Heritage connecting the centuries
The third plenary session of the international media forum “Islamic Civilization: New Perspective – New Discoveries” was held on August 26 under the theme “Heritage connecting the centuries: the spiritual essence of Islamic civilization”.
The session focused on Qur’anic heritage, ancient manuscripts, calligraphy, documentary filmmaking, and the use of artificial intelligence in studying historical sources.
One key project was “114 Qur’ans: 114 masterpieces of calligraphy from the Islamic world”, presented by Alexander Wilhelm, Vice President of Mueller & Schindler Publishing House. The session also featured a presentation of the international project “The Katta Langar Qur’an: facts and legends”, presented by Rustam Jabborov, Scientific Secretary of the Islamic Civilization Center.
Alexey Telnov, Director General of the St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio, screened the trailer for the film “Mosque”, produced as part of the project “Pages of a shared historical heritage”. Islamic studies scholar and cultural figure Kathleen Göbel introduced participants to the publishing project “The 99 names of Allah: understanding the creator through his beautiful names”.
A special segment focused on new technologies. Vladimir Kokh, Executive Director of the Advanced Technologies Development Department at Sberbank, and Zohidullo Munavvarov, Professor and Chief Researcher at the Islamic Civilization Center, presented the project “Artificial intelligence – a digital key to reading ancient manuscripts”. The program also featured the book “The virtues of the Prophet” and the project “Uzbekistan on the map of history: empires, civilizations, eras”.
An international discussion titled “From ignorance to enlightenment: The role of the media in overcoming stereotypes and Islamophobia” brought together representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as state and international media outlets from Algeria, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Mali, and Uzbekistan.
In addition, Shuhrat Orif, Chairman of the Union of Journalists of Uzbekistan, presented the project “History and artificial intelligence in journalism: how can we preserve heritage online?”, while Uktam Usmanov, Head of the Media Department at the Islamic Civilization Center, presented the book “Scholars who made Uzbekistan famous around the world”.
The session concluded with the presentation “World of Qur’an: from calligraphic traditions to the heritage of the future”. Habibullo Solih, Director of the School of Calligraphy at the Islamic Civilization Center, announced a World Calligraphy Competition to create a unique Qur’an that brings together the traditions of different countries and schools of Islamic calligraphy.
The forum’s main venue is the Islamic Civilization Center in Uzbekistan. It brings together 300 media and expert representatives from nearly 50 countries, including media executives, news agencies, television channels, journalists, producers, scholars, and creative industry professionals.
Nazokat Usmanova, UzA
