Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Cultural and humanitarian cooperation is one of the priorities of the Uzbek-French cooperation. An important event in deepening relations in this area was the signing during the official visit of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to France a Memorandum of Understanding between the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Arts under the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan and the Louvre Museum.

The Louvre - the world-famous museum, the visiting card of France, is the world’s largest art collection and the second largest square. Every year this museum is visited by almost 10 million tourists from different countries.

Given the great interest in France to the historical and cultural heritage of our country, an agreement was reached to hold an exhibition of historical artifacts of Uzbekistan in the Louvre in 2021.

The embassy of our country in Paris, together with the Culture and Art Development Foundation and the Louvre Museum, is actively working to organize this historical exhibition at a high level. In particular, representatives of the Ministry of Culture of Uzbekistan visited France, during which a meeting of the Scientific and Organizing Committee of the exhibition was held.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Institute of Art Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Art, the Louvre Museum, specialists from the Hermitage and the State Museum of the East (Russia), and international experts.

The participants discussed issues related to the concept of the exhibition, the preparation of exhibits, exhibits and exhibition halls of the museum, the release of the scientific catalog of the event.

“A lot of progress was made during the meeting,” said Franz Grenet, a professor at the Collège de France research institution, in an interview with the Dunyo news agency. - In particular, the issue of choosing artifacts was resolved, details regarding the scientific catalog and the restoration of exhibits were discussed. I can say that this will be a very important event. The biggest exhibition about Uzbekistan, which was ever organized in France, will be an important scientific and, at the same time, a popular event. This will enable Europeans to get access to the very rich culture of the Uzbek people. Certainly, the exhibition will motivate many French to visit Uzbekistan. We can assume a significant increase in the number of tourists from France. I am confident that this event will be a significant step in the development of friendly relations between our countries.

“In the Hermitage they look with great interest at the project of an exhibition dedicated to Uzbekistan in the Louvre,” said Pavel Lurie, head of the Central Asia sector in the Hermitage (Russia). “This will be a significant event and a major milestone in the history of studying Uzbekistan and familiarizing the world community with the richest culture of the country.

“A similar exhibition in the Louvre gives Uzbekistan an opportunity to promote its rich and ancient cultural heritage abroad,” said Tigran Mkratchev, a representative of the State Museum of the East (Russia). “I think this will be a significant event for both Uzbekistan and Europe.”

Following the meeting, the parties agreed to hold the next meeting of the Scientific and Organizing Committee at the beginning of next year in Tashkent.