From September 12, 2024, to January 12, 2025, Pirelli HangarBicocca will present "A Seed Under Our Tongue," a comprehensive showcase of the work of Saodat Ismailova, a recognized filmmaker and artist from the first post-Soviet generation in Uzbekistan.
Ismailova, a front-runner of her generation, seamlessly blends cinema, sound, and visual art to create striking installations that aim to evoke the force of nature, the impact of colonialism, and the delicate balance between humanity and the environment. Drawing inspiration both from her Central Asian roots and personal experiences, Ismailova weaves together collective memory, ancestral knowledge and the representation of femininity to create art that reflects on universal values.
“I think cinema is like a vessel that carries and remembers everything”, Ismailova reflects.
"A Seed Under Our Tongue," curated by Roberta Tenconi, presents a selection of Ismailova's work, including new pieces commissioned specifically for the exhibition. It creates a complex and multi-layered scene, evoking numerous narratives and focusing on the notion and ramifications of transmission, whether it encompasses knowledge, tales, memories or landscapes.
The exhibition's title is a direct reference to the power of storytelling and the transmission of knowledge across generations. It is based on an oral narrative about a date seed hidden under the tongue and passed down through different epochs and people until it itself is transformed. Ismailova emphasizes a sense of responsibility for both past and future generations, as encapsulated in her statement, "we are responsible for the seven generations before us and the seven generations to come after us." This core concept is explored through twelve works, including six films and seven sculptures.The artist’s work often explores the cyclical nature of time, drawing parallels between the past, present, and future. By focusing on themes of transmission and loss, the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the fragility of our world and the importance of preserving cultural heritage.
The exhibition’s structure reflects on the histories of Central Asia’s two major rivers, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya. It opens with Stains of Oxus (2016), a film that follows the course of the Amu Darya/Oxus River and captures the dreams of the people who live along its banks. The film highlights the issue of water mismanagement in the region. At the opposite end of the exhibition is Arslanbob (2023-24), Ismailova’s latest film in progress shot in the eponymous forest in southern Kyrgyzstan and on the adjacent Sulaiman-too Mountain, an ancient place of worship.
Two back-to-back projection areas loop four films in the center of the room. The Haunted (2017) is a symbolic encounter with the Turkestan tiger, extinct as a result of modern Soviet industrialization, becoming a metaphor for the richness of all languages, memories, and landscapes that are vanishing or being reshaped by systems of control and dominance. The film is paired with 18,000 Worlds (2023), based on the artist's editing of archival footage and the 12th-century Persian philosopher al-Suhrawardi's belief that we live in one of the 18.000 worlds that make up the universe.On the opposite side, Chillahona (2022) alternates with Two Horizons (2017). Premiered at the 2022 Venice Biennale, the first is a vertical three-channel video installation accompanied by a large embroidery, which brings elements of the film into the textile. The film addresses themes of emptiness and disorder that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union during the Perestroika period in Uzbekistan.
Surrounding these films, sculptures and installations, including "Amanat," "A Guide," and "The Mountain Our Bodies Emptied," materialize and expand upon the stories and themes seen in the moving images. An example is The Haunted (2024), that visually interprets and transforms the homonymous film from 2017 into a silk velour panel, engaging with local artisans and traditional art forms. The exhibition concludes with the shape of Mount Sulaiman-Too, cut out and embroidered on the entrance curtain, it welcomes visitors and becomes a lens through which to experience the exhibition's journey.
Cover Image: Saodat Ismailova, The Mountain Our Bodies Emptied, 2024 (Scan still), Resin, 10 x 70 x 26 cm, Lidar scan by Stefano Zeni, Out of RAM, Commissioned and produced by Pirelli HangarBicocca Courtesy the Artist.