Karakalpakstan

One of the many things I didn't know before I came to Uzbekistan; Karakalpakstan (I had to repeat it for 3 days before I could pronounce it correctly) is an autonomous republic contained within Uzbekistan. Karakalpakstan has its own constitution, coat of arms, flag, national anthem, and parliament. The Karakalpak people today make up 1/3 of the population of the republic. The Karakalpaks were a nomadic, fishing people at one point in history. In 1924, this area attained the name, and was absorbed into Kazakhstan. In 1930, it merged with the Russian federation. In 1936, it became part of Uzbekistan. My knowledge of the history and politics of this part of the world is painfully limited, but I would say that the history of Karakalpakstan is a perfect example of the complex back and forthing that has been going on here for centuries.

Anyway, I made the trip to Karakalpakstan so that I could visit an incredible museum in Nukus, the capital of the republic. More on that later. Karakalpakstan is also famous for the unbelievable ecological disaster of the Aral Sea. More on that later. First, some pictures of the heart-breakingly beautiful Karakalpakstan landscape.

Camel butts!

The Aral Sea

The Aral Sea is the victim of massive ecological mis-handling. At one time, the Aral Sea was one of the four largest lakes in the WORLD. Then in the 1960's, the Soviet government decided that Central Asia would be a great place for a cotton industry. Because Central Asia doesn't have the best climate for cotton cultivation, this meant diverting the waters that normally fed into the Aral Sea. The Aral Sea started shrinking. Depending on how it is measured, the Aral Sea (now a few little lakes) has shrunk to between 30 and 10% of its original size. A side effect of this incredible shrinkage is that the Aral Sea has become super-saline. Even freshwater lakes normally have a small saline content. Now the Aral Sea has a FAR higher salt content than an ocean. This salt blows all over Karakalpakstan. It looks like a light dusting of snow, but the land is actually coated with salt. 

Once Upon A Time There Was A Little Fishing Village Called Moynaq

I hired a driver to take me to a place called Moynaq. Moynaq was once a prosperous fishing village on the Aral Sea. Now it's a sad, deserted place almost 200 kilometres from the water. A monument to the Aral Sea disaster has been built at what was once the port. Now the rusting hulks of now-useless fishing boats lay abandoned on the bed of the former sea.  

This was once the bottom of the Aral Sea. You can still find seashells here.

Nukus

I went to Karakalpakstan so that I could visit the incredible Savitsky Museum. First, a bit of Art history. Around the turn of the 20th century, Art was undergoing huge changes in Europe and Russia. Avant-garde artists were exploring all kinds of different directions. Many Russian artists had discovered Central Asia and fallen in love. There was A LOT happening in the Art world. In 1917, the Russian revolution happened. At first, Russian and Central Asian artists were also swept up in the big changes, and eager to help support the revolution. However, in 1932, that all came shuddering to an end. The Soviet government decided that all Art henceforth should be promoting the Soviet ideal, and it should be done in a proscribed manner. Avant-garde artists hid their work in attics and cellars, or were defiant and ended up in gulags or dead. 

In 1950, an artist/archaeologist/hero named Igor Savitsky came to Karakalpakstan to work on archaeological digs. He became fascinated with Karakalpak culture, and began a one-man campaign to salvage the artifacts of the culture before they disappeared under the weight of modernization. And then he started to discover lost treasures of the Soviet and Uzbek avant-garde, hidden away. He became obsessed with saving this work. He had already founded a museum in Nukus dedicated to Karakalpakstan cultural artifacts. He employed a bit of dishonesty and bit of charm and managed to use Soviet money to fund his life-long campaign to purchase as many pieces of 'illegal' art as he could. By the end of his life, he had saved tens of thousands of work of Art. I visited the museum 3 times while I was in Nukus. It was heaven, even if at one point I was a little weepy at the thought of so much artistic potential that had been squashed. I had never heard of most of the artists whose work I saw, and it was incredible. Here are some names for anyone interested in expanding their artistic horizons:

Alexander Volkov; Ural Tansylkbayev, Viktor Ufimtsev, Vladimir Lysenko; Ludmila Bakulina; Mikhail Sokolov; Nikolay Tarasov.

 

The city of Nukus is small and quiet. It's not exactly a tourist hub. We ate every meal at the hotel restaurant. We had to order our food at least 30 minutes in advance, probably so that the restaurant staff could make a quick run to the market. 

At the market, on the Friday of the big Navruz weekend.

Mizdakhan

Mizdakhan was an ancient city just outside of modern-day Nukus. It is possible to visit the remains. One hillside in particular has been used as a place for mosques and mausoleums through the centuries (right up to modern times).