Conducting such events is becoming a traditional area of cooperation between the Embassy and WIUT. This year, in the lead-up to the major campaign of the British Council “Shakespeare Lives”, which marks to the 400th anniversary of his death, it was decided to dedicate the major part of cultural events at the Westminster University to this great poet and playwright’s works and legacy.

The first day was marked by an intellectual game in Uzbek – “Zakovat” tournament. Around 100 students both from WIUT and other Tashkent universities, such as the Tashkent Financial Institute, Uzbek State University of World Languages and National University of Uzbekistan, participated in the tournament. Questions about life and works of Shakespeare, Navoi and other British and Uzbek writers and poets were suitably challenging, and would confuse even veteran “experts” of the game. Team of the UzSUWL called “Diplomat” (a symbolic coincidence with the Embassy’s sphere of activities) won the first place.

A video-contest “Reading Shakespeare” was held on the second day. The jury members viewed 10 short video clips filmed by WIUT students in different genres and on the basis of various plays and sonnets of the great playwright. The jury members included well-known film and art critics, film directors, actors and Mrs Alice Allan. Mrs Allan studied English literature at Cambridge University and played several Shakespeare roles in theatres in the UK, US, Korea, Japan and Ethiopia.

The first prize went to Parviz Abdusamadov (Sonnet 11), followed by Sardor Salyamov (Romeo and Juliet) and Otabek Djuraev (What if...). The jury also praised Madina Tursunbaeva’s clip filmed on the basis of Shakespeare’s sonnets about separation.

On Saturday, after an art-exhibition and art master-classes, students gathered to participate in another intellectual game “What? Where? When?”. This time questions were asked in Russian and English, and were even trickier. Teams both from WIUT and other universities and academic lyceums participated in the tournament. The winner-team “Mysteria” consisted of students of four different educational institutions.

The British Embassy conducts various events in partnership with the Westminster University on a regular basis, while Culture and Art Days were organized for the second time. The next series of events is planned to be held towards the end of the academic year – in spring 2016.