From historical heritage to global dialogue: what did the international media forum give Uzbekistan and the world?
The central venue of the forum was the Center of Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan. It was here that participants saw in practice how historical heritage can serve as a foundation for modern international media dialogue.
Nearly 300 representatives of media, science, and creative industries from about 50 countries gathered in Tashkent and Samarkand to discuss how to tell the modern world about the history, culture, and intellectual heritage of Uzbekistan and Islamic civilization. However, the most important outcome of the five-day forum was not the number of events held, but the foundation laid for long-term international cooperation. New films, books, digital projects, educational programs, and media initiatives will make it possible to tell the world a new story about Uzbekistan.
On August 25–29, on the initiative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the country's state independence, the international media forum "Islamic Civilization: A New Look — New Discoveries" was held in Tashkent and Samarkand.
The forum brought together on one platform leaders and representatives of the world's leading international TV channels, news agencies, publishing houses, and media companies, journalists, documentary filmmakers, producers, scientists, museum specialists, and experts in the field of digital technologies. CNN and Euronews were the forum's main media partners. Representatives of BBC Studios, TRT World, Oman TV, Report.az, The London Post, and other international media organizations also participated. The central venue of the forum was the Center of Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan. It was here that participants saw in practice how historical heritage can serve as a foundation for modern international media dialogue.
The official opening ceremony of the forum took place in the Grand Conference Hall of the Center of Islamic Civilization. Sherzod Asadov, Press Secretary of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Head of the Communications Department of the Presidential Administration, delivered a congratulatory address. He outlined the main tasks facing the modern media community: to tell the world audience about Uzbekistan's historical and cultural heritage in an objective and contemporary manner, to effectively use the opportunities of new technologies and artificial intelligence, while maintaining the high professional responsibility of journalism.
As a logical continuation of the theme, Firdavs Abdukholikov, Director of the Center of Islamic Civilization, presented the Center's activities to the forum participants. He described the Center as an authorial project of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a unique space created for studying, preserving, and widely promoting historical and intellectual heritage.
The Center is being formed not only as a museum or scientific research institution, but also as an international cultural and educational media platform that integrates museum work, science, education, television, documentary cinema, book publishing, digital technologies, and artificial intelligence.
This very concept became one of the central ideas of the forum: heritage must not only be preserved, but must continue to live, serving as a source for new stories, films, books, research, and modern digital projects.
Klaus Struns, Chief Executive Officer and Editorial Director of Euronews, shared his views on making cultural heritage part of the global news agenda and proposed holding the International Media Forum in Tashkent annually.
CNN representatives also paid special attention to Uzbekistan. Phil Nelson, Executive Vice President of CNN International Commercial, noted the importance of cooperation with the Center of Islamic Civilization and the prospects for jointly promoting Uzbekistan's heritage on CNN's global media platform. Imran Ahmad, CNN's regional representative, emphasized that international audiences have a very high level of interest in the country's history, its great scholars and thinkers, its culture, and today's changes.
This idea gained practical substance through the projects presented at the forum.
Film director Shokhrukh Rasulov presented the "Those Who Changed the World" project and a fragment of the film "Echo of Enlightenment" featuring Oscar winner Ben Kingsley. Ahmad Salim, founder of the international project 1001 Inventions, spoke about the possibilities of presenting the achievements of Islamic civilization in a new way through modern media tools.
Bakhodir Adilov, representative of the "Uzbekfilm" film concern, presented documentary projects such as "Civilization of Movarounnahr," "Imam al-Bukhari," and "Center of Islamic Civilization. New Universe." These works serve to convey historical material to a wide audience through the language of modern cinema.
In the digital direction, Almos Fakhriddinov and Sirojiddin Ubaydullayev, Director of NeoVex, presented the projects "Digital Avatar: Heroes of Islamic Civilization Talk to the New Generation" and "Uzbekistan 360°: A Living Platform of Heritage."
Special attention was also paid to ancient manuscripts and the art of calligraphy. Alexander Wilhelm, Vice President of the Mueller & Schindler publishing house, presented the international project "114 Qur'ans: 114 Pearls of Islamic Calligraphy," while Rustam Jabborov, Scientific Secretary of the Center of Islamic Civilization, presented the project "The Great Langar Qur'an: Truth and Legends."
Vladimir Kokh, Executive Director of Sberbank's Office for the Development of Advanced Technologies, and Professor Zohidullo Munavvarov, Chief Researcher at the Center of Islamic Civilization, presented the project "Artificial Intelligence — The Digital Key to Reading Ancient Manuscripts."
In the publishing direction, Firdavs Abdukholikov and Hasan Kondu, Chairman of the Board of Mega Basim Publishing House, presented a unique illustrated publication titled "Great Figures in the History of Uzbekistan in Oriental Miniatures." Professor Mario Taddei, Charlotte Kramer, President of the Kulturalis publishing house, and other specialists introduced international publishing and research initiatives.
Thus, within the framework of a single forum, ancient manuscripts and artificial intelligence, Oriental miniatures and modern publishing, the great scholars of the past and digital technologies, museums and world television converged at one point.
However, one of the most important audiences for these efforts was the younger generation.
Nearly 40 master classes, creative meetings, and presentations were held at 20 higher education institutions in Tashkent and Samarkand, attracting more than 5,000 students. Young people were addressed by CNN representative Imran Ahmad, BBC Studios representative Sergey Stanovkin, TRT World representative Umesh Kumar Vohra, Report.az representative Fuad Huseynaliyev, The London Post representative Raza Said, Mario Taddei, Hasanbey Kondu, Charlotte Kramer, Robert Fransev, and other international experts.
For the Center of Islamic Civilization, work in this direction is becoming permanent. In cooperation with the University of Journalism and Mass Communications of Uzbekistan, the Center is launching a joint program aimed at studying and promoting the country's cultural heritage among young journalists. Scholarships and professional internship opportunities are envisaged for the most talented students.
Another important outcome of the forum was the transition from discussions to concrete agreements.
Within the framework of the forum, about 20 agreements and memorandums were signed. The final declaration outlined the main directions of future cooperation. These include initiatives such as establishing an International Media Alliance, holding the international media competition "Voices of Civilizations," launching educational programs and professional exchanges for journalists, co-producing content, and ensuring the Center's ongoing cooperation with the world's leading media outlets.
Participants also proposed establishing an international media club "Voice of Islamic Civilization" on the basis of the Center of Islamic Civilization and holding the International Media Forum in Tashkent annually.
Today, together with foreign media partners, more than 100 media projects dedicated to the history and culture of Uzbekistan, reforms in the country, and the activities of the Center of Islamic Civilization have been implemented. In the next phase, plans are underway to launch about 50 more joint international media projects.
One of the important parts of the program was related to Samarkand.
Foreign journalists, media leaders, producers, and experts visited the Imam Bukhari Memorial Complex, the International Research Center for Hadith Studies, the Innovative Museum named after Imam Bukhari, and Samarkand's famous historical monuments.
For many guests, this was the first opportunity to see with their own eyes the heritage they had previously known only through books, films, and articles.
Samarkand effectively became an open filming location.
Journalists conducted interviews, shot reports, and prepared materials for TV channels, news agencies, documentary films, and digital platforms.
The Address to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, sent by the forum participants, gave the forum special meaning and significance.
Representatives of the media and expert community from nearly 50 countries emphasized that the principle of "Enlightenment against Ignorance," put forward by the President of Uzbekistan from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly in 2017, is extremely relevant today.
Today, in a world where conflicts, religious intolerance, and Islamophobia are intensifying, telling the story of Islamic civilization in an objective and understandable way is becoming not just a matter of preserving historical memory. It is also part of the enormous task of helping representatives of different cultures and faiths better understand one another.
The most important outcome of the forum is that an international network has begun to take shape around the idea of conducting a new dialogue about the heritage of Islamic civilization, uniting media representatives, scientists, cinematographers, publishers, digital technology specialists, and young journalists. This network is expected to continue its activities after the forum concludes, creating joint projects, films, books, research, and digital products.
From ancient manuscripts — toward artificial intelligence, from the great scholars of the past — toward modern cinema, from museum halls — to world TV channels, from university auditoriums — to the global news agenda. The forum demonstrated that heritage is not only a wealth left to us from the past. It is a vast intellectual and creative resource capable of shaping the future.
In this sense, today Uzbekistan is doing something broader than simply telling the world about its great history. The country is opening up its heritage for new international dialogue, setting a unique example in this regard. Together with the world's leading media organizations, scientists, and creative industry representatives, a new language, new formats, and new stories are being created that will make it possible to convey and make understandable the heritage of Central Asia and Islamic civilization to millions of people around the world.
The international media forum "Islamic Civilization: A New Look — New Discoveries" was not the end of this great movement, but its starting point — a path was opened from the heritage of the past toward the knowledge, meanings, and opportunities of the future.
