Bukhara (TDI): The artists are from world over but the assignment was to collaborate with local craftspeople and place their effort at the center of this largest art biennale of the region.
Titled Recipes for Broken Hearts, the event is running from September 5 to November 20, 2025, in Bukhara.
More than 200 artists from some 39–40 countries are coming together in historic caravanserais, madrasas, mosques, and newly restored heritage sites to explore themes of healing, loss, and belonging.
Curated by Diana Campbell, with architecture direction by Wael Al Awar and commissioned by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) under Gayane Umerova, the biennale is a multi-sensory feast.
Each artistic project has been specially commissioned and made in Uzbekistan, in collaboration between international artists and local artisans; blending contemporary art, traditional craft, music, food, performance, and architecture.
Central to the biennale’s theme is a local legend: that the noted polymath Ibn Sina, born in Bukhara, invented palov (or plov), Uzbekistan’s signature dish, to heal the broken heart of a prince barred from marrying a craftsman’s daughter.
Read More: Uzbekistan’s Pilgrimage Tourism Is Gaining Momentum
Drawing from this myth, the event treats food not just as nourishment but as metaphor: for emotional healing, cultural memory, and collective restoration.
The architecture of Bukhara is also part of the story. Key centuries-old landmarks have undergone restoration to become stages for the biennale’s installations, performances, and communal gatherings.
Café Oshqozon has become the center of attention, where Uzbek and international chefs are changing places on alternate weekends. Other projects have turn ingredients into art; invoking shared culinary traditions and emphasizing craftsmanship in food preparation.
The historic city of Bukhara has become a walking artistic landscape, where awe-inspiring, larger-than-life art installations are healing visitors and artists alike.
The event itself is reshaping Uzbekistan’s identity. A London-based Uzbek artist, Aziza Kadyri, captured this shift in her words when she said “Five years ago, it was hard to imagine something like this happening.
“It’s like a dream to incorporate my work here,” she added.
Established in December 2008, The Diplomatic Insight is Pakistan’s premier diplomacy and foreign affairs magazine, available in both digital and print formats.
