Discovery of the Tajik soul

Before coming to Tajikistan, I had endless questions about this new destination. I didn’t know anything about the country, except that it was part of the former USSR. When I arrived in Dushanbe, the capital of the country, the initial shock was immense, it was a distant and new world for me! I soon came to know some local people and my life started to change.  These locals were artists working in the “khudojnik colonia” (Russian for “Colony of artists”) and it was in their studios where I really started to know, understand, and appreciate the Tajik people. I quickly fell in love with them and their art and their passion for it. I was able to look at their paintings and to listen to them rapidly speaking Russian, struggling to explain to me, a non-Russian speaker, the underlying meaning of their work.  They spoke to me as if I understood.  They were not far from wrong.  For it was through their art that I started to understand these wonderful people. It was at that point, that I started the real discovery of their history.  I also could appreciate the way they see the world and how they have suffered.  I could more fully understand their frustrations and their deepest desires and also celebrate their happiness. From my own experience I can tell you that:

Art is the fastest way to get into the soul of people!
Art is the most pure expression of people’s soul…

So, this is an invitation to discover this exotic place: Tajikistan, through their Art!!!...

Fabiola Agudelo Henao

'Tajik visual art' by Lutfiya S. Aini, Art Critic, Art Historian