>> From the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
[ Silence ]
>> Mary-Jane Deeb: Well, good morning.
And thank you all for coming to this very special event
on the presentation to the library of the new book,
"The Tajik Golden Heritage."
I'm Mary-Jane Deeb, Chief of the African, Middle East Division,
that is co-hosting this program with the Embassy of Tajikistan.
Ambassador Nora Jean Champsaur [phonetic],
who's sitting here among us, and he and his team have worked closely
with us to put this even together, and I want to thank him
for his efforts and hard work.
I would also like to recognize the US Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Geofrey Pyatt,
who kindly agreed to take time off from his very busy schedule
to join us and make remarks on today's program.
And to welcome you all to the Library of Congress.
We have Roberta Shaffer,
the Associate Librarian for Library Services.
She was appointed to this position by the Librarian of Congress,
Dr. James Billington, in late 2011.
After having served for a number of years
as the Law Librarian at the library [pause].
Roberta Shaffer has had a distinguished career
as a practicing librarian in various settings
and as a library science educator.
Prior to her tenure as a Law Librarian, Shaffer has served
as Executive Director of the Federal Library
and Information Center Committee, and the Federal Library
and Information Network -- FEDLINK -- and the Library of Congress.
A former Fulbright Senior Scholar, Shaffer has been an active member
of the American Bar Association, the American Association
of Law Libraries, ARMA International Records Management,
and the World Future Society.
She is the current president of the International Council of Scientific
and Technical Information.
Serves as the Library of Congress official representative
to the council, and is a former chair
of its Information Policy Committee.
She has also maintained long-standing advisory positions
with the Digin Program at the University of Arizona,
the Library Science Program at San Jose State University,
and the Information School at the University of Texas at Austin,
where she previously served as dean.
Roberta Shaffer is a graduate of Vassar College
and Tulane University School of Law, has a Master's Degree
in Library Science from Emery University,
and she's also done graduate work at American University
in Arts Management, and has a certificate in negotiation
and mediation from the Harvard Law School.
So here to welcome you, Roberta Shaffer.
Thank you.   [ Applause ]
>> Roberta Shaffer: Thank you Mary-Jane.
And I want to welcome all of you and tell you how delighted we are
to celebrate the receipt of this wonderful book.
And I have looked through the book, and it is positively beautiful.
And we're terribly excited about this event today.
And it's also always terrific to have a program
that is sponsored with an embassy.
And it enables us to build those ties,
because we consider embassies acrossed the world critical
to the mission of the library, and as well as an important partner
in assuring our collections, which are over 60% representative
of languages, cultures and nations from around the globe.
In this particular instance, in the case of Tajikistan,
we have materials that date back to the beginning of the Soviet Union.
And we have materials in all formats.
So we have newspapers, newspapers on microfilm, bound periodicals,
monographs, reference materials.
We have dictionaries, grammars, maps, photographs,
and even sound recordings and films.
So our collection -- really our collections really run deep
and are very -- and are made very accessible
to people across the world.
Tajik, as I understand it -- and of course I am not a scholar
in this area, which makes this program so exciting for me;
an opportunity to learn -- is Persian written in Cyrillic script.
And of particular note for us, in terms of our holdings,
is a collection of the "Writer's Union Journal" which dates back
to its beginning in 1954.
But in addition to this, we have over 124 Tajik books
that are published in Arab script.
And of course they're made assessable through our collections.
We, in addition to having materials that are in the Tajik language,
we also have significant related materials in Russian,
English, German and French.
And so we really believe that we are capable of supporting a wide variety
of research interests and certainly depth of scholarly interest.
The manuscripts, which you will hear talk
about in just a few minutes are particularly of interest to us
because they embody a local tradition that comes
from Tajikistan, which is quite unique.
And our conservator will talk about that today.
In closing, let me just express my apologies on two fronts, one,
that Dr. James Billington cannot be here in my stead this morning.
He really wanted to be, but he had a previous luncheon commitment
and he needed the travel time.
