The exhibition, which opened its doors on March 27 in heart of the Old City, attracted over 3,000 visitors, among whom were culture and arts professionals, representatives of the diplomatic corps, international organizations, media, as well as guests who like items made by talented applied-art masters. The annual exhibition tends to draw big throngs of people interested in witnessing the entire diversity of applied art and purchasing arts items. For Bazar-Art masters, this is an excellent opportunity to swap experience, set up collaborative ties, and hone their skills.

The Fund Forum has made it a tradition to allocate grants to masters who emerge as winners during Bazar-Art Exhibition-Fair. These grants are aimed at helping to further develop applied art and to revive “endangered” types of crafts and traditional forms of arts in Uzbekistan.

This year the winners were selected by a special jury composed of prominent arts professionals and masters of particular art categories that were presented. Gulnara Karimova handed diplomas to six laureates of Bazar-Art 2010 and grants to two representatives of crafts dynasties for contributions to the preservation of traditional forms of art. Under a programme launched by the Women’s Council Public Association in an effort to aid women employment, 34 women from various regions of the republic have been given up-to-date sewing equipment to help develop small business and home-based business.

The closing ceremony of the event featured music performances by Uzbek pop stars such as Raihon, Sardor Rakhimkhon, Hosila Rakhimova, Zulaikho Boykhonova and Ozodbek Nazarbekov.

Bazar-Art Exhibition-Fair has been held since 2007, with roughly 100 masters from across the country taking part in all categories of applied art. These include members of crafts dynasties, professional artists as well as beginner artists.

The project is dedicated to discovering the creative potential in the area of traditional and contemporary applied art, informing the broad public of trends in this area, providing support to creative dynasties and talented masters as well as preserving national heritage. The exhibition-fair will help to measure the modern level of Uzbek applied art and to determine areas in need of support and development.