“Ustoz Shogird” school

The “Ustoz-shogird” school: the living heart of the Bukhara tradition

In 2019, in the very heart of ancient Bukhara, master Davlat Toshev founded the “Ustoz-shogird” (“Master and Apprentice”) Centre of Traditional Applied Arts. This space was conceived not simply as an art studio, but as a spiritual and cultural centre where the ancient craft of the Eastern miniature is passed on in its original form — from heart to heart, from hand to hand.

At the heart of the school's philosophy lies a noble principle: great art must be available to everyone in whom a genuine talent burns. Tuition at the centre is completely free. The school brings together students of the most varied ages — from nine-year-old children taking their very first steps in art to apprentices of thirty-one.

Social support and inclusion hold a special place in the centre's mission: eleven of the school's students live with disabilities. For them, the painstaking work with a fine brush, natural pigments and silk paper becomes not only a profession, but a window onto the wider world, a means of self-expression and a profound form of art therapy.

Under the direct mentorship of Davlat Toshev, the centre's students step by step master the rarest disciplines that make up the glory of Eastern applied art. The training covers not only the traditional Bukhara miniature with its sacred geometry, canonical composition and subtle laws of harmony, but also the poetic art of “Abru-Bahor” — the ancient paper-marbling technique revived by the master. Alongside painting, the students learn classical calligraphy and the fine craft of restoration, mastering how to work with and restore rare handmade paper. They work both on classical handmade paper and on restored antique sheets, absorbing respect for the material and for centuries of history.

The school quickly bore fruit. Students of the centre have repeatedly become winners and laureates of international competitions. As early as 2020 the first large-scale exhibition of the school's students took place, entitled “Ustoz ogitlari” (“The Mentor's Precepts”), where the young apprentices demonstrated a filigree command of the most demanding miniature techniques.

Recognition of the school long ago spread beyond Uzbekistan. The “Ustoz-shogird” Centre has become a key venue for international cultural exchange. Within joint programmes with French cultural institutions a unique project was developed: training residencies in Bukhara for young French artists wishing to immerse themselves in the secrets of the Bukhara school, together with return visits by Uzbek students to France.

Davlat Toshev's “Ustoz-shogird” school is proof that the great heritage of the past does not gather dust in museum cases, but lives, breathes and nurtures a new generation of Bukhara masters.