So he could not even be here to greet you.
But he is very supportive of this program and others like it,
and he wanted me to be sure and let you know that.
So please note that.
And the second is that I too have a conflict, so I will have
to depart early, and I will not be able
to formerly receive the book from the Ambassador.
But I promise you that I will study it once it is in our collections.
And so without further adieu, I am going to turn the podium
over to Chris Murphy to keep things on track, and again,
thank you so much for being here with us today.
[ Applause ]   >> Chris Murphy: Yes.
Good morning.   I'm Chris Murphy.
I'm the head of the Near East section here
in the African, Middle Eastern Division.
It is in that section that the staff has the responsibility
of developing the collection from and about Tajikistan.
And we work very carefully with our colleagues
in the special format collections to see that we have a collection,
not only of depth, but of great breadth.
We are very honored today to have
with us the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South
and Central Asia, Mr. Geoffrey Pyatt.
Mr. Pyatt is a Senior Foreign Service Officer,
who has a over 22 year career in the State Department.
And which has mainly focused on Latin America and Asia.
Mr. Pyatt became Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in May of 2010.
Prior to that, he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Mission
to the International Energy Agency,
and international organizations in Vienna.
From 2002 to 2007, Mr. Pyatt served at the US Embassy in New Delhi,
first as Minister Counselor for Political Affairs,
and beginning in June of 2006, as Deputy Chief of Mission.
As DCM he served as a Chief Operating Officer for one
of the United States' largest, and one could say, most complex
and active embassies that includes one of the Library
of Congresses six field offices.
Now I'm -- I mean Mr. Pyatt's career is long and distinguished.
He has had numerous positions.
He was Director for Latin America on the National Security Council staff.
He was Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State
and Staff Assistant to the Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs.
And he was Political Officer at another time
in New Delhi before he went back as DCM.
But without further adieu, I would like to ask Mr. Pyatt to come up
and say a few words to us.   [ Applause ]
>> Geoffrey Pyatt: Thanks Chris for that nice introduction.
It's a great pleasure to be here.
It's always fantastic to be at the Library of Congress,
it's such a national treasure.
And I'd like to acknowledge Roberta Shaffer and the whole Library staff.
I actually worked here as an intern 25 or 30 years ago.
So it's wonderful to be back.
It's a special to be here with our colleagues
from the Embassy of Tajikistan.
And I'd like to acknowledge Ambassador [inaudible].
And everything that the Embassy Team has done to put this event together.
I should also acknowledge a number of other very senior diplomats
who are here, including Afghan Ambassador Hakimi
and Ambassador Djumaliev from Kyrgyzstan.
And I should especially note in the case of Ambassador Djumaliev,
that the reason you all are having me here today instead
of Assistant Secretary Blake, is that Ambassador Blake is actually
in Bishkek today for a very significant and important round
of our annual, bilateral consultations
with the government of Kyrgyzstan.
Reflecting the US government's very strong commitment
to building our comprehensive bilateral relationships with all
of the states of Central Asia.
So I bring Bob's regards and his apologizes as well.
I was especially pleased to have the opportunity to do this event
because it involves Tajikistan.
And my responsibilities stretch from Kazakhstan south to the Maldives.
So South and Central Asia.
But Tajikistan I have always found, in this wider, strategic context
of South and Central Asia, Tajikistan is truly the swing state.
It is the most south Asian of the countries of Central Asia.
Or you could look at as the most Central Asian
of the South Asian countries.
It is the hub and the ultimate silk road state in the context
of the vision that my government has advanced of building connectivity
and facilitating the movement of people, goods, and ideas between
and among the states of South and Central Asia.
But what's so nice about the book that's being presented today is
that it reminds us of the very long cultural traditions
that Tajikistan enjoys.
And it reminds us that this silk road idea is not something
that was brand new when we started talking about it a couple years ago.
But rather rests on the foundation
of these very strong cultural traditions.
So it's a particular pleasure for me to be here with you today.
