Every lived moment, every sound heard, every memory forgotten, leaves an indelible impression on us. As time goes by, we become a reflection of each and every moment lived and witnessed throughout our life. Zukhra (Uzbek) – Venus, the planet that grants our wishes - features a young woman on her deathbed, or in a torpid dream that reveals memories and sensations, relating back to the fates of Uzbek women over the course of the 20th century.

The images and sounds that barely register and then disappear in the room of the dormant figure come from the archives and bring back textural echoes from the past, sentences related to the creation of Uzbekistan, the delimitation of borders, the unleashing of Xujum (CPSU program directed towards the emancipation of women in Uzbekistan), and the application of female beauty in political ideology and propaganda. Zukhra attempts to bring to life the spectral image of Central Asian woman, suspended, a woman forgotten - the bearer of beliefs, traditions, stories handed down and skills - the keeper of our identity. The artists believes She still lives dormant in each of one of us, awaiting the awakening.

Several versions exist of the legend of Zukhra. Most often it tells of a girl who is in love but cannot join her beloved one. Having fallen asleep on a boulder by the river, she awakens as a star in the sky. Since then, women have been asking for her help in making their secret desires come true. Another iteration of the legend tells how Zukhra was of unprecedented beauty and how the angels Harut and Marut fell in love with her beauty. But the girl could not reciprocate their love and pretended that it was mutual. She found out the secret name of God from them, and once she uttered it she ascended to the heavens. For her piety and beauty, God turned Zukhra into a planet and gave her permission to rule over the stars and grant women their desires.

“Each night Zuhra slips out of the house in secret.

Her family suspects that the girl has fallen in love.

Once, the girl’s brother decides to follow her, in order to glimpse her secret lover.

He takes a knife with him, to punish his sister.

Zuhra leaves the village and threads her way through the fields and orchards to the mountain.

At the entrance to a cave, she turns around and looks at her brother who at that moment is hiding behind a tree.

She enters the cave and never comes out from there.

Her brother tries to look for her, but Zuhra has disappeared.

‘I am the last source of light, illuminating this world until morning.’

These are the last words she utters, after which she turns into a star.

Since that time, she shines in the firmament together with the moon,

lighting the way for every girl.”

*Zuhra: translated from the Uzbek, means “Venus”, and also “shining, beautiful, bright”; Zuhra is associated with the morning star, which appears for a very short time just above the horizon at dawn. In Uzbekistan, Zuhra is the personification of love. If someone has a cherished desire, they can make a wish to the star at dawn.

I cannot talk to whom I want.

I cannot do what I want.

The spirits rule over me.

If I begin to resist, they will strangle me.

I cannot control them.

The spirits torment me.

How will they find their way in the darkness?

They follow the stars. Just a little more and you will fall, be careful.

For six years, I was held captive in my own body by the spirits.

I cannot describe what is happening to me.

I never thought that human life could be malleable like water…

I was born again out of thin air…

I still cannot be in crowded places.

My grandmother was haunted by a spirit in the form of a white snake.

Once I fell asleep in her orchard.

The snake slithered very close to me and began to twist itself around my body.

Next to my head there were two kettles with water,

It drank some water and slithered away…

This is my destiny…

I have known it since childhood;

I saw them, they followed me like shadows;

Now I belong to them, I am not in control of myself…

I do what they say…

I do not remember what happened to me, only some fragments…

I am compelled to accept their will and control over my soul…

In order to heal and keep on living…

*Excerpts from interviews with two young women, Feruza and Malika, whose souls were possessed by spirits, and who went through the rite of exorcism.

Boysi, Surxandar’ya, Uzbekistan

Every lived moment, every sound heard, every memory forgotten, leaves an indelible impression on us. As time goes by, we become a reflection of each and every moment lived and witnessed throughout our life. Zukhra (Uzbek) – Venus, the planet that grants our wishes - features a young woman on her deathbed, or in a torpid dream that reveals memories and sensations, relating back to the fates of Uzbek women over the course of the 20th century.

The images and sounds that barely register and then disappear in the room of the dormant figure come from the archives and bring back textural echoes from the past, sentences related to the creation of Uzbekistan, the delimitation of borders, the unleashing of Xujum (CPSU program directed towards the emancipation of women in Uzbekistan), and the application of female beauty in political ideology and propaganda. Zukhra attempts to bring to life the spectral image of Central Asian woman, suspended, a woman forgotten - the bearer of beliefs, traditions, stories handed down and skills - the keeper of our identity. The artists believes She still lives dormant in each of one of us, awaiting the awakening.

