Uzbekistan is making its inaugural entry into Milan Design Week with a compelling exhibition titled "When Apricots Blossom." Curated by architect Kulapat Yantrasast, this showcase, running from April 20th to 26th at Palazzo Citterio, presents a garden pavilion inspired by a deconstructed yurt. It delves into the rich craft traditions of Uzbekistan, including unique bread-making practices and the artistry of tassel weaving. This debut aims to highlight the country's cultural heritage and its innovative approaches to design in the face of environmental changes.
The exhibition's name, "When Apricots Blossom," draws inspiration from a 1930s poem by Uzbek writer Hamid Olimjon, embodying themes of revitalization and resilience. This narrative is woven throughout the entire display, emphasizing a connection between historical wisdom and contemporary challenges. The initiative was spearheaded by Gayane Umerova, chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), with Yantrasast, founder of WHY Architecture, at the curatorial helm. Their collaborative vision brings to life the cultural significance of design in addressing pressing ecological issues.
A significant focus of the exhibition is the Karakalpakstan region in northwestern Uzbekistan, a region severely affected by the drastic reduction in the Aral Sea's volume—nearly 90 percent since the 1960s. The exhibition not only explores the region's crafts but also features a film titled "Where the Water Ends," directed by Manuel Correa and Marina Otero Verzier. This film, premiering during Milan Design Week, visually narrates the environmental struggles and human resilience in the area, offering a poignant look at the impact of ecological degradation.
Yantrasast's concept for the exhibition emerged from extensive research trips across Uzbekistan, where he identified bread-making, yurt construction, and tassel weaving as pivotal regional crafts. These traditions serve as a lens through which design can engage with environmental adaptation. The exhibition is organized around the fundamental themes of food, shelter, and textiles, illustrating how societies have historically met essential needs using local resources and communal knowledge. This thematic structure underscores the deep connection between culture, environment, and design.
The Garden Pavilion, a central feature of the exhibition, is envisioned as a communal space for dialogues, workshops, and demonstrations. Its design, inspired by traditional nomadic yurts, reinterprets their latticed structure into a lightweight, portable installation. Yantrasast describes the yurt as an embodiment of honest architecture, designed for mobility and to offer protection across diverse landscapes. The pavilion aims to foster conversations about the intersection of craft, ecology, and community, reflecting on how architecture can adapt to environmental shifts and 'hold absence' in response to the Aral Sea's decline.
Beyond the pavilion, the main exhibition space is dedicated to Uzbekistan’s cherished bread-making traditions. It showcases collaborations between twelve international designers, including notable names like Bethan Laura Wood, Fernando Laposse, and Marcin Rusak, and Uzbek and Karakalpak artisans. Together, they have reinterpreted traditional bread trays and 'chekich' stamps—used to imprint patterns onto dough—into contemporary design pieces. Utilizing various materials such as wood, ceramics, felt, and reeds, these works translate regional textures and motifs, displayed amidst undulating, reed-like forms conceptualized by WHY Architecture to evoke the landscapes of Karakalpakstan.
The exhibition also introduces vital initiatives aimed at the Aral Sea region, confronting the challenges posed by environmental degradation to local ecosystems and communities. Among these are the Aral School, a postgraduate program investigating design's role in ecological resilience, and the forthcoming Aral Culture Summit, scheduled for September 2026 in Nukus. These programs underscore a commitment to leveraging design and craft as catalysts for regeneration and sustainable development.
Umerova emphasizes that the exhibition positions traditional crafts and modern design as crucial tools for revitalizing regions impacted by the climate crisis. It aims to highlight the invaluable knowledge and enduring traditions of local communities. She sees the Aral Sea as both a cautionary tale and an opportunity to develop a model for other regions facing severe environmental changes, asserting that design and craft, rooted in human ingenuity and local knowledge, are fundamental to these efforts.