Yesterday there was an opening of the new gallery in Berlin. The building, designed by the famous British architect David Chipperfield, serves as the central entrance to the Museum Island, located on the Spree River. Art and Culture Development Foundation under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan together with the Berlin Museum of Prehistory and Early History, plan to hold the exhibition “The Legacy of Central Asia: from the Achaemenids to the Kushans” in this building in 2022.
The total area of the new complex, including the underground part, is almost 11 thousand square meters. The gallery bears the name of the famous patron James Simon, who donated about 10 thousand works of art to Berlin museums. The new building is part of a project regarding the renovation of the Museum Island, which is included in the World Cultural Heritage List of UNESCO.
As we announced earlier, on January 16, 2019, in Berlin, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Art and Culture Development Foundation under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the State Museums of Berlin. The Memorandum was signed in a framework of a series of cultural and humanitarian events, timed to the visit of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh.M. Mirziyoyev to Germany in January 2018. This document provides for the exhibition in Berlin in 2022.
The purpose of the exhibition is to demonstrate the history of the early states (VI century BC-I-IV centuries AD.) in Central Asia, located on the territory of modern Uzbekistan.
As a part of preparation for this event, a delegation from the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of Berlin arrived to Uzbekistan in April of this year, which included: Matthias Wemhoff - Director of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History and Dr. Manfred Nawroth - Chief Curator for Research Projects in Eastern Europe and Russia at the Berlin State Museums, an archaeologist of the medieval period. German scientists held talks and meetings with Uzbek colleagues, and also conducted preliminary studies of the museum collections of Uzbekistan for the selection of exhibits for the upcoming exhibition.
Manfred Nawroth, Chief Curator for Research Projects in Eastern Europe and Russia at the Berlin State Museums:
- Now we are at the finishing stage of defining the concept of the exhibition, the opening of which is scheduled for March 2022. The exhibits of the culture and civilization of Uzbekistan, from the first millennium BC, to the first millennium of our era, will be presented here. The exhibition will be associated with the Greco-Bactrian and Kushan periods, the Khorezm empire, the name of Alexander the Great and many other milestones in the history of Central Asia.