Several versions exist of the legend of Zukhra. Most often it tells of a girl who is in love but cannot join her beloved one. Having fallen asleep on a boulder by the river, she awakens as a star in the sky. Since then, women have been asking for her help in making their secret desires come true. Another iteration of the legend tells how Zukhra was of unprecedented beauty and how the angels Harut and Marut fell in love with her beauty. But the girl could not reciprocate their love and pretended that it was mutual. She found out the secret name of God from them, and once she uttered it she ascended to the heavens. For her piety and beauty, God turned Zukhra into a planet and gave her permission to rule over the stars and grant women their desires.

“Each night Zuhra slips out of the house in secret.

Her family suspects that the girl has fallen in love.

Once, the girl’s brother decides to follow her, in order to glimpse her secret lover.

He takes a knife with him, to punish his sister.

Zuhra leaves the village and threads her way through the fields and orchards to the mountain.

At the entrance to a cave, she turns around and looks at her brother who at that moment is hiding behind a tree.

She enters the cave and never comes out from there.

Her brother tries to look for her, but Zuhra has disappeared.

‘I am the last source of light, illuminating this world until morning.’

These are the last words she utters, after which she turns into a star.

Since that time, she shines in the firmament together with the moon,

lighting the way for every girl.”

*Zuhra: translated from the Uzbek, means “Venus”, and also “shining, beautiful, bright”; Zuhra is associated with the morning star, which appears for a very short time just above the horizon at dawn. In Uzbekistan, Zuhra is the personification of love. If someone has a cherished desire, they can make a wish to the star at dawn.

I cannot talk to whom I want.

I cannot do what I want.

The spirits rule over me.

If I begin to resist, they will strangle me.

I cannot control them.

The spirits torment me.

How will they find their way in the darkness?

They follow the stars. Just a little more and you will fall, be careful.

For six years, I was held captive in my own body by the spirits.

I cannot describe what is happening to me.

I never thought that human life could be malleable like water…

I was born again out of thin air…

I still cannot be in crowded places.

My grandmother was haunted by a spirit in the form of a white snake.

Once I fell asleep in her orchard.

The snake slithered very close to me and began to twist itself around my body.

Next to my head there were two kettles with water,

It drank some water and slithered away…

This is my destiny…

I have known it since childhood;

I saw them, they followed me like shadows;

Now I belong to them, I am not in control of myself…

I do what they say…

I do not remember what happened to me, only some fragments…

I am compelled to accept their will and control over my soul…

In order to heal and keep on living…

*Excerpts from interviews with two young women, Feruza and Malika, whose souls were possessed by spirits, and who went through the rite of exorcism.

Boysi, Surxandar’ya, Uzbekistan

The video shows an endless panorama at the holy plane tree in the village of Chanori Eshoni Handon in the Varzob Valley, Tajikistan. The locals called this tree the Tree of the Laughing Saint. Since ancient times, the worship of elm, hazel and plane trees was accepted among the women of Central Asia. This action reveals a connection with the ancient Eurasian belief in the tree of life and the cult of the goddess of female fertility. To this day, women visit this bicentennial tree every Friday. Here they appeal to the spirits of their ancestors for support and protection, pray to get pregnant, heal from ailments, and protect themselves from misfortunes. The symbol of the heavenly circle in Uzbek traditional floral embroidery is the central ornament and serves as a talisman for home and family.

Gulaim is a main character of an epic story – Qyrq Qyz (40 Girls), the video is built on a monologue of Gulaim that she addresses to her father Allayar.

She recalls her childhood full of liberty, luxury and care, her being encouraged to become a warrior. Gradually the monologue falls into a weight of patriarchal society and she claims her disagreement to marry a man her father chose for her.

The voice over is accompanied with images that visualize metaphors found in the monologue, shaping an imaginable landscape or a contemporary interpretation of the ancient oral tradition.

Gulaim is a main character of an epic story – Qyrq Qyz (40 Girls), the video is built on a monologue of Gulaim that she addresses to her father Allayar.

She recalls her childhood full of liberty, luxury and care, her being encouraged to become a warrior. Gradually the monologue falls into a weight of patriarchal society and she claims her disagreement to marry a man her father chose for her.

The voice over is accompanied with images that visualize metaphors found in the monologue, shaping an imaginable landscape or a contemporary interpretation of the ancient oral tradition.

