After 8 days in Samarkand and Bukhara, where one is surrounded by buildings from the 14th to 17th centuries, Tashkent is strikingly busy and oriented toward the present and future. The handcraft items that seemed to be displayed everywhere in Samarkand and Bukhara have to be deliberately sought out in Tashkent. There is a strong nod to the past, of course, most evident in the Hast Imom Friday mosque, which was built in 2006-2009 but with an exterior that looks as though it could have been built 500 years ago.
The Soviet past is more in evidence–though again, you have to seek it out. We stopped by the World War II memorial corner at Independence square, for example, before strolling along the fountains and heading toward “Broadway”.
It was quiet at noon, but the vendors who provide evening entertainment were there, waiting for customers.
We went to the Museum of Repression, where the darkest sides of Soviet history are on display. There was a special exhibit about the students from Uzbekistan (Bukhara and Turkestan) who went to Germany in 1923 to study. The scholar Sherali Turdiev had published articles about them in the late perestroika era press. Having read his articles, I included mention of one of them in my book, and here is her photo: Maryam Sultanova.
Today, more Soviet period history, in the form of metro rides.