The Museum of Applied Arts occupies an exquisite house full of bright ghanch (carved and painted plaster) and carved wood. It was built in the 1930s, at the height of the Soviet period, but nonetheless serves as a sneak preview of the older architectural highlights lurking in Bukhara and Samarkand. The ceramic and textile exhibits here, with English descriptions, are a fine way to bone up on the regional decorative styles of Uzbekistan. There’s a small cafe and pricey gift shop here too.