Uzbekistan has long known how to attract foreign visitors with its past – Samarkand, Bukhara, the Silk Road, and Islamic architecture. Now the country is trying to interest the world in what it is creating today. In just a few years, Uzbekistan has launched the Bukhara Biennial and established a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale. On September 6, the country’s first permanent center for contemporary art opened in Tashkent.
The Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent (CCA Tashkent) occupies a 1912 industrial building that once served as a diesel station and tram depot. French architecture firm Studio KO preserved its industrial character while incorporating local materials and craft techniques.
Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, chairperson of Qatar Museums, attended the opening. Three days earlier, Qatar Museums and the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation launched a five-year collaboration covering exhibitions and artist residencies, professional development for museum specialists, and work with Islamic heritage.
For the young Tashkent center, this offers a route into established international museum networks. Over the past two decades, Qatar has built one of the Middle East’s most prominent museum networks. The connection with Doha could give Tashkent access to artists, curators, and museum networks developed over years.
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The Foundation Behind the Push
One organization stands behind several of Uzbekistan’s major contemporary art projects: the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF). It organizes the Bukhara Biennial, oversees the new center in Tashkent, and presents the country’s national pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
The foundation was established in 2017 and now operates within the Presidential Administration. It is headed by Gayane Umerova, who also leads the administration’s Department of Creative Economy and Tourism. The foundation’s projects have also received support from Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the Presidential Administration.
That context helps explain where the funding and scale come from. Contemporary art in Uzbekistan is developing with direct state support, while exhibitions and biennials have become part of a broader effort to reshape the country’s cultural image abroad.
Bukhara provided the first major test.
In 2025, the ancient city hosted its first contemporary art biennial, Recipes for Broken Hearts. Works were installed among madrasas, mosques, and other buildings in Bukhara’s historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the organizers, the biennial drew more than 1.8 million visitors over its run.
It was an unusual experiment for the region: contemporary art was not separated from the architecture that has drawn tourists to Bukhara for decades, but placed directly inside it.
Tashkent is trying something different. Here, artists now have a permanent space where they can not only exhibit but also work.
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From Uzbek Ceramics to Kimsooja
The center’s inaugural exhibition is called Hikmah – “Wisdom.” Curated by the center’s chief curator, Sara Raza, it explores craft, memory, material, and knowledge passed between generations.
Among the participating artists is Shokhrukh Rakhimov, who grew up in a family of Uzbek ceramicists. His work continues that tradition while bringing it into the space of contemporary art.
Alongside him are artists from very different cultural backgrounds. Lebanese artist Ali Cherri works with archaeology, history, and political memory. Korean artist Kimsooja began with textiles and today works across installation, light, sound, and performance. The exhibition also includes Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Tarik Kiswanson, Nari Ward, and Saudi artist Muhannad Shono.
Shono did not arrive in Tashkent with a finished work. His Tower for a Single Breath was developed through the center’s residency program.
There is a historical layer as well. Works by Vladimir Pan, Daribay Saipov, and Bakhtiyar Saipov were brought from the Savitsky Museum in Nukus. The inaugural exhibition thus brings Soviet-era Central Asian art, Uzbek craft traditions, and today’s international contemporary art scene under one roof.
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A Place to Visit Even Without an Opening Night
The new center is not designed only for major exhibitions. Admission is free, although advance registration is required. It has a library devoted to art and visual culture and a 90-seat auditorium for films, lectures, and performances.
Even more important are its studios and residencies. Artists are provided with a workspace, equipment, materials, and technical support. International artists can develop new projects in Tashkent, while local artists can work alongside them and gain access to networks that were previously much easier to reach abroad.
Central Asia has long had relatively few permanent institutions devoted specifically to modern and contemporary art with extensive international programs. Artists from the region have appeared in exhibitions in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, but they have often relied on institutions and professional networks abroad to build international careers.
Now that is changing in several cities at once. In 2025, entrepreneur and collector Nurlan Smagulov opened the privately funded Almaty Museum of Arts. Its collection includes more than 700 works by Kazakh, Central Asian, and international artists.
Tashkent is taking a different route, with the state as the main driving force. Both projects could help achieve a similar result: stronger institutions in Central Asia could expand opportunities for direct collaboration with museums abroad.
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Bukhara, Tashkent, Venice
Uzbekistan has been testing that possibility abroad for several years. The country made its Venice Biennale debut at the Architecture Biennale in 2021 and presented its first national pavilion at the Art Biennale the following year. At the 2026 Art Biennale, its national pavilion, The Aural Sea, turned to the Aral Sea.
Another major project is the National Museum of Uzbekistan, designed by Tadao Ando, one of Japan’s best-known architects. The complex will cover around 40,000 square meters and is expected to open in 2028.
Against projects of that scale, a former tram depot in Tashkent can seem almost intimate. But it may be where some of the most interesting work happens.
Visitors can now find contemporary Central Asian art alongside international work in Tashkent – and not only at a high-profile opening. The center’s permanent program gives artists a place to develop new work in Tashkent throughout the year.
