Kettik!
This week’s guide
The first week of July promises to be wildly eventful. Over seven days, you can find yourself in Japan, Spain, and the Soviet past all at once. The premiere of *Carmen* at Navoi, the Tanabata festival with wishes on bamboo, film photographs of a city that no longer exists. Amidst it all, conversations about art, architecture, and literature with experts and art historians. Well then, let’s go!
Sunday
EVENT

Premiere of the opera 'Carmen'
A new staging of Georges Bizet's opera as interpreted by Konstantin Kamynin. The action is relocated to Spain in the 1940s-1950s. Emphasis is placed on personal freedom and resistance to societal pressure: the tragic finale is interpreted as a triumph of the heroine's spirit.
Alisher Navoi State Academic Bolshoi Theatre
28 Zarafshan Street
from 55,000 to 165,000 soums
Monday
ART

Exhibition 'Centre of Attraction' — Alim Maratovich
Alim Maratovich works at the intersection of painting, graphics, design and digital art. The artist's source of inspiration is the muqarnas of the Tillya-Kari Madrasah in Samarkand. The author reinterprets traditional ornaments, transforming them into an independent system of forms, rhythms and spatial interactions.
Tashkent City Mall
2nd Floor, Andakulova Gallery
Free admission
Tuesday
MUSIC

Tanabata Festival
Tanabata is the Japanese Star Festival, celebrated on 7 July. According to legend, on this day the stars Vega and Altair meet once a year. Guests write wishes on strips of paper and tie them to bamboo – this is the festival's main tradition. The programme also includes music and interactive activities.
Ikuo Hirayama International Caravanserai of Culture
37A Yusuf Khos Hojib Street
Free admission
Wednesday
LECTURE

Lecture by R. Safina 'Famous Castles of Europe 2.0'
A continuation of the lecture series on the architecture of European castles. New stories about buildings that have survived wars, changes of ownership and become symbols of entire eras.
Art Space '9 Muses'
18 Mukanna Dead End
300,000 soums
Thursday
COMMUNITY

Book Club with D. Nesterenko 'Eugene Onegin'
A club analysis of Pushkin's novel: shared reading, discussion of the text, conversation about the characters and why 'Onegin' reads like a contemporary novel 200 years later. Hosted by D. Nesterenko. Tea/coffee/water and sweets are included in the price.
Art Space '9 Muses'
18 Mukanna Dead End
200,000 soums
ART

Exhibition 'Photo Chronicle of the 20th Century'
Archival film photographs from various decades of the 20th century: Yuri Gagarin's visit to Tashkent, alleyways of the old city, the geometry of Constructivism and the industrial aesthetic of Soviet construction projects. The exhibition runs until 25 August.
Bonum Factum Gallery
20A Sadyk Azimov Lane
15,000 soums
Friday
ART

Youth Exhibition CTRL+ART
A visual exploration by young artists of contemporary global change. Running concurrently is the special project 'Inside Art' in collaboration with Nur Art School — a laboratory for bloggers and content creators producing material on the spot.
Gallery of Fine Arts (NBU)
2 Buyuk Turon Street
from 10,000 to 50,000 soums
ART

Video Exhibition Marionettes — Peter Erschmann
Video art by the Swiss artist: the same human movements repeat endlessly, like a loop. The exhibition questions the boundary between control and freedom — who truly governs our habits and daily actions.
ARTepa Gallery
30 Osie Street
Free admission
Sunday
THEATRE

Family Performance 'Colours'
An interactive performance for the whole family: living colours break free from the palette and argue over which is the most important. The audience becomes part of this confrontation. The show was ranked among the top seven productions at the UK's largest theatre festival, the Fringe.
Teatr+
17 Matbuotchilar Street
from 80,000 to 200,000 soums
Wednesday
LECTURE

Lecture by D. Nesterenko 'The Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki: Spirited Away'
An analysis of 'Spirited Away' through the lens of Japanese mythology, Shintoism and folklore. The lecturer is philologist Daria Nesterenko. The discussion will explore what lies behind each image and the cultural subtext of Miyazaki's anime.
Art Space '9 Muses'
18 Mukanna Dead End
300,000 soums
Thursday
EVENT

Masterclass on Repotting Houseplants with V. Filipenko
A practical masterclass: repotting techniques, choosing soil and pots, aftercare. Each participant leaves with their own plant. The price includes all materials and soft drinks.
Art Space '9 Muses'
18 Mukanna Dead End
350,000 soums
Friday
LECTURE

Lecture 'The Birth of Dark Gothic and the Dawn of the Middle Ages' — Hafiz Khan
A lecture on how, in the 12th century, cathedrals began to soar upwards, light became a building material, and dark imagery turned into the language of an entire era. The lecturer is Hafiz Khan, an architectural and art historian.
Human House Gallery
43 Kichik Mirabad
100,000 soums
Tuesday
EVENT

Evening Show 'Overheard in Tashkent'
A late-night show with comedians and interesting people from Tashkent. The evening is hosted by Gimal Gafiyatullin and Ekaterina Kabulova. Also on stage are Eva Romanova, Rustam Musakulov and Roma Impulse.
SAHNA Stand-Up Club
from 50,000 soums
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