And I would like to acknowledge Mr. Zarifi's book,
"The Tajik Golden Heritage" as really an essential reminder
of Tajikistan's rich heritage and this tradition on which it rests.
So there's no better home for this kind of publication
than our cultural treasure, the Library of Congress.
The United States and Tajikistan have an extremely strong
bilateral relationship.
We're proud to have been one of the very first countries
to have recognized Tajikistan's independence, and we're proud
to continue to support Tajikistan as it plays an increasingly vital role
in the development of the wider South and Central Asia region.
I'm especially pleased that we're joined today by Ambassador Khalilzad
who knows very well the important role that Tajikistan has played
over the years in our relationship and our national investment
in Afghanistan, and Tajikistan is a particularly valued partner
in that regard and is a strong friend of Afghanistan,
something that we hold in common.
The United States has always engaged Tajikistan, based on principals
of mutual respect and responsibility.
And for more than 20 years the United States has shared American
culture and promoted mutual cultural understanding
with the people of Tajikistan.
We've spent many, many American musicians, artists, dancers
and teachers to Tajikistan.
And through the State Departments Ambassadors' Fund
for Cultural Preservation, we've worked with organizations
in Tajikistan on 13 distinct cultural preservation projects
which include the restoration of the Buddha in Nirvana statue
and the Khoja Mashad Madrassa and Mausoleum.
We've undertaken many other educational and cultural initiatives
to promote mutual understanding and cooperation and look forward
to continuing this collaboration.
But the book which is being presented today is one more element
of that effort, and in that regard, Ambassador I congratulate you
on today's event, but also the accomplishment that it reflects.
Thank you very much.   [ Applause ]
[ Silence ]   >> Chris Murphy: Okay.
Now it is both an honor and a pleasure to introduce the Ambassador
of Tajikistan, Mr. Nuriddin Shamsov.
Mr. Shamsov was born in Dushanbe and educated there,
taking a degree in Arabic Philology.
In fact, earlier I was speaking to him
He then worked in the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan,
and also abroad in Yemen and Iraq.
In 1990 he moved from the world of scholarship to the more active world
of political ideas and representation.
When he was assigned as Senior Expert to the Executive Committee
of the Dushanbe Mayor's office.
And in 1992 he was assigned as Senior Specialists
at the first secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
From there he has moved upward in the Ministry.
In 1993 he was as Head of the International Organizations Section,
and the Department of International Organizations in International Law,
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He then became Deputy Head of International Organizations
in the department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
And he was then Deputy Head of the Consular Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2001 Mr. Shamsov was assigned as Head
of the International Organizations Department of the Foreign Ministry.
And he remained there until 2007 when he was appointed first
as Charge and then Ambassador to Austria.
As well as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Tajikistan
to the OSCE and other international organizations having offices
in Vienna.
In 2012 Mr. Shamsov -- in July, so he's only been with us
about 7 months -- Mr. Shamsov was appointed Ambassador of the Republic
of Tajikistan to the United States with the diplomatic rank
of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
And without further adieu, I would like to ask the Ambassador
to come forward and speak to us about the book and present it.
Thank you.   [ Applause ]
>> His Excellency Nuriddin Shamsov: Thank you.
In the beginning of my speech, taking note that our dear colleague,
Association Librarian of the Congress,
Miss Roberta Shaffer should leave, I would like to give two copies
of this book [pause] to you, as a gift [off microphone].
>> Roberta Shaffer: Oh thank you [off microphone].
>> His Excellency Nuriddin Shamsov: On behalf of [inaudible]
of this book and as the copies would be preserved
in the Library of Congress.   >> Roberta Shaffer: Thank you.
Thank you so much.
>> His Excellency Nuriddin Shamsov: Thank you.
Thank you.   Thank you.
>> Roberta Shaffer: I'll just -- [applause] thank you Ambassador.
As is our promise when we receive materials at the Library
of Congress, we are committed keeping them in perpetuity.
And so as long as this institution shall exist,
these books shall be here for researchers to consult.
