this is uzbekistan. once part of the enormous soviet union, uzbekistan is a country of arid deserts, lush mountains and ancient cities. in its long history, it s been home to many civilisations, remnants of which can still be seen today. and now its more recent past is as much of a draw. i m starting myjourney here in tashkent, the biggest city in the whole of central asia. it s dynamic, full of young people with almost half under the age of 30 and it s booming. though wherever you look, you are reminded of its soviet past. so what s this impressive building? incredible. this is our circus. munis nur has been studying the unique blend of soviet and islamic architecture that tashkent is known for. after a massive earthquake in the 60s, the soviets rebuilt the whole city. at that time, as you know, many different architects came from the soviet union, and all the architects tried to build the ideal city here. the circus is one of the many examples of the era s modernist arc
in silk road legacy. it s like something from a 60s spy movie or something. it s incredible. ..where soviet influences. horns sound ..meet ancient traditions. this is amazing. i can t believe this. this is where arches would have stood. ..and vast landscapes. ..hide impressive relics. it s pretty astonishing that i m able to still walk around here. for the best part of a century, this country has been off limits to many outsiders. but in recent years, that s been changing, and i m on a journey to see what we ve been missing out on. this is uzbekistan. 0nce part of the enormous soviet union, uzbekistan is a country of arid deserts, lush mountains and ancient cities. in its long history, it s been home to many civilisations, remnants of which can still be seen today. and now its more recent past is as much of a draw. i m starting myjourney here in tashkent, the biggest city in the whole of central asia. it s dynamic, full of young people with almost half under the age of 30
once part of the enormous soviet union, uzbekistan is a country of arid deserts, lush mountains and ancient cities. in its long history, it s been home to many civilisations, remnants of which can still be seen today. and now its more recent past is as much of a draw. i m starting myjourney here in tashkent, the biggest city in the whole of central asia. it s dynamic, full of young people with almost half under the age of 30 and it s booming. though wherever you look, you are reminded of its soviet past. so what s this impressive building? incredible. this is our circus. munis nur has been studying the unique blend of soviet and islamic architecture that tashkent is known for. after a massive earthquake in the 60s, the soviets rebuilt the whole city. at that time, as you know, many different architects came from the soviet union, and all the architects tried to build the ideal city here. the circus is one of the many examples of the era s modernist architecture. but back
and these ideas were also reflected in this building, because the shape of our circus is like spaceship. so this circus is almost like a tribute to space research and the futuristic idea that the soviets had? yes, yes. once the soviet union dissolved, uzbekistan became an independent country. but for almost three more decades, it was ruled by an authoritarian leader. the death of islam karimov in 2016 kick started some huge changes, including a big tourism drive. ilkhom was once an underground theatre, but now it draws in an international audience. so, i think i m just catching them in mid rehearsal. i ll take a seat. the theatre s been around for almost 50 years. it s famous for its bold performances and creating debate even during the soviet rule. irina bharat is the programme director here.
yes, yes. once the soviet union dissolved, uzbekistan became an independent country. but for almost three more decades, it was ruled by an authoritarian leader. the death of islam karimov in 2016 kick started some huge changes, including a big tourism drive. ilkhom was once an underground theatre, but now it draws in an international audience. whispers: so, i think i m just catching them in mid rehearsal. i ll take a seat. the theatre s been around for almost 50 years. it s famous for its bold performances and creating debate even during the soviet rule. irina bharat is the programme director here. the audience is very different even now from the majority of our society, and it was kind of underground plays.