Expanded participant list and  academic advisory board for inaugural Bukhara Biennial

Curated by Diana Campbell, with Creative Director of Architecture Wael Al Awar. Commissioned by Gayane Umerova, Chairperson, Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation. 

The Bukhara Biennial reveals over 70 participants to date all developing new projects for the debut edition, Recipes for Broken Hearts. The site-specific, interdisciplinary gathering will take the form of an expanded multi-sensory feast, marking one of Central Asia’s largest and most diverse cultural initiatives to date. 

Recipes for Broken Hearts departs from a local legend in which polymath and father of modern medicine Ibn Sina invented the recipe of the staple Uzbek dish, palov, to cure a prince’s sickness caused by an impossible love for the daughter of a craftsman.  Referencing this story of healing and recovery, Campbell’s curatorial vision imagines the biennial as a body which is fed physically, emotionally, and spiritually, encouraging communal participation and experiential response. 

The event will showcase collaborations between artists and artisans. Connecting both internationally acclaimed and emerging artists, several of whom will be making their institutional debut, with some of Uzbekistan’s most masterful craftspeople, the biennial references Uzbekistan as a locus for transregional cultural practices, and reflects on Bukhara’s history as an intellectual and economic centre along the Silk Roads. 

The biennial will unfold thematically as a participatory journey across walkable historic landmarks illustrative of the city’s heritage, including four caravanserais (presenting heartbreak as part of a journey of life), Gavkushon Madrasa (a space to learn from feelings), the former mosque Khoja Kalon (a space to transcend hardships), and Rashid Madrasa (a place to memorialise, mourn, and move on). The biennial inaugurates a permanent project for the city of Bukhara. The sites have been restored by Wael Al Awar of the Dubai and Tokyo-based design firm waiwai, and will be unveiled to the public as part of the biennial and a long-term revitalisation and conservation plan designed to reactivate Bukhara’s historic craft trade, preserve its architecture, and reconnect its heritage with the rest of the world.