Gulaim is a main character of an epic story – Qyrq Qyz (40 Girls), the video is built on a monologue of Gulaim that she addresses to her father Allayar.

She recalls her childhood full of liberty, luxury and care, her being encouraged to become a warrior. Gradually the monologue falls into a weight of patriarchal society and she claims her disagreement to marry a man her father chose for her.

The voice over is accompanied with images that visualize metaphors found in the monologue, shaping an imaginable landscape or a contemporary interpretation of the ancient oral tradition.

1887 – a portrait of the artist’s great great grandmother Safura, who was a teacher of the Persian and Uzbek poetry and a specialist in literature in the city of Turkistan. The photo was taken in Tashkent where the family had been forced to move after the launch of the collectivization program and the repression of male representatives of the family. The calligraphy is a handwritten copy by Safura of a poem by Khodjanazar Huvaido, an 18th-century mystic poet.

1904 – a portrait of the artist’s great grandfather, Abdul Aziz Turkistoni. The photo was made at the Juma Mosque in Kokand, a few hours before he was taken to a repression camp in Siberia as part of the purge of the Central Asian intelligentsia in the 1930s. He spent 11 years in the camp. After the return he continued practicing and writing on Islamic theology in private for the rest of his life. The encrusted piece of writing named ‘The Sacred Stamp’ is made in Arabic calligraphy using the abjad technique (‘abjad’ is a system of transcribing letters into numbers), while the language is a mix of old Uzbek, Persian and Arabic. The content presents specimens of Persian poetry, extracts from the Koranic suras, the names of members of the Prophet’s family and God’s name repeated many times – a rhythmic system known as zekr. He finishes this protective cosmic writing with a statement that it is his creation, and asks the readers to forgive him for the purely imaginative and creative character of his work. From the writing we can infer that it is created to protect the upcoming generations of the author’s family.

1924 – a portrait of the artist’s grandmother, Bibi Rokia, who was the only member of the artist’s family who remained illiterate, as she was considered a child of “enemy of nation”, who was repressed. Nevertheless, she learnt fragments of the Latin, Cyrillic and Arabic alphabets by herself. The writings that are seen on her portrait are evidence of the efforts made by the artist’s grandmother to learn and write the Arabic alphabet on her way to the light of knowledge.

1949 – a portrait of the artist’s mother, Tursun, born in the post-war Uzbek SSR, who taught the history of the Communist Party at school. The only alphabet Tursun knew was Cyrillic. By today she has lost her sight. The artist asked her to describe in writing 11 dreams of hers that she remembered most vividly throughout her life. She did so using big Cyrillic letters, intuitively following the memory of her hands. These dreams are encrusted on her portrait.

Stains of Oxus evokes an oneiric journey through the greatest Central Asian river, Amu Dariya – known in Greek times as Oxus, portraying the transformation of landscape and witnessing people that inhabit its riverbanks, beginning from the high plateau of Tajikistan to the lowland desserts in Uzbekistan where the river finds its end. Uzbekistan where the river finds its longest journey is one of the two land locked countries in the world, making water a sacred element of nature. Stains of Oxus attempts to bring back a memory of how water has been worshiped and taken care in the tradition. A collection of dreams that is by local tradition shared to flowing water, practiced as a first morning ritual is now captured and revealed onto the screen. The images and sounds choreographically edited along documented testimonies, landscape and lifestyles create narration within the three screens. As voices confess their dreams in an unconscious flow, so does the river vibrate uniting countries, languages and traditions on its way from one of its sources in Bulunkul Lake in Murgab, Tajikistan to its death in the Aral Sea, Karakalpakistan. This abstract topographic journey awakes the question of Central Asian ecosystem and landscape, traditions of caring about water and brings up the problem of water mismanagement in the region in a poetic way.

Stains of Oxus evokes an oneiric journey through the greatest Central Asian river, Amu Dariya – known in Greek times as Oxus, portraying the transformation of landscape and witnessing people that inhabit its riverbanks, beginning from the high plateau of Tajikistan to the lowland desserts in Uzbekistan where the river finds its end. Uzbekistan where the river finds its longest journey is one of the two land locked countries in the world, making water a sacred element of nature. Stains of Oxus attempts to bring back a memory of how water has been worshiped and taken care in the tradition. A collection of dreams that is by local tradition shared to flowing water, practiced as a first morning ritual is now captured and revealed onto the screen. The images and sounds choreographically edited along documented testimonies, landscape and lifestyles create narration within the three screens. As voices confess their dreams in an unconscious flow, so does the river vibrate uniting countries, languages and traditions on its way from one of its sources in Bulunkul Lake in Murgab, Tajikistan to its death in the Aral Sea, Karakalpakistan. This abstract topographic journey awakes the question of Central Asian ecosystem and landscape, traditions of caring about water and brings up the problem of water mismanagement in the region in a poetic way.

