Paths of Light

Paths of Light

"Paths of Light", Saodat Ismailova’s first Canadian exhibition, focuses on ancestral traditions, rituals, myths, and the post-Soviet heritage in Central Asia.

Ancestral traditions, rituals, myths, and the post-Soviet heritage in Central Asia

Saodat Ismailova’s video installations and documentary films often associate archives and oral accounts with scenes she creates and films in different places in Central Asia, particularly in her country Uzbekistan. The themes of memory, spirituality, immortality, and extinction, especially in regards to the position of women, play an essential role in this work marked by history and poetry. Ismailova’s career is currently flourishing with recent exhibitions at the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam (2023) and the Pirelli Foundation in Milan (2024–25), as well as presentations at the Venice Biennale (2013, 2022, 2024) and Documenta 15 (2022). She divides her time between Paris and Tashkent.