Cover Fathullojon Caravanserai, an historic site used as part of the Bukhara Biennial (Photo: courtesy of Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation)
Fathullojon Caravanserai, an historic site used as part of the Bukhara Biennial (Photo: courtesy of Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation)
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As central Asia opens up to the world, Tatler speaks with the facilitators of Uzbekistan’s first biennial about how art, architecture, craft and food can connect people through ideas of healing and restoration
From dramatic haircuts to retail therapy, remedies for a broken heart are as varied as they come, but perhaps none are as timeless or comforting as food. The idea of a meal as a source of sustenance and healing is a universal one, central to multiple traditions.
Of the many myths and legends surrounding the origin of Uzbekistan’s national dish, plov—a hearty rice dish with vegetables, meat and spices simmered in a broth—one is based on the premise that the dish is a cure for heartbreak. A prince fell in love with the daughter of a craftsman but was unable to marry her due to their differences in social status; to cheer him up, he was fed plov, the sustaining, comforting qualities of which eased his misery. It is this tale that inspired the theme of the Bukhara Biennial, titled Recipes for Broken Hearts.
The biennale’s curator, Diana Campbell, who is also the artistic director of the Dhaka Art Summit, was thinking of rice and the culture of eating it when tasked with putting together the programming. “I’m always thinking of different ways to map the world,” says Campbell. “If you think about rice cultures, from Brazil to Portugal to West Africa, it’s a different way to map the world. You learn a lot about a place from its staple foods.”
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Above Bukhara Biennial curator Diana Campbell with architect Wael Al Awar
Bukhara Biennial curator Diana Campbell with architect Wael Al Awar
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From Spain’s paella to the pilafs or pulaos of South Asia, a version of plov exists across cultures. “It’s a kind of comfort food you don’t typically cook just for one person. It’s about sharing community and celebration,” says Campbell. “Specifically with plov, you see settled and nomadic cultures mixed because you cannot be nomadic and grow rice, but the spices in the dish reflect histories of trade,” she says, emphasising the dish’s reflection of layered and complex Uzbek and Central Asian histories and identities.
Building on Bukhara’s rich history as an important intellectual and economic centre for production on the Silk Roads and on Uzbekistan’s role as a hub for cultural exchange between Asia, Africa and Latin America in the 20th century, the biennale will showcase a multitude of disciplines with a strong focus on craft. Global curiosity surrounding the region and its recent popularity as a tourist destination has given the event traction: the biennial is part of a state-led cultural initiative, aligned with the country’s economic expansion and burgeoning tourism sector, to bolster its cultural standing and development in efforts to attract private foreign investment.
At the helm is Gayane Umerova, commissioner of the Bukhara Biennial and chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation. Umerova comes from a curatorial background and served as commissioner of the Uzbekistan Pavilion since the 2019 Venice Biennial. It was there that the idea to start a homegrown biennale came to her.
“It just came very naturally to my mind that it has to be in Bukhara, because it’s a very historical city. It’s less noisy and less busy than Samarkand or Tashkent,” says Umerova, noting that Samarkand was the obvious first choice due to its scenery, grand, monumental structures, and general buzz. “Bukhara is very much intimate, it’s very spiritual; and for many Uzbeks living in Uzbekistan, it’s a place where you can recharge, because it’s so peaceful.”
Above Magoki Attori, an historic site used as part of the Bukhara Biennial (Photo: courtesy of Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation)
Magoki Attori, an historic site used as part of the Bukhara Biennial (Photo: courtesy of Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation)
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The theme is apt for Bukhara, a city known for gastronomy, craft and spirituality, different facets of which the biennial will highlight through the idea of healing and restoration. This idea extends to the city’s architecture, through an initiative led by Lebanese, Dubai-based architect Wael Al Awar and his studio Wai Wai design, whom Umerova enlisted as the Biennial’s creative director of architecture to restore heritage sites for the event, as well as for part of a longer-term project. “It’s more about revitalisation or reintegration [than restoration],” says Al Awar of his work in the city, which today is part of the Unesco Creative Cities Network for Craft and Folk Art. “It’s important to make that distinction because there’s a deep, long history and we’re not here to interject or disrupt it but to reconnect Bukhara to the global scene, as it was an international trade hub in the 15th century.
