CCA Tashkent: connecting Uzbekistan’s artistic heritage with contemporary art

On September 6th, 2026, CCA Tashkent opened at 6 Amir Temur Street, becoming Uzbekistan’s first permanent centre for contemporary art. Led by Gayane Umerova, Chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, the institution combines exhibitions, artistic research, residencies and interdisciplinary public programmes, establishing a new platform for cultural exchange in Tashkent.

A new home for contemporary art

CCA Tashkent occupies a historic building that once served as a diesel station and tram depot. Restored by French architecture studio Studio KO, the structure retains its industrial character while incorporating contemporary materials, Uzbek craft traditions and spaces for exhibitions, research and public gatherings.

Its programme extends across visual art, architecture, design, performance, music and film, with year-round exhibitions, residencies, workshops, laboratories and research initiatives. International partnerships will connect Tashkent to wider cultural networks, while the artist residency programme launched in 2024 continues within the centre’s expanding ecosystem.

As Umerova describes it, CCA Tashkent aims to foster dialogue and cultural exchange while placing Uzbekistan within a broader global cultural conversation.

Hikmah: wisdom across generations

The centre opens with Hikmah, curated by Chief Curator Dr Sara Raza and running from September 6th, 2026, to January 31st, 2027. The inaugural exhibition features new commissions and recent works by ten Uzbek and international artists, examining wisdom, spiritual knowledge and material transformation through the building’s layered history.

The participating artists include Ali Cherri, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Kimsooja, Tarik Kiswanson, Muhannad Shono, Nari Ward, Shokhrukh Rakhimov, Vladimir Pan, Bakhtiyar Saipov and Daribay Saipov. Their works connect contemporary practices with local traditions, moving across generations, geographies and artistic languages.

Highlights include Tashkent-based seventh-generation ceramicist Shokhrukh Rakhimov’s The Colour of Silence, In Search of Truth, a series of seven ceramic orbs made with locally sourced minerals and pigments. Ali Cherri’s A Mouth, A Wound considers knowledge through fracture, while Tarik Kiswanson’s newly commissioned Nest reflects on rootlessness and renewal. Nari Ward’s site-specific Tashkent Groundin uses found materials and copper patina to echo the building’s industrial history.

Local histories, wider conversations

Hikmah places contemporary commissions alongside historic works from the State Museum of Arts of Karakalpakstan, with works by Vladimir Pan, Bakhtiyar Saipov and Daribay Saipov connecting Karakalpak traditions of clay and woodcarving with contemporary artistic practices.

For Raza, the exhibition connects “geographies, generations and disciplines”, allowing the architecture itself to participate in the dialogue between contemporary art and Uzbek artistic heritage.