My friend Roman invited me for an enlightening arts journey. Roman is an aesthete; his historic insight inspired me to write about this spot.

Entering the inside of the museum you can sense the scent of the past. The first floor is a big hall. There are some national craft works, including a ganch (clay gypsum) decor. I highly recommend getting acquainted with this exposition as well.

It is quiet inside. Only Roman’s enthusiastic voice is audible, describing the historical exhibits. The beauty of this museum is the opportunity to explore the cultural history of modern Uzbekistan, starting from ancient periods. For example, the second floor represents different items from antiquity and before Islamic times, as well as the Islamic and pre-Russian Revolutions period. Those exhibits include ceramic goods, ornaments of Islamic architecture and samples of Central Asian handicraft. The section concludes with a beautiful exposition of 19th-century Uzbek paintings.

The museum has a rich collection of Nikolay Konstantinovich Romanov’s dynasty, who was sentenced to exile in old Tashkent. Visitors can witness the sublime paintings and sculptures, which in late 19th century decorated Romanov’s palace. It was impressive to see the European art of that period.

Having visited the museum I learned about Uzbekistan’s history from a different angle. It was unusual to observe the wonderful symbiosis of Uzbek traditional art with the later intervention of European visual arts (Russian style). My friend Roman turned out to be an excellent guide, who voiced the background stories of silent art.