Curated by Roberta Tenconi Saodat Ismailova (Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 1981; lives and works between Paris and Tashkent) is a filmmaker from the first generation of Central Asian artists in the post-Soviet era. Her films and installations explore the collective memory, spiritual practices, rituals, and ancestral knowledge of her native region to address issues of cultural heritage, the representation of femininity, and resistance to the impact of human activity on the environment. Her films expand cinematic temporality, emphasizing long shots that evoke the aesthetics of slow cinema, often combined with archival footage and installed within textile sculptural elements drawn from vernacular traditions. Her images and sonic landscapes create powerful and hypnotic narratives that unfold at the intersection of cinema, sound, and visual art. Drawing on her family’s spiritual and intellectual roots, particularly through her grandmother, oral histories, and animist beliefs, Ismailova interweaves myths with personal dreams to address social issues such as women’s emancipation, identity, and the colonial past.
The exhibition at Pirelli HangarBicocca will be the first comprehensive survey of Saodat Ismailova’s work in an Italian institution, and will include works from over ten years of practice in a new specific spatial environment. Conjuring different narratives and landscapes, the artist will engage with an intricate web of images and times, creating a dreamlike atmosphere in which visitors will experience the multilayered stories of Central Asia, at a crossroads between Western and Eastern cultures.
Ismailova has exhibited at numerous major institutions including Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains in collaboration with Centre Pompidou, Paris (2023); Center for Contemporary Arts, Tashkent (2019); Ilkhom Theatre, Tashkent (2018); Tromsø Kunstforening (2017). Her films and video installations have also been presented in international group exhibitions such as Sharjah Biennial (2023); Venice Biennale, documenta, Kassel, (2022); Meet Factory, Prague (2021); Para Site, Hong Kong, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2019); Lunds konsthall, Sweden (2018); Yinchuan Biennale, China (2018). In 2013 Ismailova was one of the artists representing the Central Asian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, while in 2018 her live musical performance Qyrq Qyz premiered at Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. Her work is also widely recognized in the film industry and has been featured in festivals such as Berlinale International Film Festival (2014) and Rotterdam International Film Festival (2005), among others. She has received numerous awards, including Eye Art&Film Prize, Amsterdam (2022); Documenta Madrid (2018); Golden Alhambra Award, Granada Cines del Sur Film Festival, Tashkent International Biennale of Contemporary Art (2014); Turin International Film Festival for Best Documentary (2004). In 2021 she founded the research group Davra, dedicated to the study, documentation and dissemination of Central Asian culture and knowledge.