MODERN METHODS OF PRESERVING AND DISPLAYING ETHNOCULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE LOCAL HISTORY MUSEUMS OF THE SAMARKAND REGION

Abstract

This study analyzes modern methods of preserving and displaying ethnocultural heritage in the local history museums of the Samarkand region on the basis of open official sources, regulatory documents and statistical data. The research focuses on the Regional Local History Museum, which is part of the Samarkand State Museum-Reserve, as well as the history museums of Kattakurgan city and the Ishtikhon and Pakhtachi districts. Drawing on specific facts - about 30,000 ethnographic items held by the museum-reserve, 916.9 thousand visits to the region’s museums in 2024, and the expansion of museum services and digitalization under Presidential Resolution No. PQ-261 of 27 May 2022 - the study examines six directions: contextual exhibition design, community-based display, electronic cataloguing, virtual and augmented reality technologies, diversification of museum services, and the idea of an open-air ethnographic space. The article identifies problems, including the limited scholarly circulation of the ethnographic collection and the absence of district-level data in statistical reporting, and offers proposals to address them.