Two buses cross the horizon driving towards Chillpiq. A group of girls climb the ruins that stand on a mount in the middle of the steppe. They arrived to worship a flagpole that crowns the archeological site, one after the other they bind a cloth on it, as if it would be a tree of life. 40 girls circle around the shrine while the sunset is changing the light to dramatic orange, and blur the girls, making them visually dissolving into the site.

The Haunted is an imaginary encounter with extinct Turkestan tiger, that fell as a victim during colonization of Central Asia. Today the tiger keeps on living in the collective memory and dreams of local people, as a sacred archetype.

The Haunted is an imaginary encounter with extinct Turkestan tiger, that fell as a victim during colonization of Central Asia. Today the tiger keeps on living in the collective memory and dreams of local people, as a sacred archetype.

The Haunted is an imaginary encounter with extinct Turkestan tiger, that fell as a victim during colonization of Central Asia. Today the tiger keeps on living in the collective memory and dreams of local people, as a sacred archetype.

Two Horizons is a two-screen video that speculates between ancient Turkic legend and soviet space travel program. The First Shaman of the Great Eurasian Steppe – Qorqut tried to escape Death throughout his life. It appeared to him as a seven years old boy. The only way for Qorqut to escape Death and achieve immortality was to levitate, hence beating gravity. It occurred in the southern edge of the Great Steppe. Locals venerate this place, as they believe that Qorqut revealed umbilical navel of the Earth. Later in the middle of the XX century this same place became known to the world as Baikonur, Soviet Union’s Space Station. Where the First Human defied gravity in mission Vostok - 1, traveling to space in the search of eternal life.

Two Horizons is a two-screen video that speculates between ancient Turkic legend and soviet space travel program. The First Shaman of the Great Eurasian Steppe – Qorqut tried to escape Death throughout his life. It appeared to him as a seven years old boy. The only way for Qorqut to escape Death and achieve immortality was to levitate, hence beating gravity. It occurred in the southern edge of the Great Steppe. Locals venerate this place, as they believe that Qorqut revealed umbilical navel of the Earth. Later in the middle of the XX century this same place became known to the world as Baikonur, Soviet Union’s Space Station. Where the First Human defied gravity in mission Vostok - 1, traveling to space in the search of eternal life.

Her Right is a video patchwork created from Uzbek fiction films from 1927 until 1985, focusing on hujum (unveiling complain). A period in the history when women found themselves flattened in-between traditional society and an imposed state ideology, risking their lives to resist the new foreign government. Both veiled and unveiled women feared harassment – the veiled by the new regime, the unveiled by traditionalists. For most of them it was a century of emotional and social displacement. The women’s emancipation remained the major subject for Uzbek Soviet cinema. After the fall of the USSR majority of the films of the Soviet era were not accessible to the public, as their ideological target didn’t fit the newly shaped republic. Among rarely accessible mute films that were used in Her Right, there are also iconic films of Ali Khamraev Without Fear and The Fire Roads by Shukhrat Abbasov.

The video shows the faces of forty girls during casting for the leading role in Saodat Ismailova's theatrical piece Qyrq Qyz (2018).

The video shows the faces of forty girls during casting for the leading role in Saodat Ismailova's theatrical piece Qyrq Qyz (2018).

Chyltan (chyl – forty, tan – bodies) - the 40 spirits, the spirits

of the protectress - is the central figure in Uzbek and Tajik female cleansing and restorative rituals. This work is made up of 40 chachvans (sochvon, chimmbat, chashmband) – nets for covering the female face woven from horsetails. The chachvan was used as the symbol of the political campaign Xujum (storming or attack), which was started in 1924 and directed at the liberation of the women of Soviet Turkestan from serfdom, in order to bring them out into public life and increase the USSR’s workforce. The campaign was expected to last just six months, but continued for more than 30 years and ranks as one of the cruelest local events of the last century. The chachvan, all but forgotten now, carries with it a message from a hundred years ago and is a reminder of the price paid for today’s freedoms. Chachvans of different sizes and quality, with torn fragments, darns and patches, salty streaks from sweat or tears, bear witness to the lives of their owners.

