Ravshan Mirtojiev (Jalalitdin)

People's Artist of Uzbekistan (2003), «Honored Worker of Culture of Uzbekistan» (1998), recipient of the International Babur Prize (1998), medalist of the Fuji Museum in Tokyo, medalist of the Russian Academy of Arts, and honorary professor at Shanghai University (2010) and Harbin University (2011) in China.

Jaloliddin Mirtojiyev was born in Tashkent in 1954.

J. Mirtojiyev worked as a sculptor at the Andijan Art Production Workshop from 1979 to 1996, as a senior lecturer at the National Institute of Fine Arts and Design named after K. Behzod from 1997 to 2015, as chairman of the sculpture department of the Creative Association of Artists from 1996 to 2005, as an academic secretary for working with regional branches of the Creative Association of Artists, and as Deputy Chairman of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan since 2005. Throughout his career, J. Mirtojiyev became a respected and recognized figure among the Academy of Arts, its organizations, institutions, and creators in our republic and abroad as an organizer of creative exchanges, meetings, and trips with foreign artists, and as an initiator in the development of Uzbek national sculptural traditions.

Sculptor Jaloliddin Mirtojiyev's statues of Babur Mirzo (Andijan, 1993), Abdurauf Fitrat (Bukhara, 1996), Cholpon (Andijan, 1997), and Elbek (Tashkent region, 1998) were installed in various cities of our republic and caught the eye of the nation and the public. These facts alone testify to the sculptor's creative activity and productivity. Among them, the statue of Babur stands out as the sculptor's signature work and calling card, which served as a bridge for the rise of his later work. A gallery of great figures created by J. Mirtojiyev is visible. Statues of Mirzo Ulugbek (Moscow, 2001), Alisher Navoi (Moscow, 2002), Mirzo Ulugbek (Riga, 2004), Alisher Navoi (Tokyo, Japan, 2004), Beruni (Tashkent, 2005), Ibn Sina (Riga, Latvia, 2006), «Ahmad Fergani» (Cairo, Egypt, 2007), «Alisher Navoi» (Baku, Azerbaijan, 2008), Rudaki (Samarkand, 2009), and Mirzo Ulugbek (Samarkand, 2010) are among them.

Jaloliddin Mirtojiyev has a significant contribution to the creation of a series of statues of scholars, poets, and writers being erected in the National Park of Uzbekistan. In particular, his statues of major figures of our literature such as Gafur Gulam (2003), Zulfiya (2008), Oybek (2010), and Said Ahmad and Saida Zunnunova (Tashkent, 2013) will serve as a mirror of memory not only for our contemporaries but also for future generations. The «Pillar of the Nation» monument (Karshi, 2006) and the «Oath to the Motherland» monuments (Tashkent, 2010) call for loyalty to one's country and people. The «Mourning Mother» monuments of various sizes installed in Jizzakh (1999), Andijan (2000), and Fergana (2000) are a silent dirge of the Motherland for her children who died prematurely. J. Mirtojiyev worked effectively in the art of monumental sculpture and will remain in our eternal memory as an artist who made a great contribution to the fine arts of Uzbekistan.

Jaloliddin Mirtojiyev passed away prematurely at the age of 61.