Uzbekistan launches ambitious new cultural agenda

The Central Asian Republic of Uzbekistan is best known, culturally speaking, for the ornate mosques and Islamic architecture that dot the cityscapes along the Silk Road trade route from China to the Middle East: Samarkand, Tashkent and Bukhara.

But now, the post-Soviet nation is gearing up for a series of big-ticket contemporary art museum openings and high-profile cultural events scheduled to take place over the next two years. Uzbek heritage is on show, and now, also, contemporary Uzbek art.

Some of the planned museum projects include the…