Khiva and Nukus

This post is to have photos added 

References mentioned are from Penelope Price's Uzbek Journeys blog.

Khiva

Thursday October 8^th

7.30 departure for the drive from Bukhara to Khiva, about 470 kms away along the Kyzyl Kum desert road. Took 8 or more hours.  We all paid an additional $50 to travel by sedans as the road is terrible for traveling in the bus. There was a sandstorm on the way and the road was truly terrible.  Penelope said it was the worst journey she had had on this road.

The lunch stop was in a very forlorn, depressing place.

Great to have a hot shower at the end.

Staying at the Kala Hotel within the walls of the old city. 

Khiva is world heritage listed, so all the homes remain adobe and unpainted. It is magical.   The old town is 26 hectares. Great views of the old city from the rooftop of our hotel.

Visited the carpet workshop set up by Aslan of “the Carpet Ride to Khiva” fame.  Started to read the book again and it made so much more sense.  Many things I didn’t notice on first reading that we have now experienced. 

Had a lovely dinner outside a madrassah on the roof top of a restaurant on the night we arrived. 

Day tour with Inessa

Beautiful walls. 

Rope walking performance in the courtyard of Mohammed Rakhim Khan Madrasa.  One of the mens 2 ½ year old daugters was involved in the performance and she couldn’t wait to get up on the high wire with her Dad and uncle.

http://www.uzbekjourneys.com/2012/11/uzbek-rope-walking-acrobats-khiva.html

Sunday 11^th of October

Nukus

2.5 hour drive to Nukus in the Autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan.   The middle of nowhere.  Surely the only reason to go there would be to see the Savitsky collection.  This is the second largest collection of Russian and Uzbek modernist art in the world and it is stunning.  Igor Savitsky was an artist himself who came to the area to record the findings on an archeological dig.  He stayed and collected art.  This was art that didn’t fit in with the soviet view of what art should be.

Mirgul the museum guide took us around.  Fascinating.  We haven’t heard of half these artists in the West. Artists to follow up are Alexander Volkov, V I Ufimtsev (Painting called To The Train) AK Ladur (beautiful vase) and Lissitsky.

“The April 1932 decree On Restructuring Literary and Artistic Organizations put an end to the post-revolutionary period of creative freedom and prescribed that “socialist realism” was the only appropriate style for Soviet Art. Any work not complying with the requirements of this decree was dismissed as “formalism”. Many artists were subjected to repression and relentless persecution because their work did not conform. Fortunately, Savitsky was able to find and bring to Nukus many works of artists who were unable to escape the terrible repression of this period―artists such as M. Sokolov, V. Komarovskiy (who was shot), and the “Amaravella” group. Moreover, Savitsky was also able to obtain the works of several artists who until the 1960s were no more than a blank space in the history of art. R. Mazel, P. Sokolov, A. Sofronova, E. Ermilova-Platova, K. Redko, A. Stavrovskiy, Y. Shukin, N. Tarasov, I. Shtange, R. Barto are just a few of the dozens of newly rediscovered names. Never one to pursue fame himself, Savitsky strove “… though late, to rehabilitate the real value of the creative work of a great number of artists.”

  Taken from the website of the Karakalpak Museum of Arts.

Reference: Savitsky collection

http://www.uzbekjourneys.com/2011/10/london-book-launch-biography-of-igor.html