Each chachvan has a name, chosen from among the female pantheon of spirits of Chyltan, from Jadid women (a progressive, educational movement at the beginning of the 20th century in Central Asia), women who made a name in the art of Uzbekistan, as well as women from the artist’s own family. The chachvans in the artist’s collection date back over 70 years. The craft of weaving such horsehair nets has died out today. The neon objects concealed behind several chachvans are a female name written in three different alphabets and rendered in abstract form. Over the course of the 20th century, the alphabet in Uzbekistan was changed six times.

1. Mariyam	11. Zuhra	21. Safura	31. Nishonbuva
2. Hairinisa	12. Zaynab	22. Nodira	32. Odilbibi
3. Tursunoy	13. Rayxon	23. Lutfiya	33. Mafriat
4. Nurxon	14. Munavvar	24. Dil’nura	34. Raxbaroy
5. Gulaim	15. Sanobar	25. Laylo	35. Oysha
6. Bibicha	16. Hatira	26. Dilorom	36. Roza
7. Gulchexra	17. Gul’bon	27. Tamara	37. Muriabibi
8. Miskol	18. Rokia	28. Nukra	38. Shamsiya
9. Rano	19. Saodat	29. Ulmasay	39. Nukra
10. Kumri	20. Adolat	30. Tojixon	40. Havoxon

Chyltan (chyl – forty, tan – bodies) - the 40 spirits, the spirits

of the protectress - is the central figure in Uzbek and Tajik female cleansing and restorative rituals. This work is made up of 40 chachvans (sochvon, chimmbat, chashmband) – nets for covering the female face woven from horsetails. The chachvan was used as the symbol of the political campaign Xujum (storming or attack), which was started in 1924 and directed at the liberation of the women of Soviet Turkestan from serfdom, in order to bring them out into public life and increase the USSR’s workforce. The campaign was expected to last just six months, but continued for more than 30 years and ranks as one of the cruelest local events of the last century. The chachvan, all but forgotten now, carries with it a message from a hundred years ago and is a reminder of the price paid for today’s freedoms. Chachvans of different sizes and quality, with torn fragments, darns and patches, salty streaks from sweat or tears, bear witness to the lives of their owners.

Each chachvan has a name, chosen from among the female pantheon of spirits of Chyltan, from Jadid women (a progressive, educational movement at the beginning of the 20th century in Central Asia), women who made a name in the art of Uzbekistan, as well as women from the artist’s own family. The chachvans in the artist’s collection date back over 70 years. The craft of weaving such horsehair nets has died out today. The neon objects concealed behind several chachvans are a female name written in three different alphabets and rendered in abstract form. Over the course of the 20th century, the alphabet in Uzbekistan was changed six times.

1. Mariyam	11. Zuhra	21. Safura	31. Nishonbuva
2. Hairinisa	12. Zaynab	22. Nodira	32. Odilbibi
3. Tursunoy	13. Rayxon	23. Lutfiya	33. Mafriat
4. Nurxon	14. Munavvar	24. Dil’nura	34. Raxbaroy
5. Gulaim	15. Sanobar	25. Laylo	35. Oysha
6. Bibicha	16. Hatira	26. Dilorom	36. Roza
7. Gulchexra	17. Gul’bon	27. Tamara	37. Muriabibi
8. Miskol	18. Rokia	28. Nukra	38. Shamsiya
9. Rano	19. Saodat	29. Ulmasay	39. Nukra
10. Kumri	20. Adolat	30. Tojixon	40. Havoxon

Chyltan (chyl – forty, tan – bodies) - the 40 spirits, the spirits

of the protectress - is the central figure in Uzbek and Tajik female cleansing and restorative rituals. This work is made up of 40 chachvans (sochvon, chimmbat, chashmband) – nets for covering the female face woven from horsetails. The chachvan was used as the symbol of the political campaign Xujum (storming or attack), which was started in 1924 and directed at the liberation of the women of Soviet Turkestan from serfdom, in order to bring them out into public life and increase the USSR’s workforce. The campaign was expected to last just six months, but continued for more than 30 years and ranks as one of the cruelest local events of the last century. The chachvan, all but forgotten now, carries with it a message from a hundred years ago and is a reminder of the price paid for today’s freedoms. Chachvans of different sizes and quality, with torn fragments, darns and patches, salty streaks from sweat or tears, bear witness to the lives of their owners.

