Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan's Centre of Islamic Civilisation is preparing a memorandum of cooperation with the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, RIA Novosti reported, citing the centre's academic adviser to the director, Tursunali Kuziev.
The agreement could pave the way for joint research, museum and exhibition projects, Kuziev said. He spoke on the sidelines of the international symposium "Creating the Future", held in Moscow on 12–13 November.
He noted that the centre was already developing cooperation with several Russian research, educational and cultural institutions.
These include the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian National Library, Kazan Federal University, the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia and the National Centre "Russia".
Kuziev said Russian academic institutions had extensive experience in studying Central Asian history, Oriental manuscripts, Islamic studies, archaeology and art history. He added that these fields were of considerable interest to Uzbekistan.
Areas of cooperation
Kuziev identified the study of manuscripts, written sources and archival documents, as well as archaeological research, as key areas for joint work.
Another area would be museum development. The sides are considering the creation of digital collections and multimedia programmes.
Kuziev stressed that cooperation with Russian partners would involve long-term professional work rather than being limited to individual delegation visits.
The "Creating the Future" international symposium was held at the National Centre "Russia" in Moscow on 12–13 November. Delegates from more than 100 countries took part.
The symposium was held under the auspices of the Decade of Science and Technology, with support from Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Science and Higher Education. RIA Novosti was the event's general media partner.
