‘Loy qo’llar / Where do the plants sleep?' - a video installation will be shown at the Bukhara Biennial from 5 September to 20 November 2025.

The work was created in Uzbekistan in 2024−2025 and explores connections between growing food and collective practices. It was built through dialogues and friendship of eight people. We worked together, met regularly to share what we’re going through, generate ideas, plant seeds, read and write. Being from different backgrounds, we listened and responded to each other, in the form of image and poetry.

The video includes collective recordings, sound and poetry created with care. The atmosphere of the installation resembles the places where we usually meet. It connects viewers with our ways of life: life with (in) nature, between grass and sky, trees and mountains, gardens and streets.

Thinking together through Mahmoud Darwish’s poem and @tasnemaaed's reflections, through feelings on earth and land that inspire us, with dirty hands (‘loy qo’llar'), we are introducing you to the work.

The work locates in Gavkushon Madrasa. It is designed with Bukharian handmade carpets, plants from local bazaar and ceramics by Hasan Sharipov from Gijduvon.

We hope you feel here as a part of our shared experience. You can take off your shoes, rest and eat snacks. Please be gentle with the space and other visitors. The video exists in four languages (UZ / TJ / EN / RU), they change regularly.

People who worked on the video:
Gulnoza Irgasheva
Amalia Aibusheva
Anastasia Garbuz
Denis (Gafiyatullin) Volkov
Ksenia Gorbacheva
Rusudan Mirobzalova
Shakhrizoda Ergasheva
Sofia Seitkhalil

Thanks to the Bukhara Biennial team:
Artistic director Diana Campbell
Assistant curator Timur Zolotoev
Producer Asli Samadova

Thanks for the assistance: Oyjon Khayrullayeva

The Bukhara Biennial was commissioned by Gayane Umerova, the Chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation