Commissioned by Gayane Umerova, Chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), the Uzbekistan National Pavilion presents The Aural Sea in the Arsenale at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
Open for preview from 5-8 May, and on view from 9 May to 22 November 2026, The Aural Sea explores how mythology can begin to reframe one of the most profound environmental transformations of the modern era, unfolding as a sensory, immersive environment.
The Pavilion is curated by Kamila Mukhitdinova, Sophie Mayuko Arni, Nico Sun, Thái Hà and Aziza Izamova, a collective formed through the first cohort of the Bukhara Biennial Curatorial School – an ACDF initiative commissioned by Gayane Umerova, convened by Diana Campbell, and developed in partnership with Aaron Cezar and Delfina Foundation. Bringing together perspectives from across Central and East Asia, the curators position myths and fiction not as escape, but as a response to ecological crisis, foregrounding imagination as a tool for rethinking reality.
The exhibition features newly commissioned and recent works by Jahongir Bobokulov (Uzbekistan), Zi Kakhramonova (Uzbekistan), Aygul Sarsen (Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan), Zulfiya Spowart (Uzbekistan), Xin Liu (China), A.A.Murakami (UK and Japan), and Nguyen Phuong Linh (Vietnam).
As part of the Pavilion's opening programme, the performance Äwlep by Josef Tumari – will take place on Thursday 7 May at 12:30. In the Qaraqalpaq language, Äwlep signifies a breath of air so slight it is almost felt before it is heard. It carries a quality of profound tenderness-a presence that is tangible yet fragile. In this work, Josef Tumari explores Äwlep as a sensory threshold, using sound to trace the vanishing edges of the Aral basin. The performance unfolds as an evolving acoustic landscape, shaped by fragments of voices, archival echoes, and the natural resonance of the region.
Stretching across northwestern Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea was once one of the world's largest inland lakes, before large-scale diversion of the region's rivers for agricultural irrigation turned it into a desert in the 1960s. Yet for the local population of Karakalpakstan, south of the Sea, the region remains not simply a story of disappearance, but a place where hope and imagination persist, held in memory, story, and everyday life.... read the rest of the article»
Reflecting this outlook, the Pavilion turns to the creation of new myths to imagine futures beyond loss. It takes inspiration from the work of the young Karakalpak author Allyar Darmenov, who began writing about the Aral Sea in 2015, drawing upon realms of mythmaking to imagine possible futures rather than chronicling environmental devastation, embracing fiction as a way to shift perspective and open new ways of seeing.
The Aural Sea forms part of ACDF's long-term cultural investment in the Aral region, alongside the Aral Culture Summit and the Aral School in Nukus. These initiatives contribute to a ten-year vision by the Government of Uzbekistan to support the region's social, economic and cultural revitalisation, initiated under the leadership of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and aligned with national priorities around sustainable development and ecological restoration in the Aral Sea region.
Across installation, sculpture, painting, textile, sound, and immersive environments, each artist engages with the Aral Sea not as a singular historic event but as a place of renewal and creativity, approaching it as a living, evolving entity.
The Aural Sea, The Uzbekistan Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, commissioned by Gayane Umerova, Chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF).
Curated by the inaugural cohort of the Bukhara Biennial Curatorial School, convened by Diana Campbell in partnership with Delfina Foundation.
Title: The Aural Sea. The Pavilion of Uzbekistan at the 61st International Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
Opening: May 09, 2026
Ending: November 22, 2026
Organization: Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF)
Curator: Kamila Mukhitdinova, Sophie Mayuko Arni, Nico Sun, Thái Hà e Aziza Izamova
Place: Venezia, Arsenale – Padiglione Uzbekistan
Address: Castello 2169/F - 30122 Venezia (VE)
More info on this website: https://www.acdf.uz
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