State Museum of Applied Arts

The State Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan occupies a former diplomat's house at 15 Rakatboshi Street in the Yakkasaroy District of Tashkent. The building was designed in the early twentieth century in a Russian-influenced interpretation of traditional Uzbek architecture, and its interiors are themselves a major exhibit. Ornate carved plaster known as ganch, painted ceilings, carved wooden columns and tiled panels cover the rooms, and many were produced by master craftsmen from Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and the Fergana Valley.

The collections show the decorative arts of Uzbekistan from the nineteenth century to the present. Visitors see suzani embroidered textiles with large floral roundels, silk ikat robes, gold-thread embroidery, painted ceramics from Rishton and Gijduvan, carved wood, copper and jewellery, and miniature painting. Rooms are arranged by craft or region, which makes it easy to compare styles, such as the bold suzani of Nurata with the finer designs of Bukhara. Labels are in several languages, and the staff are used to explaining techniques to foreign visitors.

A visit takes between one hour and an hour and a half. The museum is best seen on a weekday morning, when the rooms are calm and light from the windows shows the colours in the textiles. Groups tend to arrive late morning. The garden and veranda are pleasant for a short rest, and the building's carved doorways and painted ceilings make the strongest photographs. Photography inside costs extra, and the ticket office closes at about 17:00, so a late arrival should be avoided.

Admission is reported at roughly 40,000 to 60,000 UZS. Many visitors combine the museum with the nearby city centre sights by taxi, and a small shop sells crafts and souvenirs that are useful for comparing prices before buying at bazaars. The museum is also a good first stop before visiting craft workshops elsewhere in Uzbekistan, because it explains the motifs and techniques used in each region.