Uzbekistan to present The Aural Sea at the Venice Biennale

Uzbekistan’s National Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art will present The Aural Sea, a project dedicated to the cultural and ecological heritage of the Aral Sea region. The exhibition will be open from May 9 to November 22, 2026.

Commissioned by Gayane Umerova, Chair of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, the project approaches the Aral through myth-making and storytelling:

“The Aural Sea reflects the Foundation’s long-term commitment to the Aral Sea region and to cultural development through knowledge and sustainable engagement. From the Bukhara Biennial Curatorial School to the interdisciplinary Aral School in Karakalpakstan, we invest in people and ideas oriented toward cultural and ecological futures. By bringing together diverse voices, the pavilion creates a space for exchange between disciplines, generations, and different ways of understanding what it means to live amid ecological change.”

The curators propose to see imagination not as an escape from reality, but as a tool for understanding ecological transformations and envisioning alternative futures:

“In The Aural Sea, myth-making and storytelling become ways of living through ecological change and imagining futures beyond what is immediately visible. The exhibition treats imagination not as escapism, but as a form of action that allows artists to work with transformation and possibility. Our curatorial concept grew out of collective learning and discussions formed within the Bukhara Biennial Curatorial School, supported by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation.”

Since the 1960s, large-scale river diversion for agricultural irrigation has led to the loss of more than 90 percent of the Aral Sea’s water volume. The project approaches the region not only as a zone of ecological crisis, but also as a space of memory, knowledge, and cultural narratives.


The pavilion’s curatorial team consists of graduates of the Bukhara Biennial Curatorial School — a joint program of the Foundation and international partners. The team includes Aziza Izamova, Tai Ha, Sophie Mayuko Arni, Nico Sun, and Kamila Mukhitdinova, representing a new generation of curatorial voices from Uzbekistan and across Asia.

The exhibition features artists from Uzbekistan and other countries working across multiple media — from installation and interactive practices to textile, painting, and scientific modeling. Their projects are united by an interest in the Aral as a landscape of stories, legends, and transformations.


The conceptual starting point for the pavilion comes from the writings of Karakalpak author Allayar Darmenov, in which the dried sea returns to life through myths and new narratives. This idea forms the basis of the exhibition, where imagination is treated as a form of action and a way of processing loss.

The pavilion’s title refers to the Biennale’s main theme, In Minor Keys, and emphasizes listening as the key method of the exhibition. The project asks what it means to hear a landscape that has undergone radical transformation, and what knowledge can be drawn from the voices of those who live within it.

The pavilion’s architectural design is being developed by a group of students and young architects from leading Uzbek institutions under the guidance of the international studio GRACE.

The Biennale participation continues the Foundation’s long-term work in the Aral Sea region. Key initiatives include the Aral Culture Summit and the Aral School educational program, both focused on cultural and ecological development.

Alongside the national pavilion, the Foundation will present Instruments of the Mind, a solo exhibition by Uzbek artist Vyacheslav Akhunov, as a parallel project in Venice.

The pavilion marks Uzbekistan’s third participation in the Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art and continues the country’s strategy to strengthen its presence on the global cultural stage.

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