Information about Museum Departments

History department (from ancient time to early 20th century)

This is one of the oldest research departments in the museum, functioning since 1923. It also includes the archaeology section. The department’ s depository has about 14,000 objects. There are six members of the staff in the department. The department chair is M. Niyazova.

Department of Numismatics and Epigraphy

The department has been working since 1987. It has 19, 880 items. The formation of the collection dates back to the 1920s; it mainly includes the coins found during the archaeological excavations in the territory of Bukhara and its suburbs. There are two specialists in the department. The department chairperson is G. Kurbanov, PhD in History.

Nature Department

The Nature Department has been functioning since 1951. It has 536 exhibits. There are three specialists in the department. The department chairperson is S. Habibulina.

Tour-Education Department

The department was established in 1972. Its main task is to introduce public to the multiple collections of the museum-preserve. There are 32 members of the staff, including methodologists and tour- guides. Tours are held in Uzbek, Russian, Tajik, English, and German. Each year, the department conducts around 30,000 tours and gives about 700 lectures. The department chairperson is F. Arslanova.

Department of Contemporary History and Ethnography

The department was established in 1975. It has two sectors. The first sector consists of documentary materials and gramophone records, which include 32,456 exhibits. The latter keeps the samples of material culture with 3,099 objects. In total, the department possesses about 36,000 objects. There are 11 members of the staff in the department. The department chairperson is B. Qobilov.

Sitora-i Mohi Khosa Park-Palace Complex

This branch of the museum has the following exhibitions:

• Interior of the summer palace (main body)
• National clothes of urban dwellers of Bukhara (19th – 20th cc.), the octagonal pavilion
• Art embroidery and objects of everyday use (19th – 20th cc.)
• Palace furniture of the 19th – 20th century, the bedroom section

The museum-complex stores about 1,500 exhibits. There are four research fellows in the Sitora – i Mohi Khosa complex.

The branch has under material protection the depositories of:

• Metal collection – 3,048 exhibits
• Wood carving – 1,085 exhibits

The branch chairperson is B. Buranov.

Kamoliddin Behzod Fine Arts Museum

The museum includes the art gallery and the “Ancient Jewelry Art of Bukhara” exhibition.

The art gallery was set up in 1982. The formation of the collection began in 1932. Among the collections unique are the works by P. Benkov, Karakhan, M. Kurzin, and U. Tansikbayev. About 1,000 samples of painting, graphics, sculpture, and miniature-painting could be found in the museum’s reserves. The “Ancient Jewelry Art of Bukhara” exhibition was set up in 1994 in the storeroom of the former state bank. There are five specialists in the museum. The branch chairperson is Q. Jumayev, PhD in History.

Research Library

The research library is one of the oldest libraries in Bukhara. It mainly includes Amir Said Alimkhan’s (1911-1920) personal collection of books, consisting of the manuscripts and lithographic publications of the 17th – 20th centuries. Now, the collection is kept at the center for studying Oriental manuscripts, which is located at the Kamoliddin Behzod Fine Arts Museum. The library of the Ark museum has more than 5,000 publications on history, art, ethnography, and architecture.

The museum has two research centers:

• The Center for Study Arabic – Written Oriental Manuscripts
• The Center for Study Spiritual Legacy of Bahouddin Naqshband

The museum also has the “Open Treasury” computer center, where visitors will be acquainted with the online collections of the museum’s reserves.
In October 2001, the museum’s staff worked out the project of computerization of the museum’s depositories. The grant awarded by the U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan enabled the museum to purchase computers and other necessary equipments.

The museum has the “Friends of the Bukhara Museum-Preserve” society. Its purpose is to support the museum in various projects on preservation, exhibition, restoration of the unique collections kept in the museum’s depositories.