17.12.25
Saodat Ismailova
Saodat Ismailova, Amanat at Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art New York, USA. Opening: January 21, 6-8PM
In Amanat, Uzbek artist and filmmaker Saodat Ismailova presents films and installations that unfold along the fault lines of Central Asian landscapes steeped in ritual and myth, shifting borders and migration, and the invisible forces of empire shaping the psycho-material terrains of the present. The exhibition revolves around the world premiere of the first iteration of Ismailova’s newly commissioned film Amanat (2026), whose title references that which is entrusted in one’s care, and denotes a sacred responsibility that demands to be honored, protected, and passed on. The film marks the concluding chapter of Ismailova’s long-term engagement with Arslanbob, a vast walnut forest in present-day Kyrgyzstan, revered for centuries as a spiritual site. Through the prism of its cosmologies and ecologies, Amanatconsiders how memory is metabolized in moments of profound cultural and political change, asking what becomes (un)speakable when the very conditions of belief come under pressure. Amanat is co-commissioned by Swiss Institute, LUMA Foundation, and Kunsthalle Bern. Following the presentation at SI, the exhibition will travel in an expanded form to LUMA Arles and conclude at Kunsthalle Bern.
Tags: exhibition
