</Rethinking Central Asian Culture: Craft Traditions & Contemporary Art>
5 September — 5 November 2025
Photos: Madina Karimova
Photos: Madina Karimova
OPEN CALL
ODRA announces its second open call for /essays section. We invite contributions for a special publishing series exploring the evolving relationship between craft traditions and contemporary cultural practices in Central Asia. The aim is to amplify critical perspectives on how inherited knowledge, material practices, and collective memory are reinterpreted by artists, researchers, and cultural thinkers across the region.
Uzbekistan, 2024 / Photos by Madina Karimova
We welcome essays, critical reflections, and research-based writing that engage with themes such as:
— Contemporary reworkings of traditional craft practices
— Gender, labor, and transmission of knowledge in art and culture
— Cultural sustainability and ecological thinking
— Artistic experiments in textile, ceramics, performance, and everyday materials
— Shifting roles of artisans, collectives, and local infrastructures
— Contemporary reworkings of traditional craft practices
— Gender, labor, and transmission of knowledge in art and culture
— Cultural sustainability and ecological thinking
— Artistic experiments in textile, ceramics, performance, and everyday materials
— Shifting roles of artisans, collectives, and local infrastructures
Open call is developed in collaboration with guest curator Aziza Sharopova — an art historian and curator based in Tashkent. She is a PhD candidate researching East–West dynamics in Uzbek painting of the 1970s–1980s. where? Her work explores intersections of tradition, modernity, and cultural identity in Uzbekistan. Aziza also curates exhibitions of emerging artists and writes about contemporary art and visual culture in the region.
"There have been significant shifts in Uzbekistan in recent years, not just in the arts but in a broader cultural context. A new generation of artists has emerged who are keenly aware of the need for change. They are striving not just to create something new, but to actively change the country’s artistic arena – through language, media, themes, and the issues they raise.
At the same time, interest in the region from foreign curators, researchers and donor institutions is growing. In this regard, there is an urgent need to rethink established narratives and views on art from the point of view of art criticism.
Aziza Sharapova
With this open call, I see my role as amplifying critical, context-sensitive voices from the region – those that are often left out of the global art discourse. This series of publications is not just a way to introduce regional art, but an opportunity to expand the framework within which we perceive it – on its own terms and at its own pace".
Who can apply
We invite writers, researchers, curators, critics, and journalists from or working with Central Asia to submit pitches or completed texts. Submissions may take the form of essays, field notes, or analytical overviews. We welcome both emerging and established voices.
Who can apply
We invite writers, researchers, curators, critics, and journalists from or working with Central Asia to submit pitches or completed texts. Submissions may take the form of essays, field notes, or analytical overviews. We welcome both emerging and established voices.
How to apply
Send your material to the email address odraplatform@gmail.com with the subject line: "Open Call: Central Asia", no later than November 5. Please attach a link to your file or a separate document, as well as a short biography including your name, and professional background. Submissions are accepted in English only.
Selected texts will be published in English on the ODRA platform.
Send your material to the email address odraplatform@gmail.com with the subject line: "Open Call: Central Asia", no later than November 5. Please attach a link to your file or a separate document, as well as a short biography including your name, and professional background. Submissions are accepted in English only.
Selected texts will be published in English on the ODRA platform.