And we thank you so much for your generosity, giving us the books --
>> His Excellency Nuriddin Shamsov: Thank you.
>> Roberta Shaffer: --
and in helping us with this program this morning.
Thank you so much; thank you all [applause].
Thank you so much [applause].
>> His Excellency Nuriddin Shamsov: Excellencies.
Ladies and Gentlemen; dear friends.
It is a great honor to welcome all of you to this joint event organized
by the Library of Congress and the Embassy
of Tajikistan in the United States.
To introduce the new edition of the magnificent book,
under the title "The Tajik Golden Heritage" By His Excellency,
Mr. Hamrokhon Zarifi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan.
This excessively illustrated book examines the history
of Tajik decorative and the applied arts, which have been established
and developed down through the centuries.
This unique source shows many different cultural treasures
of the Tajik history of arts and crafts.
The order tells us a story of the [inaudible] treasure
which travelled a long way from the territory of Tajikistan to India
and then further to Great Britain.
This art covering both arts and crafts as an integral part
of the culture of Tajik people, has a history dating back centuries,
marked by striking at humans.
Culture in high mastership at all times an era where recognize
as a key means in representing any single country
or nation to the world.
It is pleasant that to date Tajik fellow citizens could form their
mastership in the best world arenas.
In his address to the parliament the President of Tajikistan,
Mr. Emomalii Rahmon noted that culture, as a great and invaluable
and impactful phenomenon of social life consistently plays a remarkable
role in the history and spiritual development
of a modern society of Tajikistan.
Therefore, different aspects of the national culture have been renewed
and developed over the independence, owing to continued care
of the government of Tajikistan.
Hundreds of cultural entities, theaters, concert halls, museums,
libraries, unique historical monuments are renovated,
and dozens of modern cultural facilities are constructed.
Opening the National Library and the National Museum in the capital
of Tajikistan as great centers of science
and culture are among the important events
and achievements of the independence era.
With the view of raising of self consciousness in the society,
the government of Tajikistan supported the publication
of 600 works of classics and contemporary writers.
Supply of public libraries
with newly published literatures has improved to a certain extent,
and the number of state book shops reached 100.
As order indicates, traditionally folk arts and crafts are used
as decoration in the design of various everyday household goods,
and for embellishing buildings.
Arts and crafts have been developed down the centuries and a test
to national identity, notions of beauty
and other national peculiarities of people.
Therefore where it is good in items such as clothes and ornaments,
jewelry, fabrics, implements, vessels, architectural accessories
and the like that require creativity and special skills
in their production can be considered as examples
of decorative arts and crafts.
I firmly do believe that you will enjoy the interesting book
and will become more familiar with the culture
and tradition of Tajikistan.
In conclusion, my special thanks go and appreciation go
to Ms. Roberta Shaffer, who has left this hall now,
and Ms. Mary-Jane Deeb.
And our distinguished colleagues from the Library of Congress
for their willingness and contribution to this event.
Thank you.   [ Applause ]
>> Chris Murphy: And now we come
to the pendoloment [phonetic] part of our event today.
We're going to hear from Yasmeen Khan.
Yasmeen is a Senior Rare Book Conservator
in the Conservation Division of the library's directorate.
The child of a diplomat, she saw a great deal
of the world before attending Barnard College
at Columbia University.
And it was in those years in New York that she really began to learn
about conservation and decided to enter that field as a career.
Following her undergraduate work, Yasmeen worked
in Pakistan and also in Germany.
She then returned to the United States and studied book conservation
at the University of Texas in Austin.
And in 1996 came to the Library of Congress.
Here at the Library of Congress, Yasmeen has had a number
of responsibilities, including several years
as the Book Conservation Liaison for the African,
Middle Eastern Division, which meant that she has had a tremendous effect
on the welfare of the books for which the Near East section
and the Hebraic section of the African,
Middle Eastern Division are responsible for holding,
as Roberta pointed out in perpetuity.
To make them available to the coming generations.
And most recently Yasmeen has been the Conservation Liaison
for digital projects here at the library.
