A Vision of Ecological and Cultural Renewal in Uzbeikstan

“We hope in the future our Aral Sea will be full again,” said Aygul Pirnazanova, head of the ethnographic department at the Savitsky Museum of Art, distilling the collective ambition of the inaugural Aral Culture Summit (ACS), held last month.

Spearheaded by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), the summit, held this year in Nukus, the capital city of the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan, unfolded in a region emblematic of resilience and ecological trauma. Once a thriving hub of biodiversity and economic activity, the Aral Sea is now considered the site of one of the greatest man-made environmental catastrophes in history. In the 1960s, the Soviet Union diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers to support large-scale cotton production. By the ’80s, the Aral Sea had shrunk to less than half its original size; it measures now at just 10 percent of its pre-’60s size. The fish vanished, the air filled with toxic dust, and livelihoods crumbled. This collapse was not only ecological—it was also cultural.

Once bustling fishing towns like Muynak were left stranded on desert plains, their economies hollowed and their identities in flux. At its core, the ACS seeks to explore how arts, cultural heritage, and design can support environmental regeneration and strengthen a community facing a profound crisis.

Adapting to Climate Change

During the two-day summit attended by roughly 500 people, panels focusing on practical questions of environmental restoration showcased how culture could contribute to the region’s renewal. Ivana Živković, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), highlighted efforts to restore life to the degraded landscape, for instance, through climate resilience and afforestation projects. UNDP initiatives now span millions of hectares in Uzbekistan, aiming to stabilize the soil and bring vegetation back to the desertified seabed. But for these developments to be viable in the long term, local culture, values, and traditions must be part of the development agenda. “The power of culture in shaping sustainable societies is immense,” Živković explained, as culture shapes how people interact with their environment. Policies and projects aligned with local cultural practices and values are more likely to succeed.

For Elena Kan, the executive director of the NGO KIVA Center for Agroinnovations, the issue is just as much about shifting mindsets. “A big issue is the generation of Soviet-era farming,” she explained, adding that many farmers still follow old practices designed for cultivating cotton and wheat. Encouraging innovation without dismissing inherited knowledge, KIVA works with local agriculturalists on the whole process, from seed selection to marketing. “Although it feels easier for them to do things in the same way,” Khan said, “the farmers are open to innovation.”

In the design field, Kazakh biodesigner Dana Molzhigit is similarly looking to the past to find possible areas for insight “We are taking inspiration from ancient wisdom. … There are secret messages in carpets,” she told the ACS. Her “ Loops” project, a set of regionally inspired carpets made using bioremediating pigments that alter their environments on a micro level, shows how local design traditions can be tools for environmental healing.

Bas Smets, a Belgian landscape architect who was one of the summit’s keynote speakers, challenged the audience to think small. “The key is understanding climate as microclimates,” he said. “When we look at [climate change] figures as a whole, it’s hard to know what to do.”

In thinking of architecture as a means for adaptation, Smets pointed to his past work in Bahrain, where architectural features such as mother-of-pearl benches and shaded trails recall the island’s maritime heritage and help cool its urban environment. In Arles, France, his interventions helped reduce the perceived temperature by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. He suggested that similar techniques could provide “oases within the urban fabric” of Nukus.

Dubai-based architect Wael Al Awar similarly urged a return to local materials and vernacular solutions, asking the audience, “What materials could be adapted to the Aral Sea region to combat climate issues?” In the Gulf, where “the local landscape is salt,” he was able to produce a carbon-absorbing cement from the brine produced in desalination.

The Aral School, a new postgraduate design research initiative announced at the summit, will heed Al Awar’s suggestion, bringing together participants from Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, and abroad to look to the local landscape and traditions as the seeds of innovation. The school is expected to present innovative solutions for ecological and social regeneration, along with information on early stages of implementation, at the next summit.

But many of the voices gathered for ACS were outside ones. In one panel, Aric Chen, the artistic director of Rotterdam’s Nieuwe Instituut, noted the lack of local community representation on the panel discussing heritage as a catalyst for climate action, highlighting a broader issue of inclusion. Artist Saidbek Sabirbayev, the lone Karakalpak voice on a design-focused panel, was given less time than others.

