Dilyara Kaipova
Born 1967 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She lives and works in Tashkent.
Dilyara Kaipova reinterprets traditional Uzbek abra motifs by mixing them with characters and symbols from modern pop culture, including Mickey Mouse, Captain America, and Darth Vader. These easily recognizable pop culture images are “woven” into abra fabrics and robes creating powerful statements about globalization and its impact on values and national identity. Produced in abra weaving centre in Margilan, each fabric takes several months of artisanal work.
Notable recent exhibitions include solo shows at the Andakulova Gallery Dubai in Dubai (2025), Aspan Gallery in Almaty (2021), State Silk Museum in Tbilisi (2019) and Asanbay Center in Bishkek (2018). Group shows include The Feminine Gaze: Seeing Ourselves and Each Other at the Gazelli Art House in Baku (2025), L’esprit du geste at the Institute des Cultures D’Islam in Paris (2024), FITE Textile Biennale at the Musee Bargoin in Clermont-Ferrand (2024) Power and Ornament – Roving Central Asia at the Mill6 CHAT in Hong Kong (2023), New Visions at the Henie Onstad Triennial for Photography and New Media in Oslo, Being and Belonging at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto (2023), PAXTA, at the 139 Documentary Center in Tashkent (2022), Astana Art Show (2019), Black Animals at the National Gallery of Uzbekistan in Tashkent (2017) and Women in Art in Dubai (2017).
Kaipova’s works are now in collections of State Silk Museum in Tbilisi, National Gallery of Uzbekistan, MARKK museum in Hamburg, Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam, Royal Ontario Museum in Ontario, RISD Museum in Rhode Island, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Mardjani Foundation in Moscow and Völkerkundemuseum vPST in Heidelberg.