First Universal Cultural Center launched in Namangan

June 7, 2011

The Fund Forum in collaboration with Mehr Nuri Foundation, the Women’s Council and the SISF present a project to create a Network of Universal Cultural Centers in Uzbekistan. The first recently built Center was launched in Namangan on June 7. Over 500 people attended the opening ceremony for the Center, which included a charitable pilaf reception and a concert. The Network of Centers is seen as an opportunity for interesting and useful leisure while helping strengthen dialog among people of various generations, helping the youth learn skills and contributing to informal artistic education.

The Center offers excellent opportunities for interesting and useful leisure for women, men, the youth, children as well as elderly people. Separate rooms and custom facilities have been made available for each sector and various activities.

These include: The Women’s Center, with a capacity to seat 50 people, would be a place to be used for specialist consultations (doctors, psychologists, etc), meetings with famous people, and events for women. The Women’s Center will also offer information about the activities of the Women’s Council, the National Breast Cancer Association and Avicenna International Association of Traditional Medicine, and link visitors with these organizations.

The Center for Children and Youth Support will house various events initiated by young people: campaigns, projects, discussion club sessions and presentations. On the weekends the center will host training sessions in traditional arts, national crafts and other activities free of charge. The Center will also provide information on children’s, youth-oriented and educational projects and grants provided by the Fund Forum and partner organizations.

The Center for Social Support and Charity offers information on programs run by the foundations that are designed to help socially vulnerable segments of the population, support entrepreneurs and farmers, women and regional NGOs.

The Central Hall will have a seating capacity of up to 150 people and will be styled on an oriental chaikhana (tea room), which means an opportunity for elderly people and other residents to get together and spend time. The tea room may be converted into a banquet hall which will host events such as weddings, birthday parties, etc. The Center has cooking facilities, staff rooms, a cloakroom, and separate rooms for event organizers and participants.

Visitors to the Universal Cultural Center will be assisted by thirty volunteers that have been selected among the winners and grantees of the Fund Forum, Mehr Nuri Foundation, the Women’s Council and the SISF. The volunteers will help lead training sessions and will provide consultations.

The new cultural centers are set to be constructed in each region of the Republic while mini centers are to be built in remote areas. The initiative to create a Network of Universal Cultural Centers was unveiled by Professor Gulnara Karimova, the Chair of the Fund Forum’s Board of Trustees, at the Forum “Integration of Social Projects and Initiatives” held in Tashkent in February 2010. Each center in the regions will be constructed under a single architectural framework.

The project has been given the goals of

• Creating opportunities for residents for communication, leisure, public events;
• Boosting the spirit of good neighborliness and friendship among communities;
• Setting up facilities for organizing business meetings, receptions and various thematic events for target groups (the youth, women, etc);
• Supporting the artistic endeavors of the population, fostering careful attitude toward national values and traditions through organizing special events and mini workshops;
• Creating facilities for events and leisure activities for children and the youth.