And I think it goes without saying
that the library is entering rapidly into the digital world.
Yasmeen's work has taken her to such places as London, New Delhi,
and to Tajikistan where she was a visitor
at the national library and other institutions.
So without further adieu, [inaudible] Yasmeen.
[ Applause ]
>> Yasmeen Khan: This is more of a reportage of my trip in 2006,
and I'm happy to say that a lot of what I'm going to talk about,
the state of preservation at the institutes that I visited in 2006,
they've really developed, and as the Ambassador said earlier,
a new national library has been built, and it is one of the largest
in Central Asia, if not the largest.
So Mary-Jane, in the fall of 2006, Professor Christiane Gruber,
at present of the University of Michigan and I were invited
by Dr. Ilolov, the President of the Academy of Sciences in Tajikistan
to visit and comment on the holdings of the academy.
And the trip was funded by the Soros Foundation.
Dr. Ilolov prefers that we -- and I quote --
"Assist in the revival of preservation
and conservation services, which had suffered during the upheavals
of the 90s.
In particular, we were to concentrate
on paper-based collections that were divided among the
various institutes.
Dr. Lola [Inaudible] -- who's shown here, Art Historian
and Videographer was our host and guide through the process.
An academician with ties to Europe and US research institutions,
Lola was, and continues to be especially passionate
about providing the same level of care for collections in Tajikistan
as she saw in her scene at the Bibliotheque Nationale in France,
the Library of Congress and other research institutions in the US.
We were asked to review all the paper-based collections,
as well as other holdings pertaining to the Academy of Sciences
at the following institutions,
and provide recommendations for future planning.
I'm going to limit myself to the institutions in black on this slide.
And again, I must apologize for some of my statements as I'm happy
to state that the state of preservation
of all these collections and institutions has improved
by magnitudes since 2006.
At the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts and Written Heritage,
we found evidence that the presence of conservators.
However, while the conservation equipment remained, as shown here,
the conservators were no longer to be found.
Since then, preservation efforts --
at that time, preservation efforts were devoted
to securing their collections of rare manuscripts
and minimize handling by creating digital surrogates where possible.
And the collection was kept under very, very strict security
in the basement at the institute.
Then on our visit to the [Inaudible] National Library --
which has now been replaced by this magnificent building
that the Ambassador talked about.
We were shown treasures from the manuscript collection,
all of which were housed in Director Yusupov's [phonetic] office
[inaudible] reasons of security.
They had a binding studio for general books,
but no conservators were on staff.
Here, Christy Gruber and I are looking at two manuscripts.
And the one on your left is especially interesting
as it's a manual of codes that were used for secret codes
that were used in the 18th Century.
A few days later we visited the Tajik Academy of Literature
where we were confronted with more contemporary material.
Anthropological records, recording of what music entails
and pronunciation and dialect catalogs shown here.
There is a truism amongst conservators that 19th
and 20th Century material is much more delicate
and deteriorates faster than older manuscripts or books.
Materials used in the 20th Century are --
and the 21st continue to be shoddier and they're not made to last
as we are consumer society.
Clearly, the specialists here felt the need to proceed faster
with their preservation efforts on modern media such as the tapes.
A full bright fellow from the Smithsonian had trained the staff
some time in the early 2000s to preserve old recordings
by creating surrogate copies.
The academy was spending all its resources
on both copying their audio and video; copying both their audio
and video holdings, which were considered the most vulnerable part
of their collection.
They did not have the expertise at that point to proceed
with the preservation of their paper-based collections [pause].
In terms of preservation, what's --
what are the needs of any institution [pause],
are related to the cultural object as the central holding --
the central item -- oh damn I got my things wrong.
And institution must know what collections it has
and provide adequate security for them.
That's the first roll of preservation.
In Tajikistan, all the institutions we visited were aware of this
and have gone to great lengths
to secure their collection using all the resources available to them.
The same was true of the environmental conditions
of the spaces in which the collections were stored.
Even if air conditioning was not available, the cleanliness
and oversight for pest and molds was very, very strict [pause].
