Khadim Ali, represented by Latitude 28, is participating at the inaugural edition of the Bukhara Biennial 2025, curated by Diana Campbell and organized by the Arts and Culture Development Foundation under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Titled Recipes for Broken Hearts, this first edition unfolds from September 5 to November 20, 2025, across Bukhara’s newly restored heritage spaces, marking the city’s most significant contemporary art initiative to date.
A Monumental Tapestry of Heritage and Memory
For the Biennial, Ali presents a monumental two-part tapestry, created in close collaboration with embroiderer Sanjar Nazarov and a group of Afghan embroiderers who choose to remain anonymous to safeguard their artistic practice. Forged at the intersection of craft, poetry, and myth, the work draws deeply from Persian epic poetry and the artist’s Hazara heritage. Anchored to the wall, the tapestry shimmers with embossed metal work, created in collaboration with blacksmith Said Kamolov, and features passages of poetry by the revered 10th-century Persian poet Rudaki, evoking the fragrance of wind in Bukhara.
At its heart, this work tells the story of the Simurgh, the benevolent mythical bird that has guided humanity across generations through periods of profound grief and loss. Ali invokes the Simurgh as a symbol of resilience, transformation, and maternal care. In his own words, “After losing my mother, I began to see her in Simurgh—a healer of broken hearts, a presence that soothes the ache of longing, and a mother who returns in silence.”
Bukhara Biennial: A Global Platform Rooted in Craft
As a UNESCO Creative City of Craft and Folk Art, Bukhara provides a powerful landscape for this inaugural biennial. Commissioned by Gayane Umerova, Chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, the Biennial brings together international artists to collaborate directly with master artisans from Uzbekistan. This dialogue between contemporary practices and indigenous craft traditions not only revitalizes heritage forms but also positions Bukhara as a new node in the global map of contemporary art.
LATITUDE 28: Driving Cultural Discourse
Founded in 2010 by Bhavna Kakar, LATITUDE 28 has redefined contemporary gallery practice by championing experimental material practices and emerging voices from South Asia. Through capacity-building programs, curated exhibitions, and cross-institutional collaborations, the gallery has become a catalyst for cultural exchange across borders. By supporting artists like Khadim Ali—whose practice straddles tradition, myth, and the realities of war and displacement—LATITUDE 28 extends its vision of art as a dynamic site of socio-political dialogue.
About the Artist: Khadim Ali
Born in 1978 into the Hazara community of Afghanistan, Khadim Ali’s life and work are deeply entwined with histories of conflict, migration, and loss. His family fled their homeland in Hazarajat during the 19th century and resettled in Quetta, Pakistan, where Ali was born. Trained in miniature painting at the National College of Arts, Lahore, and later completing his Master’s at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Ali has continued to draw from literary sources such as Shahnameh while intertwining them with personal and collective narratives of trauma and resilience.
His works have been exhibited globally at prestigious institutions and events, including Documenta 13, the Sharjah Biennial, the Lahore Biennale, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, among many others. Widely collected by leading museums such as the Guggenheim Museum, New York, the British Museum, London, and the National Gallery of Australia, his work resonates across continents, exploring the fragile interplay between myth, memory, and displacement.
A Continuing Legacy
By presenting Simurgh at the inaugural edition of the Bukhara Biennial, Khadim Ali positions his practice within a space that bridges Bukhara’s medieval literary legacy and the contemporary urgencies of migration, loss, and cultural resilience. Through the synergy of artistic vision and local craftsmanship, the work encapsulates the ethos of the Biennial—art as both a recipe and remedy for broken hearts.
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