SUMMARY:

This documentary publication prepared by Zukhra Kasimova presents the story of the Nukus Museum of Art during the formative first two decades of its existence and the activities of its founder and first director, Igor Savitsky. The documents included in the publication are from several archival collections in Nukus and Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and Moscow (Russian Federation): (1) the Savitsky Museum’s archive, (2) Marinika Babanazarova’s private collection, (3) the Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan (O’zRMDA), (4) the Uzbek State Central Archive of Film, Photo, and Sound Documents (O’z KFFDA), and the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI). These documents, until now mostly unknown to scholars, make it possible for the first time to discuss the substance of Savitsky’s life story and the Nukus museum’s history rather than the myths surrounding them and the ideological projections of enthusiastic but uninformed observers.