Showcasing collectivity and connectivity through Uzbekistan’s rich history is at the forefront of Al Awar’s and Campbell’s agenda. The architect mentions the Magoki Attori mosque, which was originally a Zoroastrian temple upon which a mosque was built. When the Jewish population of Bukhara didn’t have a place to worship, they transformed that building into a synagogue; then, during the rule of the Soviet Union, it became a carpet museum. “The story of one building tells you the layers of the city, and it’s constantly evolving and moving. It also tells you about the spirituality of the space—it’s inclusive and adapting, not a place of segregation.”
Above Gayane Umerova, commissioner of the Bukhara Biennial and chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation
Above Artist Subodh Gupta
Gayane Umerova, commissioner of the Bukhara Biennial and chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation
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Because of the multidisciplinary creative practices featured in the biennial, from architecture to culinary arts—chefs will be cooking onsite for various events—the exhibition format is unusual, focusing on shared, communal experiences. “I was researching a lot about what goes into organising music and theatre festivals,” Campbell says of her process. “So it’s based on this idea of taking something that feels more like a festival and feels relatable.” It’s in highlighting this connectivity and collectivity that Campbell is able to engage both international and local artists in a way that facilitates the exchange of knowledge, by finding common ground and shared or overlapping histories.
Another unique feature of the exhibition is that all participating artists will work collaboratively with Uzbek creatives to create entirely newly commissioned works. Well-established international names such as Antony Gormley and Subodh Gupta are among the participants, along with rising artists like Indian artist Himali Singh Soin and Korean Uzbek artist Daria Kim, whose project will engage with the many histories of the Korean diaspora in Uzbekistan, preserved through Nuron Gallery’s collection of approximately 1,400 works by Korean Uzbek artists.
Soin, who along with being a visual artist is also a writer, poet and explorer, is working with local artisans on a piece that deals with ikat, a textile-patterning technique created by dyeing fabrics, which was developed and popularised in Indonesia and spread via trade routes throughout the continent. Aligned with her practice, the piece looks at and equates the disappearance of water with the disappearance of craft. “It’s also related to ecological heartbreak and craft heartbreak.”
Above A look into the Fathullojon Caravanserai in Bukhara, Uzbekistan (Photo: courtesy of Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation)
A look into the Fathullojon Caravanserai in Bukhara, Uzbekistan (Photo: courtesy of Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation)
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Visitors to the biennial will play an important role in elevating the status of this lost knowledge and undervalued craft, whether they are locals or tourists. “The other thing we want to achieve with the biennial is that we don’t want to reduce artisans’ skills to selling cheap stuff to tourists. That’s also part of the restorative aspect of this project: respecting craftspeople.”
Umerova says the biennial “will attract a different type of tourist, because for now, the tourists we have more or less just want to buy a couple of souvenirs, see a couple of historic sites and then leave.”
Preservation of craft and knowledge, especially when it spans 2,000 years of cultural innovation, is paramount, and the biennial is another means to accomplish this. “When you’re here, you really feel the innovation they had in medicine, maths, poetry, food,” says Al Awar. Emphasising the diversity of the region and his belief that it’s “highly undermined”, the architect adds: “It’s really exciting to learn from these different cultures that we usually stereotype and we don’t understand.”
Through highlighting and reviving these lesser-known histories, the Bukhara Biennial strives to remedy heartbreaks of various kinds, from spiritual to intellectual, by filling in knowledge gaps and forming connections through shared encounters of food, craft and art.”
Aaina was the Arts and Culture Editor of Tatler Asia. A passion for history and all things visual led her in the pursuit of art history. With extensive experience in the art world working for a range of art institutions, she combined her passion and expertise in the form of art and culture journalism. Prior to Tatler, Aaina worked as a culture reporter for South China Morning Post and editor at the online art platform Cobo Social. Additionally, she has contributed to a variety of prestigious art publications including Art Review, The Art Newspaper, Ocula, Art Agenda, Artsy, Design Anthology, and Artomity. Follow her on Instagram.
