b. 1981, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Saodat Ismailova was born in 1981 in Tashkent. She lives and works in Tashkent and Paris. Ismailova studied cinema and has made feature and documentary films that have won awards at various international festivals. In 2013, she presented her first video installation “Zuhra” in the Central Asia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Since then, she has focused on the intersection of film and visual arts. In 2022, her work was selected for the 59th Venice Biennale and Documenta 15. Saodat Ismailova is an important voice of the first generation of Central Asian artists coming of age in the post-Soviet era. Her practice explores the rich, complex and multi-layered culture of the region in which she was born. She portrays the spirit of Central Asia, a crossroads of cultures, leaving much space for intuitive insights, stories and music. Ismailova interweaves myths, rituals, dreams and everyday life. She subtly draws our attention to social issues such as environmental concerns and women's right to decide whether to wear the burqa. Women's identity and emancipation is a recurring theme in her work. Women play an important role in preserving cultural and spiritual heritage, passing on stories and customs from mother to daughter from generation to generation.Recent exhibitions include the 15th Sharjah Biennale (2023), 59th Venice Biennale (2022), Documenta 15 (2022), and solo exhibitions at Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam (2023) and Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing (2023). Saodat Ismailova's works are in the collections of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Frac Ile-de-France in Paris, the Almaty Museum of Art and the Tselinniy Center for Contemporary Culture in Almaty.