Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Intricately woven, vibrantly colorful clothing pieces from Uzbekistan culture are on display at Syracuse University’s Bird Library. The country’s traditional hats and cloth garments line an entire wall as part of the Uzbekistan Cultural Exhibition.

“(Central Asia) is not studied well. The main purpose (of the exhibit) is to generate awareness and visibility. There is a big length in this globe which should be learned and studied more,” said Mirjahon Turdiev, curator of the exhibition.

On April 15, the Central Asia and the Caucasus Initiative (CACI) unveiled the Uzbekistan Cultural Exhibition at Bird. The installation will last until May 15 and promotes the culture of underrepresented parts of the world. Turdiev curated the display to most accurately represent the contents of Uzbekistan culture.

One display case holds a doira, dutor, nay and rubob, musical instruments that are central to the culture of many countries in Central Asia. The other case includes a doppi, an Uzbek skullcap, Uzbek ceramic dish sets and an Uzbek Kurash uniform yaktag, which represents the country’s popular sports.

The exhibition’s items are sourced from Uzbekistani Syracuse residents and overseas from the country of origin. The historically significant items serve to connect the past and present — a form of intergenerational bridging, Turdiev said.

CACI launched the exhibit with a Human Book event, the first of its kind. Authors of published works relating to Central Asia came to the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs to take part in an open discussion with event attendees.

“By people coming and experiencing the human library, they then can go to the exhibit at Bird Library with more of an understanding of what they are going to experience there,” said Georgios Carter, the Human Book event organizer. “It creates a multilayered approach to learning.”

The Human Book event aimed to represent all walks of life, eventually being applied to other minority groups, Carter said. He added that the current focus on Uzbekistan has potential to expand to include events like Black History Month and identities like Asian Pacific Americans.

Organizers hope it will become part of future culturally diverse exhibitions at Bird, Carter said. The book event exposed students to material similar to the items displayed at the Uzbekistan Cultural Exhibition.

“(The exhibit) sends messages to the world that those kinds of things exist in that part of the world,” Turdiev said. “Every piece of work tells me there was a mentor or mentee, teacher or student, creating and keeping this for years and years.”

The exhibition seeks to remind students of their home country, especially as upstate New York becomes a new home for many immigrant populations. The artifacts in Bird attempt to create a feeling of belonging within SU for those populations, Turdiev said.

For people who are not from Uzbekistan, the exhibit can help them understand other disciplines, Turdiev said. Carter said the exhibition offers students information that can lead to a deeper respect and comprehension of the things that their peers and faculty have been through.

“I think (the exhibit) is very important for humanity,” Turdiev said. “The world nowadays is not so separated. We are living in the world of globalization. Through culture, economy and politics, everyone is connected.”

Namita Naikwadi, an SU student, said she liked the exhibit because she could relate it to her Indian culture. Music and clothing are important aspects for her as well. Even though it is not a culture she knows much about, she is inclined to learn more after seeing the exhibit.

Turdiev said his work is not nearly finished. In the future, he plans to bring similar events to SU to learn about understudied countries that are rich with culture. His next step is adding study abroad programs for countries in Central Asia.

“These kinds of events not only help those of the diaspora but also allows the university as itself to grow using the knowledge of people within our own community,” Carter said.

Published on April 17, 2024 at 11:36 pm