Protecting and Promoting Cultural Heritage

While the land continues to dry, Karakalpakstan’s cultural heritage remains rich—albeit, increasingly at risk.

Karakalpakstan is home to over 200 archaeological sites, some dating as far back as the 6th century BCE. “Ruins can be destroyed by ecological conditions,” said Oktyabr Dospanov, head of the archaeology department at the Savitsky Museum . Few local experts are trained to protect them, however, underscoring the need for global collaboration. Encouragingly, the Geneva-based Aliph Foundation, which announced Uzbekistan last month as its newest member state, launched a regional call at the ACS for proposals to help safeguard cultural heritage from climate-related threats.

Beyond mere preservation concerns, a new wave of digital creators is shaping the image of Karakalpakstan. Among the most visible is Guljakhan Kalmuratova, founder of Qarashay.kr, the first Karakalpak-language travel blog on YouTube. A solo traveler who has explored multiple countries, she started the channel to fill a cultural void. “I wanted people to know that Karakalpakstan exists,” she said. “Through my content, they were able to know where we are on the map.”

Kanat Abdikarimov, an advocate for developing Karakalpak-language Wikipedia and digital platforms, wants to take it a step further, emphasizing that Karakalpakstan should be open to the evolution of its culture in the hands of younger generations. “We should acknowledge that in our cultures there are pluses and minuses,” he said. “The new generation will see the world differently.”

The Past, Present and Future of Karakalpakstan

The ACS and ACDF, though, said they want to be practical in their approach to the near-term future. The summit is promoted to be “a kind of cultural start-up” that “shifts reality,” as opposed to “a conventional conference,” evidenced by its frequency. “By holding the summit every 18 months, we create a meaningful rhythm to return, reflect, and build on progress,” Gayane Umerova, the ACDF’s artistic director, told ARTn ews, “It gives time for ideas to mature, for projects to gain traction, and for real environmental and social transformation to take root.”

Beyond the summit, Umerova announced a raft of ACDF initiatives , including an art residency program in Tashkent. The most tangible of these for the residents of Nukus, though, will be the planned regeneration of Istiqlol Park, which is set to become the future headquarters of the ACS. The park, one of the few green spaces in the city, will be transformed under the auspices of ACDF into a community hub that integrates sustainable practices with cultural programming.

It’s worth noting just how much Karakalpakstan’s culture was celebrated as distinct at the summit, given that the region was the site of rare protests in 2022 over constitutional amendments that would end its autonomous status and its right to secede . Some choices by organizers, however, such as the selection of a Moscow-based gastronomic team to provide an admittedly delicious creative take on local cuisine felt like a missed opportunity to celebrate homegrown talent.

The ACS comes at a moment that has significant liberal reforms under Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, though his administration is nonetheless characterized by keeping a strong centralized governance. W hether the people of Karakalpakstan, more broadly, will have their say on the future of the Aral Sea in general was not raised at the summit.

Mirziyoyev’s tenure has seen Uzbekistan’s government invest heavily in the cultural sphere, with ACDF founded under his leadership in 2017. Since then, it has been a force on the global stage, with its ongoing initiatives including the restoration of the State Museum of Art in Tashkent, as well as organizing exhibitions at international institutions like the Louvre. The ACDF has also commissioned the Uzbekistan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale since its first participation, at the architecture edition in 2021.

This calendar year alone will see Uzbekistan participate in the World Expo Osaka and the Venice Architecture Biennale, host its first-ever art biennial in Bukhara , and the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference in Samarkand, an event that has not been held outside of Paris in 40 years. While this significant investment in the arts may be understood part of a broader effort to enhance the country’s international image, Uzbekistan has begun to stake its claim to a place in the global cultural conversation.

The ACS represents Karakalpakstan, the country’s long neglected and poorest region, getting a piece of the action. Many international participants likely hadn’t heard of Karakalpakstan before attending. That may be exactly the point.

For Sabirbayev, who was born and raised in the region, he explained, “the Aral Sea is our problem and my pain. The summit attracted me because [the majority] of my works are related to the Aral Sea and Karakalpakstan. I hope that where there is attention, there will be results.”