Use and handling was restricted, and by creating surrogate copies,
they were minimizing the use of the actual manuscripts.
And this was done through making the copy recordings
and digitization where possible.
However, while all the librarians and custodians were aware
for the need of conservation treatment, they were unable to plan
for it, as earlier avenues for training
of conservators were no longer available.
On the positive side, the academicians were not willing
to put their precious manuscripts and collections in the hands
of untrained novices to be used as training material.
The final report that Christy and I prepared,
in addition to outlining the preservation requirements
for individual collections within the institutes
of the academy of sciences.
Identified international funding sources
to undertake these activities.
It also articulated a plan for training conservators.
We suggested a phased approach where individuals were selected to be sent
to institutions with conservation laboratories in Asia
and the Middle East for preliminary training.
If both the trainer and trainee were satisfied with their performance,
then these individuals would be prepared
for further training in Europe or the US.
In the meantime, work opportunities would be created
within Tajikistan for their return.
The standard time it takes for a conservator to be trained
in the US -- in US academic institutions --
is 5 years after an undergraduate degree.
For conservators working on sophisticated treatments
of high value material, that time can take up to 10 years.
This is a very time-intensive and resource intensive endeavor
to train somebody to become a conservator.
It also isn't a very -- a profession in which you earn a lot of money.
So a very special type of person has to be identified
for this kind of project.
From what I hear, the latest reports, while everything --
all the other aspects
of preservation planning have gone forward, the identification
of conservators and the training of conservators is still moving very,
very slowly in Tajikistan.
And I hope that someone, one of the illustrious guests here,
will help move this forward.
The second outcome of my trip was unexpected.
I was surprised to find manuscripts and bindings
in the academy's various collections that were similar in form
and content to manuscripts in the Library of Congress' collections.
And I'm going to show some of these images of Tajik collections
and Library collections side-by-side to illustrate this point.
One of the reasons for this similarity is
that Alexander Semenov, the great Persian scholar,
and Director of the Institute of History until his death in 1958,
did his most serious collecting for the Academy of Sciences
between the 1917 and the late 1930s.
This is also when many of the Library
of Congress' acquisitions were made.
Both Semenov and the sellers that LC used were scouring the book markets
of Bombay, London, and cities of Central Asia
to build their collections.
Many personal libraries were being dispersed during the First World War
period, and there was a large influx of manuscripts in the marketplace.
Semenov kept notes of his acquisitions,
describing the manuscripts, translating the [inaudible],
placing each manuscript in its historical
and art historical context.
In addition, he also noted where, when,
and how much he bought each volume for.
I found a few bindings, such as this,
at the Firdausi Library in Tajikistan.
This one belongs to us and it has an unusual bumpy,
green, leather-like covering.
Semenov's note from the 1920s on a similar binding
in his collection states, "Binding of green, donkey leather,
covered by glossy, cherry colored paper, richly stamped.
The work of the best [inaudible] local binder, Mohammad Ali.
The last who can still make a binding to the ancient pattern.
And this is the first piece of information we found about this kind
of binding, which is very unusual.
In conclusion, I believe that the Library of Congress
and the Tajik Academy of Sciences have strengths
that are complementary.
Each institution has information and knowledge that can
and should be shared for the better understanding of the collections
that we both hold and trust for our colleagues around the world.
My last slide is of the iconic [inaudible] Square Monument
where I was lucky enough to be present at a wedding.
And it's a perfect tourist picture.
I'd like to thank all of you and the people acknowledged in the slide.
Thank you very much.   [ Applause ]
>> Chris Murphy: Okay.
This concludes the spoken part of our program.
Other than our own conversations, I'd like to thank Yasmeen
for an interesting and informative presentation.
I would like to thank the Ambassador and his staff, Mr. Pyatt
and his staff, and of course my colleagues here in the African,
Middle Eastern Division for all of their efforts.
And now it's time for refreshments.   So please help yourselves [silence].
>> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.   [ Silence ]