In conversation with curator of the show, Irina Bourmistrova

I am aware that the idea of “all women” show is a minefield, because of the dilemma being viewed through the lens of gender. But women are underrepresented in the art world and we must do something about gender disparity. After more than three years of working as a curator for Andakulova Gallery, I learned that audiences in the UAE still know very little about contemporary art from the Central Asian and even less about women’s art practices there. Natalya Andakulova and I, as two women running the gallery, always felt indebted to our creative sisters and wanted to showcase female artists from Central Asia and acknowledge their work, their identity and their diverse art practices by organizing all women show in Dubai. The artists in our exhibition are at various stages of their careers and range from their 20s to their late 70s. The exhibition will reflect on what it means to be a female artist working today in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and show works of female artists as they concentrate on the search for self-expression and visual articulation from a woman’s perspective.

The exhibition brings together artworks of female artists that have been moving creatively between traditional and modern, historical and contemporary vision. In this exhibition instead of using formal curatorial tools based on chronology or theme, the show is set up with female agency as an organizing principle and adds relational dialogue through the undercurrent of interconnecting stories. In the fabric of the exhibition there are visible and invisible correspondences between the works as well as general and more private connections between the participating artists.