Tashkent Center for Contemporary Art is preparing for its opening. First day program

The Tashkent Center for Contemporary Art (CCA Tashkent) is preparing to open its doors. The opening ceremony will take place on September 6. Located in the heart of the capital, in the historic building of a former diesel power plant built in 1912, the center is the first of its kind in the region, connecting local and international art spaces through exhibition projects, research, and educational programs.

Gayane Umerova, Chairwoman of the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Arts, described the opening as an important step in developing the country’s cultural infrastructure and realizing the foundation’s long-term goals of creating a sustainable ecosystem for contemporary art.

According to Umerova, "CCA Tashkent will become a place where artists, researchers, curators and representatives of various communities will meet, and the local artistic environment will be able to enter into full-fledged dialogue with the international cultural environment. We strive to create an institution that will not only showcase contemporary art, but also support its development through education, research and international cooperation."

The reconstruction of the building, designed by Wilhelm Geinselman, head of the Turkestan Regional Construction Department, was entrusted to the Parisian architectural bureau Studio KO. The architects were tasked with demonstrating the dialogue between the historical environment and the new building that appeared in the area. The concept of the updated center was presented in the form of a model at the Art Basel international fair in Paris in October 2025.

The Center for Contemporary Art is designed as a multidisciplinary space. In addition to exhibition halls, it will house a library and educational spaces, as well as a concept store and a restaurant.

Dr. Sara Reza, who has worked at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Tate Gallery in London, has been appointed Artistic Director and Chief Curator of CCA Tashkent.

On September 6, the center’s first exhibition under her curatorship, “Hikmah” (its name is derived from the Arabic word for “wisdom”), will open. The exhibition explores the intersection of tradition, material culture, and contemporary artistic practices. It will feature works by artists from Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, the United States, South Korea, and Uzbekistan.

Visitors will also be able to view works by Vladimir Pan, Daribay Saipov, and Bakhtiyar Saipov from the collection of the I. V. Savitsky State Art Museum. A sound installation will be presented by Sabina Inoyatova, music curator at CCA Tashkent.

The day before, on September 5, the State History Museum will host the exhibition “BENCHELLAL, MONUMENTAL | Sculpting Past Tomorrow” by the Dutch designer and couturier of Moroccan origin Mohamed Benshalal, as part of the CCA Tashkent public program. The collection of clothes presented was created during Benshalal’s art residency in Tashkent and is inspired by the culture, craft traditions, and architectural heritage of Uzbekistan.

In addition to the two residencies currently operating in Tashkent, a new residency will begin in Samarkand in September. Unlike the program in the capital, it will focus on research, interdisciplinary exchange, and engagement with the city’s rich historical and cultural heritage.

The center will continue its collaboration with the Architectural Association’s AA Visiting School. The AA Visiting School: Climate Cartographies in Samarkand will be held at the Samarkand residence from September 4 to 14. The program will feature lectures, research projects, and workshops exploring the interrelationships between climate, cultural heritage, and the universe through the prism of Samarkand’s history. Architects, artists, historians, scientists, and researchers will participate in the project.