Turkmen cultural mission in Tajikistan: with love and generosity of brotherhood
On October 15th, Days of Culture of Turkmenistan in Tajikistan opened in Dushanbe. Of course, Turkmenistan, with its vigorous activity on the humanitarian front, is no stranger to holding such actions abroad, but this time not one of the experienced participants in the cultural tour remembers such numerous creative troops that were thrown this time in the Tajik direction.
Three and a half hundred envoys arrived in Dushanbe, including, besides cultural officials, famous folk singers and modern pop groups, exotic dance groups and folklore ensembles, theater workers and employees of museums, as well as other cultural and educational institutions.
They traveled by transit through Uzbekistan on a special train with the inscription "Long live the Turkmen-Tajik friendship." Along with them, museum exhibits and construction details were delivered, of which festive white yurts - traditional Turkmen dwellings in which the distant ancestors of cultural messengers greeted and honored dear guests - were quickly built.
The opening of the Days of Culture took place at the National Museum of Dushanbe with a large gathering of representatives from various departments of Tajikistan, ranging from the Ministry of Culture, representatives of the diplomatic corps and local workers of the creative workshop, ending with ordinary residents of the Tajik capital.
The surprise for the participants of the action were gifts, among them one of the last books of President Berdimuhamedov that Turkmenistan was a key link (in the book said “heart”) of the Great Silk Road - the most famous transport and logistics route, which functioned smoothly from the ancient period up to Late Middle Ages.
In addition to presenting a massive two-volume work of President Berdimuhamedov with colorful illustrations, participants of the opening of the Days of Turkmen Culture could familiarize themselves with a small but rather rich exposition of museum valuables brought from Ashgabat and regional centers of Turkmenistan, as well as products of ceramics and musical instruments working exactly just like their talented ancestors.
Here, in the main museum of the Tajik capital, a dispute-meeting of local and Turkmen artists took place. And after that, the artists of the musical and drama theater of the eastern region of Turkmenistan brought to the theater lovers a performance telling how the famous Turkmen ruler Dayahatyn long ago managed to unite scattered tribes of compatriots to fight off the insidious enemy who tried to enslave the Turkmen people.
Celebrations on the occasion of the Days of Culture of Turkmenistan in Tajikistan were held not only in Dushanbe, but also in the rather remote village of Dusti, located on the border with troubled Afghanistan, as it was there that the numerous Turkmen diaspora settled back in ancient times, the representatives of which with great joy and hospitality greeted guests from their historic homeland.
There is no need to dwell on the meetings in Dusti, since it duplicated the celebrations held in Dushanbe: the presentation of the book by the Turkmen leader, the creative meeting of art masters, the book and museum exhibition, folk songs and melodies, incendiary dances, a concert, etc..
However, here - in Dusti - there were some peculiarities, for example, many words of gratitude to the president of Turkmenistan were said by local residents for a wonderful gift - the construction of a new, modern, well-equipped school, which was built by Turkmen specialists in the area on behalf of the Turkmen leader.
The final part of the first day of the cultural mission was the ancient rite of Gelnadzhi - bride price. The wedding ceremony took place according to the ancient Turkmen canons with the performance of traditional dance kushtdepdi, which was attended by both hospitable hosts and dear guests.
