.

The exhibition was held in the Central Exhibition Hall of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan, in the Ikuo Hirayama International Cultural Caravan Sarai, in the Tashkent House of Photography, in the Museum of Oriental Miniature Art named after Kamoliddin Behzod, as well as in the Gallery of Fine Arts.

As part of the program, creative people from Italy, Great Britain, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and other countries visited Samarkand and got acquainted with its cultural and tourist potential, as well as got acquainted with the life, history and culture of the Uzbek people.

The jury of the biennale included influential foreign representatives - director of the Institute of Arts and Architecture of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Ertegin Salomzoda, director of the All-Russian Museum of Decorative Arts Elena Titova, UNESCO international expert on Central Asia Nadezhda Zhdravkova. According to the jury’s conclusion, prizes were awarded to:

1st place - Zarafshon Shakardodova, Dilmurod Sharipov (Tajikistan); 

2nd place - Ubolsin Daulenova (Kazakhstan); 

3rd place - Irina Lebedeva (Russia). 

Abduvohid Karimov from Uzbekistan was recognized as worthy of the Grand Prix of the Biennale.