With a degree in economics and 20 years working in the banking sector, my life has been dominated by numbers. Yet my recent experience at The Naqsh School of Crafts not only enhanced my understanding of the role of mathematics in our world but also provided a life-changing experience.
I had recently left my job with a bank and was looking for something to challenge my mind as I considered the next stage of my career when I came across The Naqsh School’s website earlier this year. The chance to learn about the remarkable biomorphic designs that grace historic buildings around Uzbekistan by enrolling on its pilot year courses immediately appealed.
Since moving to Uzbekistan from Armenia, I have often been struck by the beauty of the ornaments on those buildings but knew relatively little about the skills employed by generations of craftsmen over hundreds of years to create them.
My previous art experience extended only to two years of private lessons yet excited by the opportunity to learn about the intersection of art and numbers — and even though geometry was far from my favourite subject at school — I applied. It was great to be accepted for the second of the five modules taking place ahead of the planned launch of a two-year diploma course later this year, and I have since taken part in the third.
It has been amazing, reminding me of the novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky’s famous words: “Beauty will save the world.” The team of experts from The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts who travel from the United Kingdom to lead the courses brought the subject to life and the quality of both the teaching and the materials provided are very high quality. The fundamentals of the biomorphic designs may have been familiar from my childhood in Armenia, but we have been taught what makes the decorative elements on Timurid monuments, Sufi shrines and other buildings in Uzbekistan unique and special.
I also gained a fresh perspective on Uzbekistan’s younger generation of skilled and determined students of art and architecture, especially when we came together as a team to create a big piece of work at the end of each module. Their passion is incredible and I’ve no doubt they will use the insights gained from The Naqsh School into their future careers. They are taking from the past to create the future.
Many are already putting what they have learned to use. One of the students, Svetlana, sells handcrafted books at the Vostochniy Bazar in Tashkent and is the founder of an art exhibition there. Inspired by what she discovered during courses at The Naqsh School, she is now incorporating her own cover designs based on the mathematical rules that govern biomorphic ornaments. My own experience has helped persuade me that rather than return to banking, I will look for a job at an art or design school. For that, I’d like to thank the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation who set up The Naqsh School and encourage people to join the remaining pilot year course which begins on 8 June and the planned full-time diploma course.
Gayane Osipyan