Portrait of Oyjon Khayrullaeva. mixing photo and collage, used with permission.
Many women bring items from their mothers and grandmothers’ wardrobes
Written byFilip Noubel
Portrait of Oyjon Khayrullaeva. mixing photo and collage, used with permission.
Uzbekistan is known for hosting some of the best preserved architectural gems of the Silk Road that are often presented in a very traditional way to attract more tourists, and include landmarks such as Registan square in Samarkand, Itchan Kala inner town in Khiva, and the Poi Kalan mosque complex in Bukhara. But young Uzbek artists are taking a new take on this cultural heritage to create striking visual and digital art.
Oyjon Khayrullaeva is a young Uzbek artist from the city of Bukhara who is claiming the heritage of architecture, interior decoration and cultural objects to invite a conversation on identity, but also on feminism, gender relations and gender-based violence in Uzbek society, where patriarchy remains the dominating discourse in most families. Khayrullaeva’s work is mostly a combination of photography and digital collage that can be seen on her Instagram account. Global Voices interviewed her in Russian over email to find out where she finds her inspiration and how her art is perceived in Uzbekistan. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Filip Noubel (FN): How would you define digital collage as a form of visual art?
Oizhon Khairullaeva (OKh): Digital collage is a composition of photographs created in various graphic editors (Photoshop, etc.). That is, you take several photographs, cut out various objects and assemble it into a single picture. I create compositions from photographs with mosaics of historical buildings taken in different cities of my country, or I take elements from photographs of suzani (national embroidery) and from other national decorative materials, in general, elements of applied art.
This piece of digital collage mixes the cult-status blue and white bowl featuring cotton motifs that is widely used across the country to drink tea and has come to symbolize Uzbek culture, dating from the Soviet period:
FN: Your art is based on basis elements of Uzbek visual art such as the traditional dopa hat, tea bowls with the cotton design, and other architectural motives. Why are they so prominent in your art?
OKh: I have a great love for our culture, art, crafts and history. I love to learn more about it because this is how I get closer to my roots, so I like to add Uzbek shades in my works. I also collect various vintage textiles myself, namely: old suzanis, old dresses and trousers with zarduzi (Bukhara gold embroidery), old scarves and burqas. I take most of these things from my grandmother’s chest, and I also use all this in my creativity.
My work includes three aspects. The first is my animated digital collages, in which I touch on the problems of our society. The second is my portraits of women, in which I disclose my heroines as beautiful, strong and mysterious creatures. Those women come to me with a specific request: To capture them in Uzbek colors, because they share the same situation as me, that is of wanting to be closer to one’s roots. Many women bring items from their mothers and grandmothers’ wardrobes, and I am very impressed that I have so many like-minded women in my circle. I would like to take photographs that represent not only Uzbek traditions, but also the traditions of the many other ethnic groups living in Uzbekistan that are also so beautiful and unique.
The third direction is my personal work that touches on my emotional state, my experiences and joys, my childhood memories — everything that is difficult for me to express in words.
But I would also like to mention another strand of my work, not related to collages. These are portraits of my friend Tamila Daniyarova, a ballerina I have known since late 2020. Since then, we have managed to take a lot of photographs across Uzbekistan. The idea is that I film her dancing ballet in pointe shoes near various historical buildings, monuments, or in beautiful natural areas, that is, in places not usually associated with ballet. The whole project is called “Surreal;” indeed a strange image to perceive.
Here is another digital collage referring to the term “uyat” meaning shame and describing the code of honor for families based on conservative, patriarchal and narrowly defined gender roles:
FN: How is your art received in Uzbekistan and elsewhere?
OKh: There are pros and cons in every area, so some people like my work, and write pleasant words of support, which I am grateful for. Then there are those who don’t like it, and they send me insults and negative comments. I’m learning to take it normally; colleagues tell it means that my art triggers various emotions, which is great.
In the past 18 months, I have managed to participate in three exhibitions; the first was held in Japan; my ballet portraits were exhibited there. The other two were held here in Tashkent, with one exhibition dedicated to my photographs of architecture and decoration, and the second exhibition dedicated to the fight against gender-based violence that included my animated collage pieces.
FN: What is the space for modern art in today’s Uzbek society?
OKh: Since I’ve only been on this art scene for two years, I can’t say exactly how things stand, but I have noted that it’s moving slowly, although we have an incredible number of brave and talented artists. The problem here is that there should be more state involvement to promote modern art and give it some freedom. Unfortunately I see little of this.
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