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сады небесные и сады земные
the symbiosis of an elite art style with a folk art style, and the interaction of the
traditions of “courtly” and mass cultures.
The decoration of Nurata embroidery is considered in the section “Nurata:
A Round Dance of Flowers and Moons.” Local embroideries exhibit a preference
for one favorite subject – the depiction of luxuriantly flowering bushes around a
central medallion. The flowering bush is a traditional motif in practically all forms
of art in Uzbekistan; it derives from the tree of life and contains the idea of growth
and abundance, important for a wedding celebration. The composition with bushes
came to be called in local parlance
chor shoxu yak-mox (four branches and one
moon). The name is symptomatic of the way that embroideresses, adopting and
modifying a formal professional style that appealed to concepts from the celestial
world, gave it a poetic turn closer to their understanding, linked with the ideas of
flowering and fertility.
In the embroidery of Shakhrisabz (the section “Shakhrisabz: Symbiosis of
Zoroastrian and Islamic Symbols”) Zoroastrian symbolism can be observed
together with plant and flower designs. First of all, there is the
chor-chirog’ (four
lamp) design, representing the holy fire, an organic component of family and
household rituals in the late Middle Ages. Other Zoroastrian symbols are birds
with swirls on their backs (their shapes adapted from lamps for lighting fire),
roosters, which are symbols of the sun, and the
albasty-bodom motif (derived from
Anahita). The meanings of Zoroastrian symbols have already been forgotten but
they have continued to be incorporated in the ornamental field as being
xosiyat
doral (useful) – so strong remained the belief in the protective significance of these
designs. Although paradoxical at first sight, the synthesis of Zoroastrian and Islamic
motifs was possible thanks to their symbolic similarities, since both the former
and the latter were associated in the national consciousness with ideas of divine
protection and fertility.
Embroideries of the group “Shakhrisabz, Lakai” are also examined. It is noted
that the Lakai were never localized in Shakhrisabz area, and this attribution was
brought into being by commercial interests.
The decoration of Samarkand embroidery (the section “Samarkand: the
Reflection of Soghdian Traditions”) was connected to the most ancient periods of
art in the area. Therefore Samarkand can be considered one of the most important
centers for the genesis of this form of artistic activity. Some of the patterns go back
to the local artistic traditions of sedentary agricultural and steppe nomad cultures
(the oldest autochthonous astral, plant and zoomorphic motifs). Others resulted
from the influence of textile compositions that were popular in the countries of
the Muslim East, derived from the designs of professional artists. Soghdian textile
traditions played a conspicuous role in the formation of Samarkand patterns.
The components of patterns varied widely – from echoes of totemic cults, fire
worship and sun worship to fully realistic forms of the down-to-earth objects that
surrounded women in their everyday lives.
The section devoted to the embroidery of Jizzak (“Jizzak: The Image of the
Temple in Suzani Designs”) establishes the interconnection between
suzani
designs and religious outlooks of the early Middle Ages. As a result, a composition
“reads” as a symbolic image of a temple protected by
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