Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation will hold the inaugural conference to preserve modernist architecture in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The “Where in the World is Tashkent” conference will be held on October 18-19, 2023, as part of the Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI research and preservation project. The event will be dedicated to the memory of architect and historian Jean-Louis Cohen (1949-2023), who contributed to this project.
According to ACDF, the conference will feature a keynote lecture by architect Rem Koolhaas and talks by other distinguished speakers including the Director General of the Pinacoteca di Brera and Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense James M. Bradburne, writer and curator Shumon Basar, Director of the Anthropology and History Museum of the State of Mexico Eduardo A. Escalante Carrillo, Director of the Swiss Architecture Museum SAM Andreas Ruby, Associate professor of Architectural Restoration at Politecnico di Milano Davide Del Curto, Director of MAXXI Architettura Lorenza Baroncelli, and architect, member of the Union of Architects of Uzbekistan Alexander Kuranov.
The event will take place at the State Museum of Arts in Tashkent. The conference will shed light on Tashkent’s modernist heritage and bring it to the world stage. By raising awareness about its significance, the conference aims to gather expertise from around the globe and foster an exchange of ideas to implement a comprehensive preservation strategy for Tashkent’s architectural legacy.
The conference program will cover a diverse range of topics relating to preserving modernist heritage. These discussions will also reimagine public spaces, explore the role of cultural institutions in promoting a critical revision of architectural history, and address the potentialities and challenges related to Tashkent’s candidacy for the UNESCO World Heritage status.
The attendees will be invited to partake in a walking tour along the cultural trail created by the ACDF and Laboratorio Permanente. This route connects the two dozen buildings featured in the project, many of which are proposed for heritage status. The trail will be available through an iOS and Android app presented in three languages and enriched with videos and archival photos.
The conference will take place alongside Tashkent Modernism. Index exhibition, a crucial component of the project that will present the results of two years of meticulous research to the Tashkent public. It was initially inaugurated to a professional audience at the Triennale Milano 2023 in April.
The show consists of two interdependent layers: the specially commissioned photographs by artist Armin Linke and the archival display that articulates the research themes and showcases the elements of the preservation strategies.
The Tashkent edition of the exhibition will be expanded and enriched by original archival documents and artworks from the State Museum of Art collection from the 1960s-80s that celebrate the culture and architecture of these decades.
Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI is an extensive research project initiated and commissioned by the ACDF and coordinated by Grace, a Milan-based architecture studio founded by architect Ekaterina Golovatyuk. The research team comprises architects, historians, and preservation experts from across the globe, including art historian and curator Boris Chukhovich, Laboratorio Permanente, and the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies at Politecnico di Milano.
The history of Tashkent’s modernism traces back to the ambitious redevelopment plans of the early 1960s, which aimed to modernize the city radically. The devastating earthquake of 1966, which leveled large portions of Tashkent, accelerated the implementation of these plans. Architects from all over the Soviet Union joined forces with local specialists to rebuild Tashkent, creating a unique form of architectural modernism that incorporated elements of Islamic architecture, local vernacular ingenuity, and the most advanced engineering feats of that time.
In the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union, much of this architectural heritage was neglected, redeveloped, or threatened with demolition. As more and more buildings were disappearing, the ACDF started a large-scale campaign to raise awareness about their value and save them from destruction.
In November 2023, the ACDF will present an exhibition about Tashkent Modernism at the Sharjah Architecture Triennial. Curated by architect Wael Al Awar, the exhibition will offer a reflective exploration of the transformations undergone by three modernist buildings in Tashkent – the State Museum of Arts, Zarafshan Restaurant, and Samarkand Teahouse (now Oriental School).
Another exhibition on Tashkent Modernism will take place at the SAM Swiss Architecture Museum in 2024, coinciding with Architekturwoche Basel and Design Miami/Basel. Curated by the S AM team and Ekaterina Golovatyuk, the show will serve as an example for other countries involved in preserving modernist heritage.
In addition, the ACDF will collaborate with Rizzoli and Lars Müller publishing houses to release books dedicated to Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI.
Nazokat Usmanova, UzA