Globalization and digitalization help progress and make countries borderless. But, they blend cultures and cause loss of nations’ identity.
The same thing happened in Uzbekistan when people found everything from abroad to be cool. However, due to changes in the country, today the new generation of Uzbeks long for self-identification.
Young Uzbeks are proud of their nation and strive to revive their cultural heritage. Those essential parts of cultural identity that convey the rich national history – graphics, design, and visual language were lost and changed over the years.
That is why today, they are confused, misinterpreted, and misused.
Solution:
The first digital bank with Georgian roots decided to digitalize the visual heritage of Uzbekistan. By collecting traditional ornaments of Uzbekistan into a single public database to preserve their originality, to categorize and describe their history, meanings, and ways of use.
To do this, the project team conducted a series of expeditions to the cities of Uzbekistan: • visited national museums, cultural centers, and applied arts workshops • talked to craftsmen, who pass on excellence from generation to generation and documented all materials
As a result, more than 100 ornaments were digitized and uploaded to an open website with descriptions by a doctor of Arts.
Each project stage was covered in the media, bringing more attention to the visual heritage and its use.
Results:
Ornaments caused many discussions. 7 000 000 + reach
But most importantly, they started being used in real life: - HoReCa packaging - 2 000 000 SIM cards - NFTs - Local events branding - Bloggers and creators - School textbooks
Despite the project being CSR, TBC Bank achieved the following results: - more than 40 mentions in the media - 10 000+ new followers on the Telegram channel - Ornaments turned into TBC's identity (merch, materials, regional branches across the country, etc.)
The project is still ongoing, and the next phases are: • Expeditions to all regions of Uzbekistan; • 1000+ digitized ornaments; • an E-commerce website to support craftsmen and designers.
Links:
Project website: https://tbc-ornaments.uz/
Backstages from expeditions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFGF0-8oy2Y&list=PLY2g0yXSniSCpicVhsGybmShBO8gydBhd
Live broadcast from the press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe7uiJDY1wo&t=572s
TBC Bank Instagram highlights: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17904559715008257/
Live recording on YouTube (Q&A): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH-1Ymvf5PU&t=372s
Credits
Sardor Babaev – project curator Feruzkhan Yakoubhodjaev – project curator Binafsha Nodir – expert, doctor of art Crave – website development and ornaments digitization team Aziz Tuhtasinov – website development and ornaments digitization team lead
We Digital agency: Denis Roman – CEO Valeria Lee – project manager Finat Razyapov – photographer Tamila Mamadalieva – administrator Oybek Karimov – designer Elbek Nurmukhamedov – designer Aleksandra Selivanova – creator, copywriter Malika Obidova – copywriter
Xurmo Production – backstage production team Joha Talipov – case study soundtrack
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