Each chachvan has a name, chosen from among the female pantheon of spirits of Chyltan, from Jadid women (a progressive, educational movement at the beginning of the 20th century in Central Asia), women who made a name in the art of Uzbekistan, as well as women from the artist’s own family. The chachvans in the artist’s collection date back over 70 years. The craft of weaving such horsehair nets has died out today. The neon objects concealed behind several chachvans are a female name written in three different alphabets and rendered in abstract form. Over the course of the 20th century, the alphabet in Uzbekistan was changed six times.

1. Mariyam	11. Zuhra	21. Safura	31. Nishonbuva
2. Hairinisa	12. Zaynab	22. Nodira	32. Odilbibi
3. Tursunoy	13. Rayxon	23. Lutfiya	33. Mafriat
4. Nurxon	14. Munavvar	24. Dil’nura	34. Raxbaroy
5. Gulaim	15. Sanobar	25. Laylo	35. Oysha
6. Bibicha	16. Hatira	26. Dilorom	36. Roza
7. Gulchexra	17. Gul’bon	27. Tamara	37. Muriabibi
8. Miskol	18. Rokia	28. Nukra	38. Shamsiya
9. Rano	19. Saodat	29. Ulmasay	39. Nukra
10. Kumri	20. Adolat	30. Tojixon	40. Havoxon

The artist asks herself this question and all the women of Central Asia, who lived through the political and ideological changes of the previous century and their echoes, with particular focus on the transformation in changing values associated with the cultural, linguistic and spiritual worlds. The text is written in old Uzbek which used Arabic script.

The video consists of sound and transcription (translation) of the ancient, protective female ritual of cleansing and exorcism kaytarma koch. The ritual was documented in Xujand in the Fergana Valley at the end of the 1990s by ethnographer and musicologist Sultonali Hudayberdiev. Today, such pre-Muslim female rituals are disappearing because they are banned, even though they played a central role in the female worldview and in the way they handled questions of daily life, as well as in the understanding of the specific local cosmology. The text is also of linguistic interest because of its liberal mix of Uzbek and Tajik in the women’s prayers and incantations. The projection of the text on to a kurpacha, the traditional korpe mattress, which is the principal item in a maiden’s dowry and used daily in the life of the peoples of Central Asia, emphasizes the significance of these rituals for the disappearing female world.

Extracts from the recitative Saro Opa, Xujand

Amen, in the beginning is God,

At the end is God,

The apparent is God,

The hidden is God.

The Forty-One and Forty,

The Nine Sultans,

The twelve Imams

The remedy for pain,

The cure for evil.

The spirits assist,

Luqman the Wise,

I ask the Lord of 18 000

worlds for the remedy.

I devote myself to the Spirits,

I sacrifice myself for the regiments of soldiers,

The pure Forty Spirits,

The pure angels.

The Forty are One,

The three hundred and sixty bodies.

God is great.

My black hair is a meadow,

In front of their nobility, I disappear.

O Bibi Fatima, open!

O Bibi Zuhra, open!

Xadija Kibriya, open up!

O Bibi Aysha, open!

Mushkil-Kusha, open!

A wish granter, open!

O Bibi Qissa, open!

An Orphan Daughter, open!

O God, O Dominant!

My time has not yet come,

My life is not over,

I can move my five fingers (on the drum),

I’m alone in this turmoil.

It is you Allah,

Who made me a healer

The video consists of sound and transcription (translation) of the ancient, protective female ritual of cleansing and exorcism kaytarma koch. The ritual was documented in Xujand in the Fergana Valley at the end of the 1990s by ethnographer and musicologist Sultonali Hudayberdiev. Today, such pre-Muslim female rituals are disappearing because they are banned, even though they played a central role in the female worldview and in the way they handled questions of daily life, as well as in the understanding of the specific local cosmology. The text is also of linguistic interest because of its liberal mix of Uzbek and Tajik in the women’s prayers and incantations. The projection of the text on to a kurpacha, the traditional korpe mattress, which is the principal item in a maiden’s dowry and used daily in the life of the peoples of Central Asia, emphasizes the significance of these rituals for the disappearing female world.

Extracts from the recitative Saro Opa, Xujand

Amen, in the beginning is God,

At the end is God,

The apparent is God,

The hidden is God.

The Forty-One and Forty,

The Nine Sultans,

The twelve Imams

The remedy for pain,

The cure for evil.

