Uzbekistan is represented at the major exhibition of contemporary art and crafts Homo Faber in Venice

Uzbekistan is participating in the fourth edition of the prestigious international contemporary arts and crafts exhibition Homo Faber 2026: An Island of Light, which traditionally takes place on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. The event is curated by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, which has brought together over 700 art objects from 500 artists from over 70 countries. The exhibition is scheduled to open on September 1 at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

Uzbekistan is represented at the exhibition by the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan. The Foundation's collaboration with the Michelangelo Foundation began in October 2022 with the signing of an agreement in Geneva. This document allowed Uzbekistan to become the first Central Asian country to join the Homo Faber Guide, an international online platform created to support and promote contemporary crafts, arts and crafts, and design. In 2023, 11 Uzbek artists were first included in the guide, and today, their number has reached 15.

The exhibition, organized by the Foundation as part of Homo Faber 2026, aims to introduce an international audience to the continuity of Uzbekistan's craft schools, the richness of local traditions, and their development in a contemporary artistic context.

"Crafts in Uzbekistan are not simply historical memory preserved under glass. It is a living language that continues to speak through the hands of the masters who learned it from their teachers, and which each new generation rewrites anew." "This is precisely the continuity we sought to maintain when we opened our representative office at Homo Faber in 2023, and today we proudly watch it develop with each new edition. We don't simply showcase craftsmanship. We strive to ensure that Uzbek artisans take their place in the dialogue with the world's best artisans, as equals, recognized as authors and creators, and not simply as something exotic and unusual," said Gayane Umerova, Chairperson of the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan.

The exhibition features works by four artisans working in various areas of traditional Uzbek applied art. Among them are two large-format ceramic compositions, "Moonjars," by Sanjar Kubaev and Alisher Nazirov, as well as five artistic scissors created by the Kamalov family of Bukhara blacksmiths. Each piece is handcrafted using traditional forging techniques and references bird motifs, deeply rooted in the centuries-old tradition of Bukhara blacksmithing.

As part of the educational program, Madina Kasymbaeva will conduct a series of open demonstrations of the art of suzani, introducing visitors to traditional embroidery techniques and the cultural practices associated with this craft.

The Homo Faber 2026 program will place special emphasis on representatives of the new generation of creative professionals from Uzbekistan. Diyorbek Abdullaev and Sabina Zhuraeva were among 90 Young Ambassadors selected from 62 schools of applied art and design in 23 countries. For a month, they will introduce visitors to the exhibition as part of a program implemented in collaboration with the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

Diyorbek Abdullaev, a graduate of the Tashkent Institute of Architecture and Construction, works as an architect and artist. Sabina Zhuraeva, a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at Bucheon University in Tashkent, is the founder of the Chronos.Arc studio. They will spend six weeks in Italy as part of a program dedicated to art, craft, and cultural exchange. The selection process for the program in Uzbekistan was conducted online with the support of the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan. The final selection was made by the Michelangelo Foundation.

The exhibition will run until September 30.