'The Louvre in the Desert': Inside the Savitsky Museum in Karakalpakstan

euronews (in English)

'The Louvre in the Desert': Inside the Savitsky Museum in Karakalpakstan  Euronews Culture visits a museum in the middle of the desert that was founded in 1966 by Moscow artist, Igor Savitsky, who arrived in Karakalpakstan and fell in love with the region.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/10/28/the-louvre-in-the-desert-inside-the-savitsky-museum-in-karakalpakstan  Spark your senses, wake your wonder. Euronews Culture seeks to show creativity in action and inspire our audience to explore the world through the five senses. Start your journey through the best of Europe's arts, gastronomy, traditions and high-end craftsmanship.

Transcript

00:00In the heart of the Karakalpak desert, in northwestern Uzbekistan, far from the world's art capitals,

00:08stands a museum that changed the way we think about where culture can live.

00:17This is the Savitsky Museum, known to many at the Louvre in the desert.

00:22Inside, every wall tells a story.

00:31From the bold lines of Russian avant-garde painters to the silent fragments of ancient horizon.

00:38Here, forgotten art found its home.

00:42Our museum was founded in 1966 by the Russian artist Igor Vítalievich Savitsky.

00:49He first came to us in Karakalpakstan in the 1950s,

00:53in order of the famous Haryazam-Ska-Felgo-Ethnographic expedition,

00:57in the form of a permanent artist.

00:59Our museum takes the second place in the world in the collection of Russian avant-garde

01:04after the famous Russian Museum in Sankt Petersburg.

01:07The collection of our museum has more than 100 000 exponents

01:10and more than 80 000 of them will collect Igor Vítalievich Savitsky

01:15for his entire life that he lived here in Karakalpakstan.

01:19Savitsky, a Moscow artist turned collector, fell in love with this remote region.

01:26What began as a modest effort to preserve local crafts

01:30became one of the world's greatest collections of suppressed and forgotten art.

01:35Among the museum's treasures are sculptural works carved from wood and stone,

01:47traditional jewellery and handcrafted household items

01:51that revealed the artistry of everyday life in Karakalpakstan.

01:55Nearby vivid paintings capture local traditions and faces, scenes of people, nature and color that echo through time.

02:04Together, these collections form a living dialogue between heritage and creativity.

02:10Savitsky's vision built the bridge between the past and modern identity.

02:14Savitsky's vision khié

02:16Savitsky

02:26The Soviet Museum is more than a gallery, it's a story of defiance, passion and rediscovery,

02:52proof that even in the desert, art can bloom and endure.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended