Samarkand features collection of photographs taken by Ella Mayar during her trip to Uzbekistan back in 1930s

The Art Station by Silk Road University Gallery in Samarkand has recently hosted the unveiling of the "Inner Horizon: Uzbekistan in the 1930s in the Photographs of Ella Mayar" exhibit. The exhibit was spearheaded by Aziz Abdukhakimov, the rector of the International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, media reports.

This is the first time the Art Station by Silk Road University Gallery has organized such an event, with support from the Swiss Embassy and other organizations.

Through the photographs showcased, visitors could immerse themselves in the ambiance of Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, and Karakalpakstan in the 1930s. Abdukhakimov expressed his belief that visitors will undoubtedly discover a new world and embark on a historic journey at this exhibit. 

Obidjon Kudratov, the First Deputy Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, and Professor Raymond Joseph Hoffman, Vice-Rector for Academic Research of the International University of Tourism "Silk Road," were among the attendees of the inauguration.

The photographs showcased in the exhibit were taken by Ella Mayar, a Swiss traveler, athlete, photographer, and writer who dedicated her life to exploring and learning about different countries and cultures. She was unafraid to challenge traditional gender roles and took on the Swiss Alps on skis and the Mediterranean Sea on a yacht.

Ella Mayar traveled alone, using various modes of transportation to Central Asia, Afghanistan, India, China, and Türkiye. Maillard's journey through Central Asia in 1932 is showcased in the exhibit through her photographs and book "From Heavenly Mountains to Red Sands" ("Turkestan Solo – One Woman’s Expedition from the Tien Shan to the Kizil Kum"). 

The photographer believed that "The immensity of the horizon must be within us, only come from us. Only those who can comprehend and understand the immensity can attain it. And only those who have found a way to express it can understand it."

The "Inner Horizon" exhibit in Samarkand featured digitized duplicates of Mayar's original photographs housed in the Photo Elysée Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

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