Maria Redaelli's presentation examines the strategies through which Uzbekistan has redefined its cultural heritage by focusing on the exhibitions presented at the Venice Biennale. Maria will start with an analysis of the Central Asian Pavilion (2005-2013), which featured artists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, investigating how the pavilion articulated a shared regional identity while negotiating national cultural narratives. She will then trace the transition from this regional framework to the establishment of distinct national pavilions, paying special attention to the Uzbekistan National Pavilion. Officially participating in the Venice Biennale since 2021, the Uzbekistan National Pavilion is located in the Arsenale, one of the Biennale’s two main venues, and has been featured in both the International Art Exhibition and the International Architecture Exhibition. Through these case studies, Maria will explore how exhibition-making has become a key instrument in constructing, communicating and governing narratives of cultural heritage and national identity within the global exhibition platforms.
Maria Redaelli (PhD in History of Arts, 2022) conducts research on museum practices, exhibition-making and the re-contextualisation of Soviet and Central Asian visual cultures. Her work investigates how exhibitions and museum displays contribute to the reinterpretation of cultural heritage and the negotiation of regional and national identities in contemporary Central Asia. As a curator, she has collaborated on international exhibitions and museum projects, including Uzbekistan: Avant-Garde in the Desert (Venice–Florence, 2024), and the development and production of new permanent displays at the State Museum of Arts of Karakalpakstan in Nukus (2024–2025) and the Bukhara Museum of Fine Arts (2025). She has also contributed to the development of exhibitions, public engagement programmes, and research initiatives in Venice, including in her role as Subject Lead in the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage at Ca’ Foscari University and as Lecturer on Contemporary Exhibition Practices in the Countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus in the Summer School in Contemporary Art and Curatorship.
The talk will begin promptly at 3:15 pm (GMT), allowing time for people to arrive from across campus and further afield.