The Uzbek Culture Evening has been held in Moscow annually over the past nine years since the inception of Fund Forum and brings together people who are interested in and identify with Uzbek art and traditions.

This year’s Uzbek Culture Evening, held in lavishly festooned halls at Metropol Hotel, featured a host of famous politicians, diplomats, entrepreneurs, contemporary art specialists, businessmen and editors: the general director of the National Energy Security Fund Konstantin Simonov, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Zharikhin, a member of the Scientific Council of Carnegie Moscow Center Alexei Malashenko, the president of the Polity Foundation Vyacheslav Nikonov, the rector of Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages, the rector of Moscow State Linguistics University Irina Haleyeva, oceanologist Artur Chilingarov with his daughter Ksenia, the president of the Russian Silhouette charity foundation Tatyana Mihalkova, fashion designer Helen Yarmak, the art director of A`la Russe Anastasia Romantsova, president of de Grisоgono Fawaz Gruosi, film directors Egor Konchalovsky and Sergey Solovyov, actor Valeriy Barinov, singer Valeria with her spouse Iosif Prigozhin and son, and Mrs. World 2011 among others, Fund Forum said.

The centerpiece of the event was the presentation of a special project by Fund Forum, Guli and a young talented photographer Alihan, which highlighted the theme of generation succession and veneration of traditions. The vario effect of the photos saw an alternation of images, with young heroines turning into venerable women, and vice versa, elderly women starting to glow with youth. The traditional attire of the women, however, remained the same, which conveyed the idea of the art show: generations change but traditions remain the same. The project featured 20 women, including prominent Uzbek actresses of the past century Klara Jalilova, Yayra Abdullayeva, Aziza Begmatova, Rikhsi Ibragimova and Tuti Yusupova, and young actresses such as Dilnoza Kubayeva and Rayhon Ulasenova as well as professional and amateur models selected for the project.

The project used ancient traditional clothing and decorations from the Collection of Rarities of the Fund Forum as well as from the Museum of History of Uzbekistan, the Museum of Applied Art, Tamara Hanum Museum Home, the Center of National Arts and private collections. The fine thread that linked the past and the present was seen in the GULI-designed decorations. The entire palette of Guli collection, which blends traditional and modern motifs, was presented in display cases as part of the art show.

Those gathered were treated to music based on a fusion of modern and traditional trends in music and dance.