Uzbek Journeys: Dilyara Kaipova Takes on New York

Monday, March 2, 2020

Dilyara Kaipova Takes on New York

Readers of this website know that I think Uzbek textile artist Dilyara Kaipova is the most innovative artist working in Uzbekistan today.

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Traditional hand woven Uzbek chapan (coat) by Dilyara Kaipova with pattern of Edvard Munch's The Scream

Following solo and group exhibitions in Tashkent, Bishkek, Tbilisi, Astana and Almaty, Kaipova is now featured in a New York exhibition New Mythologies of Central Asia at the Sapar Contemporary Gallery.

The exhibition was featured in the Wall Street International weekend edition.

All Kaipova's pieces sold out immediately.

As well as Kaipova, the exhibition includes works of Kazakh Saule Dyussenbina and Aziza Shadenova from Kyrgyzstan. These female artists propose a revisionist art history that inserts both women and Central Asia into the Western art historical canon. They do so with a sense of humor and pictorial confidence while paying homage to traditional ornaments, ancient textile traditions and a deep influence of 20th century Russian avant-garde in Central Asia.

From Sapar's press release: "Encoding Western pop iconography — Batman, Darth Vader, Mickey Mouse, the mask from "Scream" — into the traditional Uzbek textile technique of ikat, Dilyara Kaipova’s artwork comments on the passage of cultural knowledge via global routes.

Traditional hand woven Uzbek chapan (coat) by Dilyara Kaipova with Mickey Mouse design

In the age of the internet, Western mass culture pervades even the most remote regions of the world. Yet milennia-old pre-modern silk road trade routes — an earlier form of networked global culture — carried Uzbekistan’s trademark textile secrets as far as Europe and Tokyo.

The suppression of local traditions under the Soviet rule would have obsolesced the ikat tradition altogether had it not been for a handful of weavers. Kaipova works with these weavers who preserved and perfected the Central Asian textile technique in the bleak and inaccessible Ferghana Valley, often considered the cradle of the weaving tradition. Colorful, thoughtful, critical, and humorous, Kaipova’s work brings older forms of knowledge into the 21st century".

Traditional hand woven Uzbek chapan (coat) by Dilyara Kaipova with Batman design

Kaipova's works are now sold exclusively at the Sapar Gallery, New York and the Aspan Gallery, Almaty. Until 12 April, Kaipova's work is part of the Ornamentum group show of contemporary artists of Central Asia at the Aspan Gallery. What a pity that her work is not truly appreciated, understood and supported in Uzbekistan.

Bravo Dilyara! These exhibitions and gallery relationships will provide her with the means to pursue her artistic vision. Stay tuned for updates about this talented artist.