Exhibit of Uzbek artifacts lures troupe of native artists

By presidential decree, a delegation of 13 traveled halfway around the world to perform the traditional music and dance of Uzbekistan at the University Museum. Over 200 members of the University community flocked to the museum to get a sample of Uzbek culture Monday night at a performance featuring 17 pieces of Uzbek dance and music, with five musicians providing the background for more than a dozen dance and song solos. "The art and culture of an area is the best way to forge links between two cultures," Wharton senior Kodir Norov said. One of four Penn students from Uzbekistan, Norov contributed to the final preparations for Monday's performances. Archaeology Professor Fredrik Hiebert coordinated the event and arranged for the transportation and accommodations for the delegation of Uzbeks. In his study of ancient Asian trade routes, Hiebert discovered that few aspects of Uzbek culture had traveled overseas to reach the United States and resolved to change that. Through communication with the Uzbek government, he soon found himself with an Uzbek presidential decree in his name. The decree provided Hiebert with contacts to Uzbek museums, promises of Uzbek relics, a delegation of Uzbek dancers and musicians and the means to transport them all to the United States. "The president liked the idea of bringing Uzbek culture to Penn so much he not only opened all the museums to me but he provided the transport for everything on his personal presidential airline," Hiebert said. The result was an event that drew many Penn professors and Philadelphia residents, but few students. Prior to the performance, "Treasures of Uzbekistan: The Great Silk Road" -- an exhibit featuring relics from museums throughout Uzbekistan -- opened in the Museum's Arthur Ross Gallery. It marked the first time any Uzbek artifacts have been exhibited in the United States. The items are on loan until the exhibit closes in February. The collection contains over 100 pieces from varied ages -- several artifacts date from the Bronze Age -- and includes textiles, tiles, manuscripts and ceramics from Uzbekistan, one of the five Central Asian republics that became independent in 1991 with the fall of the Soviet Union. Accompanying the delegation of performers was the first deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan, Otanazar Matayakubov, who spoke both at the museum opening and the performance. "This show -- the music and dance of Uzbekistan -- represents the spirit of the artifacts you just saw," Matayakubov said through a translator at the evening performance. Through Hiebert's efforts, similar exhibitions of Uzbek artifacts are being held in New York and Washington, D.C., and the group of 13 performers also traveled to those cities to celebrate each museum opening. "Though there are exhibits in other cities, the main exhibit -- the main focus of Uzbek culture -- is here at the University of Pennsylvania," Hiebert said.

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