The domes of Samarkand have long witnessed scholars, poets, astronomers and merchants passing through. This autumn, they welcomed a different kind of gathering: nearly 4,500 delegates from around 190 countries, including ministers, researchers, heritage experts, educators, youth leaders and heads of state, for UNESCO’s 43rd General Conference, held outside Paris for the first time in forty years and for the first time in Central Asia.
For two weeks, this historic Silk Road city served as a centre for diplomacy, where discussions on memory and identity took place alongside debates on artificial intelligence and early childhood education.
Uzbekistan, the host country, used the conference to demonstrate that heritage and transformation can progress together.
The Silk Road and Uzbekistan’s vision
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev opened the conference beneath mosaic arches, invoking Samarkand’s legacy of scientific exchange. From Ulugbek’s observatory, where astronomers charted star maps used centuries later by Copernicus and Kepler, to manuscript academies whose ideas travelled along trade routes.
“The fact that such a
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