We are launching a crowdfunding campaign for our new exhibition and related initiatives that will be implemented as a continuation of the exhibition. You can support them by purchasing the lots listed below.
Uzbekistan’s symbolic association with cotton production was inherited from the Soviet period; but it also became part of our everyday life. In the middle of the twentieth century, Uzbekistan was transformed into the Soviet Union’s “cotton granary.” It provided raw materials for the light industry in the European parts of the RSFSR.
But one hundred years of cotton cultivation on the unsuitable lands of a water-deficient region subsequently led to the largest ever man-made ecological catastrophe: the drying up of the Aral Sea.
In this context, cotton, and its symbolic association, feels like a curse of colonial heritage. At the same time, cotton provokes an irrational sense of nostalgia. The myth of cotton characterizes it as a colonial grain, without which we can no longer imagine Uzbekistan. This popular myth surrounds us everywhere: from mosaics on buildings to decorations on every bowl in every kitchen of the country. The myth tells us that cotton is a national treasure; but in reality, it did not bring happiness or prosperity to the people of Uzbekistan.
In this collective exhibition artists and researchers from Uzbekistan reflect on the importance of cotton as an agricultural crop, and how it completely changed the ways of life, context and landscape of Central Asia. The exhibition forces viewers to think about how imperial ambitions turned cotton into the "white gold of Uzbekistan": an instrument for both colonial exploitation and the manipulation of mass consciousness.
The authors of the exhibition are trying to figure out what the “Uzbekistan — Cotton” association means for society and culture today. Works by Dilara Kaipova and Umida Akhmedova demonstrate how the symbols created by Soviet propaganda became so ubiquitous, and how they deeply penetrated and transformed everyday life. Their works further question the significance these symbols have today.
Nineteenth and early twentieth century archival photographs from the collection of researcher Oleg Karpov shed light on how the cotton industry was organized during these periods, and how it laid the foundation for the Eurasian colonial consciousness.
Works by artist Vyacheslav Akhunov –– which he made between 1989 and 1990, when the Soviet military was withdrawing from Afghanistan –– rework the classic Soviet poster tradition, situating it in a new context. Alexander Barkovsky and Alexander Fedorov painted their works in the aesthetics of contemporary pop art. Their pieces also reinterpret cotton symbols in a new way, placing them in unexpected visual contexts that correlate to current events and cultural codes.
Another attribute of the cotton industry that cannot be ignored is the systemic violation of human rights and the exploitation of child labor; its roots date back to the middle of the twentieth century. This facet of the cotton industry is illustrated in the exhibition by Timur Karpov’s documentary photographs and the film “COTTON100%,” which he coauthored with director Mikhail Borodin.
We are launching a crowdfunding campaign for our new exhibition and related initiatives that will be implemented as a continuation of the exhibition. You can support them by purchasing the lots listed below.
Uzbekistan’s symbolic association with cotton production was inherited from the Soviet period; but it also became part of our everyday life. In the middle of the twentieth century, Uzbekistan was transformed into the Soviet Union’s “cotton granary.” It provided raw materials for the light industry in the European parts of the RSFSR.
But one hundred years of cotton cultivation on the unsuitable lands of a water-deficient region subsequently led to the largest ever man-made ecological catastrophe: the drying up of the Aral Sea.
In this context, cotton, and its symbolic association, feels like a curse of colonial heritage. At the same time, cotton provokes an irrational sense of nostalgia. The myth of cotton characterizes it as a colonial grain, without which we can no longer imagine Uzbekistan. This popular myth surrounds us everywhere: from mosaics on buildings to decorations on every bowl in every kitchen of the country. The myth tells us that cotton is a national treasure; but in reality, it did not bring happiness or prosperity to the people of Uzbekistan.
In this collective exhibition artists and researchers from Uzbekistan reflect on the importance of cotton as an agricultural crop, and how it completely changed the ways of life, context and landscape of Central Asia. The exhibition forces viewers to think about how imperial ambitions turned cotton into the "white gold of Uzbekistan": an instrument for both colonial exploitation and the manipulation of mass consciousness.
The authors of the exhibition are trying to figure out what the “Uzbekistan — Cotton” association means for society and culture today. Works by Dilara Kaipova and Umida Akhmedova demonstrate how the symbols created by Soviet propaganda became so ubiquitous, and how they deeply penetrated and transformed everyday life. Their works further question the significance these symbols have today.
Nineteenth and early twentieth century archival photographs from the collection of researcher Oleg Karpov shed light on how the cotton industry was organized during these periods, and how it laid the foundation for the Eurasian colonial consciousness.
Works by artist Vyacheslav Akhunov –– which he made between 1989 and 1990, when the Soviet military was withdrawing from Afghanistan –– rework the classic Soviet poster tradition, situating it in a new context. Alexander Barkovsky and Alexander Fedorov painted their works in the aesthetics of contemporary pop art. Their pieces also reinterpret cotton symbols in a new way, placing them in unexpected visual contexts that correlate to current events and cultural codes.
Another attribute of the cotton industry that cannot be ignored is the systemic violation of human rights and the exploitation of child labor; its roots date back to the middle of the twentieth century. This facet of the cotton industry is illustrated in the exhibition by Timur Karpov’s documentary photographs and the film “COTTON100%,” which he coauthored with director Mikhail Borodin.