Combining diplomacy and panache, an Uzbek woman initiates a rather glamorous revolution to put her country back on the cultural map of the world
Experts and political scientists, while discussing the merits and fallouts of the disintegration of USSR, often leave the social impact behind. Naturally, in spite of achieving a degree of religious and political freedom along with sovereignty, the nations in Central Asia suffered on the social front from the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Every nation in the region tried to supplant it with their home-grown version of social initiatives, with limited or no success. But there indeed is a surprise exception: Forum of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan Foundation, more commonly known as Fund Forum.
Uzbekistan, a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, has seen its star rise and wane in the last 2000 years. Its cities, especially Samarkand and Bukhara, once centres of art and culture, saw decline in status during the second half of the last millennium till Uzbekistan declared independence from Soviet Union two decades ago. However, limited economic opportunities, dependence on a single resource – in this case, cotton – and rugged and often uncooperative relief has held back the country from realising its full potential. Although it had managed to hold on to its HDI ranking, the going had become especially tough in the first few years of independence. And it is here that Fund Forum came into play.
The core initiative of the Fund is towards youth and social projects and actions, children's art, fashion and design, sports, holding festivals, exhibitions, concerts and charity events.
Led by diplomat and academician Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of President Islam Karimov, Fund Forum can be adjudged a curious mix of a non-governmental organisation and a civil society initiative. In fact, while talking to TSI, Karimova insists that it is an experiment in itself that combines the “Uzbek elements” with the classic, orthodox, Western definition of civil society.
A graduate of a Tashkent university, New York Fashion Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Karimova served as envoy and adviser for the Uzbek Embassy in Moscow for two years. She also served as an Ambassador in Spain and at the UNO Office in Geneva. It is her experience in world diplomacy and her personal contacts that drives Fund Forum. In fact, if ever an organisation epitomised its founder in the true sense, it is Fund Forum.
Experts and political scientists, while discussing the merits and fallouts of the disintegration of USSR, often leave the social impact behind. Naturally, in spite of achieving a degree of religious and political freedom along with sovereignty, the nations in Central Asia suffered on the social front from the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Every nation in the region tried to supplant it with their home-grown version of social initiatives, with limited or no success. But there indeed is a surprise exception: Forum of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan Foundation, more commonly known as Fund Forum.
Uzbekistan, a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, has seen its star rise and wane in the last 2000 years. Its cities, especially Samarkand and Bukhara, once centres of art and culture, saw decline in status during the second half of the last millennium till Uzbekistan declared independence from Soviet Union two decades ago. However, limited economic opportunities, dependence on a single resource – in this case, cotton – and rugged and often uncooperative relief has held back the country from realising its full potential. Although it had managed to hold on to its HDI ranking, the going had become especially tough in the first few years of independence. And it is here that Fund Forum came into play.
The core initiative of the Fund is towards youth and social projects and actions, children's art, fashion and design, sports, holding festivals, exhibitions, concerts and charity events.
Led by diplomat and academician Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of President Islam Karimov, Fund Forum can be adjudged a curious mix of a non-governmental organisation and a civil society initiative. In fact, while talking to TSI, Karimova insists that it is an experiment in itself that combines the “Uzbek elements” with the classic, orthodox, Western definition of civil society.
A graduate of a Tashkent university, New York Fashion Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Karimova served as envoy and adviser for the Uzbek Embassy in Moscow for two years. She also served as an Ambassador in Spain and at the UNO Office in Geneva. It is her experience in world diplomacy and her personal contacts that drives Fund Forum. In fact, if ever an organisation epitomised its founder in the true sense, it is Fund Forum.
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