Holiday #396: Samarkand

Following a trip to Zurich, Holiday continues eastward and heads for Uzbekistan, specifically Samarkand. The writer Pauline Klein returned from her journey there with a brand-new piece, the director of the Tashkent Center for Contemporary Art Sara Raza shares her views in a lengthy interview about the new creative scene in Central Asia, Delphine Valloire tells the amazing story of the collector Igor Savitsky and — among other stories about local wrestlers, artists and artisans — the filmmaker Furkat Usmanov describes his childhood in the city, whose mere name evokes a string of readymade dreams made up of caravanserais, Persian bazaars and hazily drawn Silk Roads — fantasies that today must be compared to the reality of a fast-changing city and country.

That’s something that photography also makes possible. Hill & Aubrey, Brett Lloyd, Rich Stapleton and Olivier Kervern have brought back their visions of the place and its people, added to by a portfolio from the Uzbek photographer Hassan Kurbanbaev. A body of work enhanced by contributions from Drew Vickers, Dougal Macarthur, Crista Leonard and Matheus Agudelo, as well as Jonathan Frantini, who captures the sheer grace of Mona Tougaard. And since the world is a vast place, Jack Pierson delivers a perspective from afar: a panorama of the New York artists and other figures who keep the city in motion.