Exploring The National Museum Of Tajikistan In Dushanbe

National museums can act as a collective attic and the main Tajikistan museum in Dushanbe is a typical example. Some archeological artifacts, old textiles, some taxidermy, painting, busts of important figures, maybe a koran, some mining information. Time to explore.

The building is new and impressive. Lots of display space.

Starting early, the great cave man hunting party. Pensive dog, sad sheep. A hefty horse, roped off.

Important folks come in threes.

Proud paintings. There's a wall of WWII, Great Patriotic War portraits, looking a bit like folk art. King cotton, the crop so successful that mounds the size of mountains are created. Socialist triumph!

On to the Ice Age. A room re-creating arctic conditions. Chilling.

Seeing History At The Fergana Museum Of Local Lore

Small town museums in Uzbekistan are the best. No fancy, digital, laser, interactive gee-whiz displays. Just good old Soviet-era dioramas and displays about hard work, animals, the glory of building a strong nation.

Exterior of the Local Lore museum. "Should we go in and get our minds blown?"

The museum has a handful of dioramas, a mix of animal, human, and natural. Cute animals in profile, poking their big noses from the side of the frame look cool.

Drippy. It's nice to see that anything can be made into a diorama. Can't visit the Chil-Ustun caves in nearby Kyrgyzstan? Local Lore brings the caves to you!

Working with your hands never goes out of style, from stone age man to Silk Road man.

Cotton is king in the Fergana Valley. If you forget what the crop looks like or where your whole family works, the museum is there to remind you.

Seeing The Bazaar In Qarshi

Uzbekistan has the best local markets and Qarshi's main shopping area is a fine example of the crossroads of a city all crammed together, selling anything and everything.

View of one section of the market. The usual rows of vendors under a little bit of weather protection.

Fresh loaves of bread, still in the delivery truck. And in old cardboard boxes, way to upcycle. Chick pea display, tenderly art directed. Humble.

Uzbek staples. Bales of cotton, brooms, and cooking oil.

Entertaining piles of toys. Babies bursting and a soldier, creeping up on some farm animals.

The Charmin of the East, bear toilet paper. That's rough. Not the best selling approach?

Mincing the meat. Hard to tell the photo ads from the real thing. Parts of the market look a little abandoned during a slow day.

The Egg Room.

 

Fascinating Frieze Moments At The Shon-Sharaf Museum

There are a couple of large, bronze friezes outside the front entrance to the Shon-Sharaf museum, dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. A lot is going on in the friezes. Military preparations, a country pulling together for the war effort. Inspiring. Terrifying.

Small boys building big toys.

Portraits of the engineers of destruction and the aproned workers.

Old women, back at home, picking cotton to help finance the war effort.

Scenes of evacuating the wounded and then operating on them.

Victory! A family reunion and celebration at war's end.

Reliving The Great Patriotic War At The Shon-Sharaf Museum

The Great Patriotic War is what the Russians and former Soviet bloc countries call World War II. Uzbekistan recently built a museum complex dedicated to that war and the place is filled with the usual hero, sacrifice, violent, tribute efforts. Celebrating the war is an enduring piece of propaganda for the countries on the Eastern front. 

Triumphant entrance.

Beyond the main museum, the grounds are filled with military equipment and trench re-creations. Inside, a classic collection of mean guns and cases filled with uniforms, artifacts.

The entrance lobby features a huge mural, an elaborate illustration of a frozen moment at chaotic Tashkent train station. Soldiers leaving, families saying goodbye to loved ones. Biting bread for good luck.

There are also displays of the war effort at home. A powerful woman using a big tractor. Those boots were made for plowing. Uzbeks were busy growing cotton to finance the fight.

Not holding back with the hand grenades and the yell for victory.