The Andakulova Gallery presents Silk and velvet vs warning safety signs, a solo exhibition by renowned Uzbek artist Dilyara Kaipova. Known for her groundbreaking fusion of traditional textile craftsmanship with contemporary themes, Kaipova employs fabric as a powerful medium to interrogate urgent global issues, especially the impact of war and security on our shared future. The show, which examines the intersections of globalisation, identity, and socio-political tension, will be open to the public until 8 April 2025.
At the heart of Kaipova’s latest series is a striking contrast: traditional Uzbek textiles, such as ikat, silk, and velvet robes, interwoven with symbols of global threat, including the radiation warning symbol. By merging the rich, harmonious colours of the Eastern design with stark, often Western-origin imagery, Kaipova invites viewers to contemplate the fragile interplay between beauty, danger, and what lies ahead. Alongside these visually arresting garments, the exhibition displays textile assemblages and kuraki (patchwork), expanding the dialogue on cultural hybridity, aesthetics, and contemporary unease.
Through the exhibited body of work, Kaipova underscores the depth of Central Asia’s cultural heritage and advocates for its preservation even as the forces of global change reshape the world.
About the artist
Dilyara Kaipova (b. 1967, Tashkent) graduated from the Republican Art College in Tashkent in 1990, where she studied at the Department of Art Design. Her early career included work as a painter-decorator at the Uzbek State Music Theatre Mukimi (1998–2013) and as an art director and puppet maker at the educational theatre of the Uzbek State Institute of Arts (2013–2015). Kaipova debuted as a painter in 2001 with an exhibition of pastels at the Ilkhom Theatre in Tashkent, but her focus shifted in the mid-2010s to textile as her primary artistic language.
Her current practice brings together ancient Uzbek textile traditions with modern technologies and characters and symbols from pop culture, reflecting on the tension between the historical and the emerging. In collaboration with master artisans from Margilan in Uzbekistan’s Fergana Valley, Kaipova creates works that transcend clothing: they become conceptual art objects that challenge notions of politics, identity, and cultural continuity.
Kaipova has showcased her art in various solo and group exhibitions in Uzbekistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Norway, New Zealand, China, USA, and the United Arab Emirates. Her works can be found in major public collections, including the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (Cornell University, New York, USA), MARKK Museum (Hamburg, Germany), Royal Ontario Museum (Canada), Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (the Netherlands), and V&A Museum (London, UK), to name a few.
To learn more about Silk and velvet vs warning safety signs, please visit the official website of the Andakulova Gallery.
You might also be interested in attending A Shroud is a Cloth by Adrian Pepe.
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