TASHKENT.- The Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent (CCA), led by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) and its chairperson Gayane Umerova, opens a bold new chapter for contemporary art in Central Asia with the launch of its 2025-26 programme and announcement of its inaugural exhibition, Hikmah. The CCA will be the first institution of its kind in Central Asia as a permanent centre for contemporary art, research, and community engagement in the heart of historic Tashkent, helmed by Artistic Director and Chief Curator, Dr Sara Raza.

Opening to the public in March 2026, the CCA’s inaugural exhibition Hikmah, Uzbek for "wisdom", will bring together major contemporary art voices including Ali Cherri, Kimsooja, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Nari Ward, Muhannad Shono, and Tarik Kiswanson, alongside Uzbek and Karakalpak artists Shokhrukh Rakhimov, Vladimir Pan, Daribay Saipov, and Bakhtiyar Saipov.

Featuring recent works and new commissions, the show will explore wisdom across cultures and materials. Highlights include Nadia Kaabi-Linke’s Flying Carpets, a major loan from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, a new commission by Muhannad Shono, Kimsooja’s participatory piece Archive of Mind, a new installation by seventh-generation Uzbek ceramicist Shokhrukh Rakhimov, and a site-specific work by Nari Ward drawing on local craft traditions. A complementary music programme will span Sufi chants to electronic genres, exploring ancient and contemporary manifestations of hikmah in sound.

In 2026, the CCA will launch two major new annual initiatives: the multidisciplinary Navruz Gala and the citywide Tashkent Public Art Festival, as well as two landmark exhibitions that anchor the CCA’s calendar and reinforce its long-term commitment to artist-driven, collaborative, and globally relevant cultural production.

Gayane Umerova, Chairperson of the ACDF, says: “The CCA is the realisation of a long-term vision to firmly position Uzbekistan at the heart of global cultural dialogue. Since 2019, my team and I have been laying the foundations for a regional centre of excellence: a place for artistic research, experimentation, and exchange that honours our heritage while embracing new ideas. Last year, we launched the CCA Artist Residencies, marking a milestone in ACDF’s mission to preserve, promote and nourish Uzbekistan’s cultural landscape. Now, with the launch of the Centre, that vision comes to life through a pioneering programme that connects contemporary creativity with cultural legacy on an international stage.”

Through a vibrant mix of exhibitions, residencies, and interdisciplinary public programming, the CCA fosters new connections between Uzbekistan and the wider world. Its year-round calendar positions the Centre as a new force in global cultural discourse: spanning visual art, architecture, design, performance, music, and film; sparking dialogue, supporting artists, and opening access to cultural production for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. These initiatives complement the Centre’s ongoing Artist Residencies, launched in October 2024, workshops and labs, offering artists and creatives the opportunity to research, develop and present new work in Tashkent for the first time.

Upcoming public programming 2025/26

From September 4, 2025, audiences will encounter new initiatives and residents shaping the Centre’s early months.

CCA Artist Residencies: Since October 2024, the residency programme has welcomed both Uzbek and international artists, designers, and researchers including Dutch-Moroccan designer Mohamed Benchellal and Saudi artist Muhannad Shono.

The September 2025 cohort includes:

–Sami El-Enany: British–Egyptian sound artist working across modern classical, electronica, and found sound.

–Paria Farzaneh: British–Iranian fashion designer shortlisted for the prestigious LVMH Prize.

–Dr Vivek Gupta: London-based art historian researching Iran, Central Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent. His residency will inform a future CCA exhibition.

–Jamila Sadat: Afghan miniature painter and tazhib specialist celebrated for intricate interpretations of Afghan heritage.

–Dishon Yuldash: Bangkok-based Uzbek mixed media artist known for her sculptural works.

Clubistan: Launching on September 10, 2025, Clubistan is the CCA’s new youth-led programme for 16–21-year-olds, opening with a talk by fashion designer Paria Farzaneh and a music set by Timur Azim, the CCA’s music curator. The bi-monthly series offers workshops and peer-led projects - from upcycling and zine making to film and podcasts - designed to inspire creativity and build pathways into the cultural sector.

CCA Radio: Launching on September 17, 2025, CCA Radio is a bi-weekly sonic experience curated by Timur Azim, which includes DJ sets, instrumental performances, and hybrid formats capturing the sounds of mahallahs and bazaars. The programme will also showcase soundtracks related to future exhibitions and guest sets by both local and international artists from the Global Majority World.

Professional development programme: Launching this winter, Dr. Sara Raza will lead an intensive professional development programme for emerging and mid-career arts professionals. Featuring workshops, site visits, and talks by industry experts, the programme will cover curating, collecting, art law, publishing, cultural diplomacy, and more - linking global practices with local and digital contexts while offering participants insider access to institutions and public sites.

Dr Sara Raza, Artistic Director and Chief Curator of the CCA, says: “The CCA’s inaugural programme reflects a commitment to curating across geographies, generations and disciplines, bringing together pioneering voices from Uzbekistan, Central Asia and beyond. From concept-driven exhibitions and artist-led gatherings to monographs, experimental public art, film and performance, the programme is rooted in critical inquiry, cultural resonance, and collective imagination. At its heart, the Centre is a space for dialogue: between artists and audiences, local histories and global ideas, where the past becomes a catalyst for future possibilities.”

Dr Sara Raza brings a transnational curatorial approach shaped by two decades of scholarship and cultural practice across Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and their diasporas. Her methodology is grounded in Tashkent’s legacy as a 20th-century crossroads for Global Majority thinkers - from W.E.B. Du Bois to Audre Lorde - and in the spirit of the Tashkent Festival for Asian, African, and Latin American Cinema (1968–1988), which inspires its globally engaged, future-facing programme. She will work closely with a team of local experts and staff, ensuring that the Centre is deeply rooted in the knowledge and participation of the community.

Originally built in 1912 as a diesel station and depot for Tashkent’s first tram line, the structure that now houses the Centre, is undergoing a careful transformation, led by Gayane Umerova, in collaboration with acclaimed French architecture firm Studio KO. Designed by Wilhelm Heinzelmann - the architect behind iconic Tashkent landmarks such as the Palace of Grand Duke Romanov and the Treasury Chamber - the building remains a powerful testament to the city’s architectural heritage. After serving for decades as part of Tashkent’s electricity network, it was entrusted to the Foundation in 2019 as part of its long-term cultural development strategy.

Studio KO architects Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty explain: "In designing the Centre for Contemporary Arts, we sought to honour the memory of a powerful industrial building while giving it a new poetic life. Our work with traditional Uzbek materials and light-filtering motifs allowed us to create a space that is both contemplative and open; one that can evolve alongside the diverse programmes and ideas it will host. The architecture is intended as a vessel for the spirit of contemporary art in Central Asia.”