The spirits assist,

Luqman the Wise,

I ask the Lord of 18 000

worlds for the remedy.

I devote myself to the Spirits,

I sacrifice myself for the regiments of soldiers,

The pure Forty Spirits,

The pure angels.

The Forty are One,

The three hundred and sixty bodies.

God is great.

My black hair is a meadow,

In front of their nobility, I disappear.

O Bibi Fatima, open!

O Bibi Zuhra, open!

Xadija Kibriya, open up!

O Bibi Aysha, open!

Mushkil-Kusha, open!

A wish granter, open!

O Bibi Qissa, open!

An Orphan Daughter, open!

O God, O Dominant!

My time has not yet come,

My life is not over,

I can move my five fingers (on the drum),

I’m alone in this turmoil.

It is you Allah,

Who made me a healer

The video consists of sound and transcription (translation) of the ancient, protective female ritual of cleansing and exorcism kaytarma koch. The ritual was documented in Xujand in the Fergana Valley at the end of the 1990s by ethnographer and musicologist Sultonali Hudayberdiev. Today, such pre-Muslim female rituals are disappearing because they are banned, even though they played a central role in the female worldview and in the way they handled questions of daily life, as well as in the understanding of the specific local cosmology. The text is also of linguistic interest because of its liberal mix of Uzbek and Tajik in the women’s prayers and incantations. The projection of the text on to a kurpacha, the traditional korpe mattress, which is the principal item in a maiden’s dowry and used daily in the life of the peoples of Central Asia, emphasizes the significance of these rituals for the disappearing female world.

Extracts from the recitative Saro Opa, Xujand

Amen, in the beginning is God,

At the end is God,

The apparent is God,

The hidden is God.

The Forty-One and Forty,

The Nine Sultans,

The twelve Imams

The remedy for pain,

The cure for evil.

The spirits assist,

Luqman the Wise,

I ask the Lord of 18 000

worlds for the remedy.

I devote myself to the Spirits,

I sacrifice myself for the regiments of soldiers,

The pure Forty Spirits,

The pure angels.

The Forty are One,

The three hundred and sixty bodies.

God is great.

My black hair is a meadow,

In front of their nobility, I disappear.

O Bibi Fatima, open!

O Bibi Zuhra, open!

Xadija Kibriya, open up!

O Bibi Aysha, open!

Mushkil-Kusha, open!

A wish granter, open!

O Bibi Qissa, open!

An Orphan Daughter, open!

O God, O Dominant!

My time has not yet come,

My life is not over,

I can move my five fingers (on the drum),

I’m alone in this turmoil.

It is you Allah,

Who made me a healer

The women's propaganda magazine Yangiyo’l was first printed in Uzbekistan in 1925. The title was later changed to O'zbekiston Xotin Qizlar (Women of Uzbekistan) and since 1966 and to the present day the magazine is called Saodat. The work consists of a selection of magazine covers spanning the period from 1951 to 2019, which shows how the image of an ideal woman in Uzbek society has changed over a period of seventy years.

The women's propaganda magazine Yangiyo’l was first printed in Uzbekistan in 1925. The title was later changed to O'zbekiston Xotin Qizlar (Women of Uzbekistan) and since 1966 and to the present day the magazine is called Saodat. The work consists of a selection of magazine covers spanning the period from 1951 to 2019, which shows how the image of an ideal woman in Uzbek society has changed over a period of seventy years.

The women's propaganda magazine Yangiyo’l was first printed in Uzbekistan in 1925. The title was later changed to O'zbekiston Xotin Qizlar (Women of Uzbekistan) and since 1966 and to the present day the magazine is called Saodat. The work consists of a selection of magazine covers spanning the period from 1951 to 2019, which shows how the image of an ideal woman in Uzbek society has changed over a period of seventy years.

Chillahona tells a story of a young woman who has self-isolated inside of an ancient cell of seclusion in one of the oldest cemeteries of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The woman in her mid 30’s is going through a critical moment of her life; in a state of full apathy she is questioning her life, which seems meaningless to her. Her monologue narrates an act of exorcism chasing out her doubts, fears and memories. An episode of violence in her past might have brought depression or she might have been possessed by spirits calling her to accept her vocation as clairvoyant.

The story follows a gradual transformation of the character into a new body that goes through a ritual of purification and metamorphosis: from mineral and animal worlds through different steps of self discovery culminating in a new awakening or new life.

