Uzbekistan has launched a scientific project aimed at creating high-precision three-dimensional models and animated images of fifty Timurid-era artifacts housed in foreign museums. This was reported by the press service of the Agency for Innovative Development under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation.
The initiative, titled 'Creation of 3D Models and Animated Images of Timurid-Era Artifacts Housed in Foreign Museums,' is funded within the framework of the 'Olima Ayallar' (Women Scientists) competition.
The main focus of the project is identifying historical items from the Timurid period located outside Uzbekistan, preparing scientific descriptions, and producing digital 3D models and animations.
The research covers museum collections in Russia, the United Kingdom, and Turkey. Specialists have already gathered high-quality photographic materials on 50 historical artifacts during field visits, which will serve as the basis for creating digital models.
The project leader, Dilafruz Kurbanova, stated that the collected volume of high-quality photographic material on 50 historical artifacts was obtained during working visits to museums in Russia, the United Kingdom, and Turkey. Digital 3D models will be created based on these materials.
She added that the preserved historical images will be converted into video products and animated content, and a scientific description and annotation will be prepared in Uzbek for each artifact.
The goal of this initiative is to form a unified digital and scientific information space that unites data on Timurid heritage preserved in different countries. The resulting 3D models will be available to museums, educational institutions, researchers, and the general public.
The new visual and scientific content is also planned for publication on the website of the State Museum of Timurid History. Furthermore, the project organizers intend to register the created digital products as intellectual property objects and use them to develop joint scientific and cultural projects between Uzbek and foreign institutions.
Tashkent's 'Plov Museum' is preparing to celebrate its first anniversary. Over the past year, this unique project, which combines the functions of a museum and a restaurant, has transformed from a simple gastronomic venue into a large-scale initiative aimed at preserving and promoting the country's culinary and gastronomic heritage.
There are many museums worldwide dedicated to various food products and culinary traditions—from cheese and chocolate to wine and spices. However, the value of such a gastronomic museum lies not only in displaying the product itself. It must explain the origin of the dish, the reasons for the formation of a particular tradition, as well as the natural and agricultural factors that made it possible, and also tell about the people who preserve this knowledge and how it is passed on to future generations.
This is precisely why the Tashkent 'Plov Museum' is of particular interest, as it showcases diverse regional methods of preparing plov. It is important to understand that regional plov is not just a variation of one dish; it represents specific places, products, preparation methods, and people.
The oshpazes who prepare different types of plov are closely linked to the regions from which their recipes originate. Many of these masters are themselves custodians of the relevant tradition and cook plov for local residents. Consequently, behind every dish in the museum is not just a recipe, but a living human story.
The regional identity of plov is determined not only by the cooking technique but also by the choice of ingredients, including rice, oil, and spices. Among such traditional products are zigir oil and gurub. The main feature of the project is the desire to preserve authenticity not only at the level of the recipe but also at the level of the origin of the dish and its components.
The museum uses a special form of presenting this tradition: there is a kind of 'schedule' of oshpazes' work, which allows guests to find out in advance which master and which regional variant of plov will be presented on a given day. Thus, an interesting fusion is created between museum exhibition, living gastronomic tradition, and tourist experience, which aligns with the concept of the 'experience economy'. The visitor receives not just a serving of plov, but also learns about who cooks it, finds out the history of the dish, studies the region's features, and connects taste with a specific culture and territory.
As part of the joint venture between the 'Plov Museum' and the 'Tasty Uzbekistan' project, gastronomic tastings have been organized, dedicated to combining various regional types of plov with Uzbek drinks and local delicacies. A concept of 'Plov Pairing' has been developed, involving the tasting of several regional plovs with selected gastronomic pairings. Furthermore, a significant part of these events involves telling the story of the dish, its regional characteristics, preparation traditions, and ingredients used.
The idea goes beyond simple tasting: traditional Uzbek products, such as gurub, shinni, or various types of vinegar, can serve as independent objects of cultural narrative, including specialties from grapes. Thus, food becomes a means of describing the territory. This is likely the main value of modern gastronomic museums—their ability to preserve not only artifacts and recipes but also the memory of people, places, production methods, and traditions.
For Uzbekistan, this is particularly important because national cuisine was formed not in an abstract space, but in specific oases, valleys, kishlaks, and cities where unique varieties of rice, vegetables, and fruits existed, as well as specific recipes and dietary habits. Therefore, the 'Plov Museum' should be seen not just as a museum of one dish, but as a space revealing the broader panorama of Uzbekistan's national gastronomic heritage.
It is planned that the next project, 'Ethnographic Kishlak,' which will be announced during the Museum's anniversary celebration in mid-August of this year, will be able to take the presentation to a new level—from the exhibition of one dish to a comprehensive depiction of the lifestyle, culture, and traditions of the region. In this case, the museum will cease to be merely a place to talk about the past; it will become a space where heritage can be perceived through sight, hearing, understanding, and taste.
