The Craft of Mending: A Symposium on the Cross-Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan. Spotlight Tours (from 6 to 8 October 2025)

The inaugural edition of the Bukhara Biennial Recipes for Broken Hearts aims to engage rich historical heritage of Bukhara with traditional Central Asian craft practices, as well as contemporary international artist community. 

Contemporary Uzbekistan is marked by an urgent conversation about cultural preservation. From historic architecture and museum collections to recipes, performance, and craft traditions, the question of how to sustain heritage is both cultural and political. The Craft of Mending explores how practices of upkeep, improvisation, and care can serve as critical tools for sustaining shared histories and imagining collective futures.

The symposium aims to position Uzbekistan as a site of rich transregional exchange, highlighting cultural continuities and innovations that traverse Central, East, and Southeast Asia, the broader Middle East and North Africa, and former Soviet territories.

This page is dedicated to the tours around the Biennial with the scholars.
 
October 6
17:00 – 19:00

Group A 
The tour starts at Gavkushon Madrasa

Featured artworks: Fixed Star Constellations, Navat Uy, Khoja Returns, Though He Never Left, Light Studies, Echo of the Self: The Soul in Motion, the Body Forgotten, Standing by the Ruins IV, The Healing of Present, Fantastic Creatures of the Silk Road

The speakers: Sven Spieker, Aliya Bolatkhan, Natasha Klimenko, Albert Cavallaro, Zukhra Kasimova, Bekhruz Kurbanov, James Rann, Rebecca Selch

Group B 
The tour starts at Gavkushon Madrasa

Featured artworks: Patterns of Protection, The Observer’s Illusion, La Sombre Terrestre, CLOSE, Kutadgu Bilig, Swarm Works, Through Bloom and Decay

The speakers: Luci Williams, Carola Platzek, Aziza Izamova, Rosita Palladino, Diana Kudaibergen, Alexandra Dennett, Muzaffara Ishanova

October 7
17:00 – 19:00

Group B 
The tour starts at Gavkushon Madrasa

Featured artworks: Patterns of Protection, The Observer’s Illusion, La Sombre Terrestre, CLOSE, Longing, Kutadgu Bilig, Swarm Works, Through Bloom and Decay

The speakers: Luci Williams, Carola Platzek, Aziza Izamova, Rosita Palladino, Zhameli Khairli, Diana Kudaibergen, Alexandra Dennett, Muzaffara Ishanova

Group C 
The tour starts at Gavkushon Madrasa

Featured artworks: Blue Room, Inverted Fruits, Wet Metal, Ongod, Hive Settlers, A Corner for Everyone, Al-Jabr & Al-Jazr: The Algorithm of Healing, Healing

The speakers: Yue Xie, Anna Pronina, Leora Eisenberg, Christianna Bonin, Anel Rakhimzhanova, Ekaterina Kulinicheva, James Pickett, Dilrabo Tosheva

October 8
17:00 – 19:00

Group C 
The tour starts at Gavkushon Madrasa

Featured artworks: Blue Room, Inverted Fruits, Wet Metal, Ongod, Hive Settlers, A Corner for Everyone, Al-Jabr & Al-Jazr: The Algorithm of Healing, Healing

The speakers: Yue Xie, Anna Pronina, Leora Eisenberg, Christianna Bonin, Anel Rakhimzhanova, Ekaterina Kulinicheva, James Pickett, Dilrabo Tosheva

Group A 
The tour starts at Gavkushon Madrasa

Featured artworks: Fixed Star Constellations, Navat Uy, Khoja Returns, Though He Never Left, Light Studies, Standing by the Ruins IV, The Healing of Present, Fantastic Creatures of the Silk Road

The speakers: Sven Spieker, Aliya Bolatkhan, Natasha Klimenko, Albert Cavallaro, Bekhruz Kurbanov, James Rann, Rebecca Selch

Attendance is by registration on this page.