In the USSR, which included Uzbekistan and, of course, its capital Tashkent, New Year was celebrated for the first time in 1935, making the old attributes of Christmas — Ded Moroz, the tree, and gifts under the tree — secular. In January 1937, Ded Moroz received a companion — Snegurochka. In Soviet times, New Year… Read More »
Tashkent in winter today is nothing like it was 20–30 years ago or earlier. Winter weather now is closer to autumn or spring. From my childhood — before school and during my school years in the 1960s–1970s — I remember above all cold winters with deep snow that stayed on the ground for a long… Read More »
Of course, Tashkent and an Uzbek kishlak in winter in these two photographs by Max Zakharovich Penson are not contemporary; the famous photographer died in Tashkent in the middle of the last century. But if you try, even today you can find similar corners in the Uzbek provinces and even in the capital. In the… Read More »
November 7 was celebrated in Uzbekistan for decades. The photos show how it was marked in 1919, 1931, 1965, 1970, 1973, and 1981. The last official celebration of November 7 in Uzbekistan took place in 1990. History of the November 7 holiday in Uzbekistan The October Revolution in Russia (then part of the empire that… Read More »
It took me thirty-five years to recover from the autumn smells that haunt me — the smells I associate with cotton harvesting and Soviet cotton campaigns in Uzbekistan. I picked cotton as a student at one of Tashkent’s universities in 1979, 1980, and 1981, living for at least a month on wooden bunks in field… Read More »
Autumn in Tashkent has been a theme explored by both painters and photographers. Vladimir Petrov’s paintings, Soviet photographs from the 1960s–1990s, and contemporary 21st-century images allow us to see how the appearance of Uzbekistan’s capital has changed. Autumn in Tashkent in Vladimir Petrov’s works Autumn Tashkent in the 1950s in Petrov’s works Soviet painter and… Read More »
Independence Day of Uzbekistan (history) Uzbekistan’s Independence Day has been celebrated annually on September 1 since 1992. In Uzbek, it is called O’zbekiston Respublikasi Mustaqilligi kuni — Independence Day of the Republic of Uzbekistan. This day was established in honor of the proclamation of the country’s state independence from the USSR. This happened on August… Read More »
Recently, I realized when I missed my chance to become rich — in August 1991, when I happened to be on that very square in Moscow, at that very hour, just a few dozen meters away from the future president of Russia. I was near the tank, but didn’t climb up I saw Yeltsin being… Read More »
Chilla in Uzbekistan means 41°C in the shade today, and 43°C is expected in the coming days. That’s the temperature in the capital — in the regions, it’s even higher. In direct sunlight, it likely reaches 60°C. You can’t even touch the car door — it’s scorching hot. What is сhilla? Chilla, also known as… Read More »