Central Asian Art Shouldn't Be Reduced to Exotic, Consumable Symbols
author: Aziza Sharopova
cover: Aureliya Akmullayeva
author: Aziza Sharopova
cover: Aureliya Akmullayeva
Aziza Sharopova is an art historian and PhD researcher based in Tashkent; the co-founder of the art recidency ORALIK. While her academic foundation lies in Uzbek painting of the 1970s–1980s, her active practice is dedicated to working with young contemporary artists across Uzbekistan and the wider region.
I joined ODRA’s open call as a guest expert because I see it as an important platform for researchers, curators, artists, and art writers from Central Asia to share their perspectives with a broader international audience.
The open call resulted in a series of publications presenting diverse perspectives on contemporary art in Central Asia, including an essay by art historian and researcher Alexey Ulko, a text by artist Zulfiya Spowart, one of the artists who participated in the Uzbekistan National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and a review of the Green Triangle group from Kazakhstan written by Darya Kalembet.
The open call resulted in a series of publications presenting diverse perspectives on contemporary art in Central Asia, including an essay by art historian and researcher Alexey Ulko, a text by artist Zulfiya Spowart, one of the artists who participated in the Uzbekistan National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and a review of the Green Triangle group from Kazakhstan written by Darya Kalembet.
As an art historian working on the cultural and artistic processes of the region, I believe it is essential to support initiatives that encourage critical dialogue and increase the visibility of local artistic discourses beyond national contexts. While interest in contemporary art from Central Asia continues to grow internationally, many important discussions, research projects, and artistic practices remain insufficiently represented in English-language publications. Platforms such as ODRA help create opportunities for these voices to be heard and contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the region’s cultural landscape.
From Static Heritage to Living Vocabulary
In my doctoral research, I study how artistic language forms through the dialogue and reinterpretation of diverse cultural traditions. Today, I witness a parallel, tectonic shift in contemporary art: tradition is no longer a static set of decorative motifs or national "quotes" designed for consumption.
Instead, textiles, ceramics, the mahalla, and family archives have become a sharp, living vocabulary. Through installations, video art, performance, and sound design, young artists are translating historical memory into the language of contemporary, research-based practice. They are tackling complex themes: women’s lived experiences, migration, decoloniality, and historical trauma. Our contemporaneity does not break from the past; it is born through a bold, honest dialogue with it.
In my doctoral research, I study how artistic language forms through the dialogue and reinterpretation of diverse cultural traditions. Today, I witness a parallel, tectonic shift in contemporary art: tradition is no longer a static set of decorative motifs or national "quotes" designed for consumption.
Instead, textiles, ceramics, the mahalla, and family archives have become a sharp, living vocabulary. Through installations, video art, performance, and sound design, young artists are translating historical memory into the language of contemporary, research-based practice. They are tackling complex themes: women’s lived experiences, migration, decoloniality, and historical trauma. Our contemporaneity does not break from the past; it is born through a bold, honest dialogue with it.
Sarvinoz Melikuziyeva, Snake Lake and, Myth and Gravity, Diptych — Canvas, oil
Nazira Saduaqas, I am from there / Osy zherdenmin. Textile: cotton, Japanese silk, nylon, voile, viscose; printmaking, sewing, embroidery
Navigating the Regional Map
This transformation is increasingly regional. Uzbekistan cannot be understood in isolation, but rather within a broader Central Asian context where post-Soviet memory, environmental shifts, and heritage serve as shared points of reflection. However, Central Asia is not a homogeneous “common pot”. Each country possesses its own specific history, cultural memory, and visual language. This exact friction and complexity make horizontal regional dialogue so urgent.
While international biennials and residencies have expanded our horizons, growing global attention brings a distinct responsibility. We must ensure that art from the region is not reduced to exotic, easily consumable cultural symbols. We need to shape our own methodologies, languages, and professional networks.
This transformation is increasingly regional. Uzbekistan cannot be understood in isolation, but rather within a broader Central Asian context where post-Soviet memory, environmental shifts, and heritage serve as shared points of reflection. However, Central Asia is not a homogeneous “common pot”. Each country possesses its own specific history, cultural memory, and visual language. This exact friction and complexity make horizontal regional dialogue so urgent.
While international biennials and residencies have expanded our horizons, growing global attention brings a distinct responsibility. We must ensure that art from the region is not reduced to exotic, easily consumable cultural symbols. We need to shape our own methodologies, languages, and professional networks.
Building a Sustainable Ecosystem
To achieve this, exhibition spaces in the capital are not enough; Uzbekistan needs a sustainable professional ecosystem. Artists require production budgets, residencies, technical support, and critical feedback. Curators and researchers need educational programs, archives, and access to contemporary texts. Most of all, the youth need an environment where they can learn to formulate concepts, write statements, and document projects to present their work internationally without losing local depth.
For me, a direct response to this need was ORALIK - a regional project bringing together young artists from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Through online workshops, an offline residency, and a final exhibition, ORALIK proved how crucial the process of curation, conversation, and mentorship is. It created a rare space where regional differences were not erased, but explicitly activated in dialogue.
ORALIK demonstrated Central Asia's immense capacity for horizontal cooperation. Our community needs connections not just with major Western art centers, but first and foremost with one another.
To achieve this, exhibition spaces in the capital are not enough; Uzbekistan needs a sustainable professional ecosystem. Artists require production budgets, residencies, technical support, and critical feedback. Curators and researchers need educational programs, archives, and access to contemporary texts. Most of all, the youth need an environment where they can learn to formulate concepts, write statements, and document projects to present their work internationally without losing local depth.
For me, a direct response to this need was ORALIK - a regional project bringing together young artists from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Through online workshops, an offline residency, and a final exhibition, ORALIK proved how crucial the process of curation, conversation, and mentorship is. It created a rare space where regional differences were not erased, but explicitly activated in dialogue.
ORALIK demonstrated Central Asia's immense capacity for horizontal cooperation. Our community needs connections not just with major Western art centers, but first and foremost with one another.
Artists Nazira Saduaqas, Begimai Isaeva, and Amir Kholmatov creating plein-air sketches by Snake Lake (Kuli Moron), Tajikistan
By building these internal dialogues, we are drawing our own cultural map-positioning Central Asia not as a periphery, but as an independent space of ideas, memory, and contemporary artistic language.
Ezoza Zokirjonova. Moon Flow. Video Art
As an art historian and curator, my mission is to connect academic research and heritage with living contemporary practice. The future of art in our region relies entirely on this intersection: between tradition and contemporaneity, the archive and personal experience, research and artistic expression.
Cover image: Aureliya Akmullayeva (Kazakhstan, Almaty). Transcendence, video art.
Cover image: Aureliya Akmullayeva (Kazakhstan, Almaty). Transcendence, video art.
Read more