The Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent (CCA) will open its doors to the public in 2026, with its inaugural exhibition, Hikmah, marking a new era for contemporary art in Uzbekistan. Housed in a 1912 industrial building redesigned by French architecture firm Studio KO, the CCA will offer a permanent space for art, research, and community engagement in the heart of Tashkent.
A new cultural hub in Tashkent
Led by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation and its chairperson, Gayane Umerova, the CCA aims to showcase Uzbek artists to the world and bring international art to the region. Curated by Dr Sara Raza, the centre will host year-round exhibitions, public programmes, artist residencies, workshops and collaborations with institutions such as the Architectural Association in London. Free access for all is envisaged for the CCA, which is intended to be a vibrant cultural meeting point for the city and the region.
‘Hikmah’: exploring wisdom through art
Opening in 2026, Hikmah — Uzbek for “wisdom” — brings together site-specific works that respond to the building’s architecture, exploring ideas of insight, intelligence, and divine knowledge through a dialogue between local heritage and global perspectives. The exhibition features new commissions by Muhannad Shono, Nari Ward, Shokhrukh Rakhimov, and Tarik Kiswanson, alongside a major loan, Flying Carpets, by Nadia Kaabi-Linke from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Saudi artist Muhannad Shono will present Tower for a Single Breath (2026), a monumental sculpture constructed from ceramic bricks and steel scaffolding. Drawing inspiration from Islamic Sufi philosophy, the tower channels wind like a throat, transforming breath into a living, shared presence. Created during Shono’s CCA residency, the piece invites viewers to reflect on the connections between the body, spirit and place.
Lebanese artist Ali Cherri will contribute A Mouth, A Wound, a bronze sculpture depicting severed arms marked by mouths emerging from injuries. Referencing Jean Cocteau’s The Blood of a Poet (1930), the sculpture explores how knowledge and expression can emerge from moments of rupture, memory and vulnerability.
Korean conceptual artist Kimsooja will present Archive of Mind, a participatory installation in which visitors are invited to shape clay balls by hand and contribute to a shared surface. This meditative, collective act reflects on time, memory and the human presence, transforming audience participation into the artwork itself.
This exhibition, the CCA’s first, not only showcases international and Uzbek talent, but also signals Uzbekistan’s growing presence in the global contemporary art scene.