The experience inside of the chillahona slowly unravels and opens up to different landscapes and spaces where the soul of the character travels and is pictured in the film. As some local traditions say: there are
360 000 worlds and we are living in one of them, but inside the chillahona, the hidden becomes visible and the sacred is unveiled.

The work tells a story of search and spiritual journey covering ancient pre islamic rituals, ancestral knowledge and local understanding of the cycle of life and its possible alternatives through the critical moments of one’s personal life.

Chillahona tells a story of a young woman who has self-isolated inside of an ancient cell of seclusion in one of the oldest cemeteries of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The woman in her mid 30’s is going through a critical moment of her life; in a state of full apathy she is questioning her life, which seems meaningless to her. Her monologue narrates an act of exorcism chasing out her doubts, fears and memories. An episode of violence in her past might have brought depression or she might have been possessed by spirits calling her to accept her vocation as clairvoyant.

The story follows a gradual transformation of the character into a new body that goes through a ritual of purification and metamorphosis: from mineral and animal worlds through different steps of self discovery culminating in a new awakening or new life.

The experience inside of the chillahona slowly unravels and opens up to different landscapes and spaces where the soul of the character travels and is pictured in the film. As some local traditions say: there are
360 000 worlds and we are living in one of them, but inside the chillahona, the hidden becomes visible and the sacred is unveiled.

The work tells a story of search and spiritual journey covering ancient pre islamic rituals, ancestral knowledge and local understanding of the cycle of life and its possible alternatives through the critical moments of one’s personal life.

Chillahona tells a story of a young woman who has self-isolated inside of an ancient cell of seclusion in one of the oldest cemeteries of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The woman in her mid 30’s is going through a critical moment of her life; in a state of full apathy she is questioning her life, which seems meaningless to her. Her monologue narrates an act of exorcism chasing out her doubts, fears and memories. An episode of violence in her past might have brought depression or she might have been possessed by spirits calling her to accept her vocation as clairvoyant.

The story follows a gradual transformation of the character into a new body that goes through a ritual of purification and metamorphosis: from mineral and animal worlds through different steps of self discovery culminating in a new awakening or new life.

The experience inside of the chillahona slowly unravels and opens up to different landscapes and spaces where the soul of the character travels and is pictured in the film. As some local traditions say: there are
360 000 worlds and we are living in one of them, but inside the chillahona, the hidden becomes visible and the sacred is unveiled.

The work tells a story of search and spiritual journey covering ancient pre islamic rituals, ancestral knowledge and local understanding of the cycle of life and its possible alternatives through the critical moments of one’s personal life.

Chillahona tells a story of a young woman who has self-isolated inside of an ancient cell of seclusion in one of the oldest cemeteries of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The woman in her mid 30’s is going through a critical moment of her life; in a state of full apathy she is questioning her life, which seems meaningless to her. Her monologue narrates an act of exorcism chasing out her doubts, fears and memories. An episode of violence in her past might have brought depression or she might have been possessed by spirits calling her to accept her vocation as clairvoyant.

The story follows a gradual transformation of the character into a new body that goes through a ritual of purification and metamorphosis: from mineral and animal worlds through different steps of self discovery culminating in a new awakening or new life.

The experience inside of the chillahona slowly unravels and opens up to different landscapes and spaces where the soul of the character travels and is pictured in the film. As some local traditions say: there are
360 000 worlds and we are living in one of them, but inside the chillahona, the hidden becomes visible and the sacred is unveiled.

The work tells a story of search and spiritual journey covering ancient pre islamic rituals, ancestral knowledge and local understanding of the cycle of life and its possible alternatives through the critical moments of one’s personal life.

Chillahona tells a story of a young woman who has self-isolated inside of an ancient cell of seclusion in one of the oldest cemeteries of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The woman in her mid 30’s is going through a critical moment of her life; in a state of full apathy she is questioning her life, which seems meaningless to her. Her monologue narrates an act of exorcism chasing out her doubts, fears and memories. An episode of violence in her past might have brought depression or she might have been possessed by spirits calling her to accept her vocation as clairvoyant.

The story follows a gradual transformation of the character into a new body that goes through a ritual of purification and metamorphosis: from mineral and animal worlds through different steps of self discovery culminating in a new awakening or new life.

The experience inside of the chillahona slowly unravels and opens up to different landscapes and spaces where the soul of the character travels and is pictured in the film. As some local traditions say: there are
360 000 worlds and we are living in one of them, but inside the chillahona, the hidden becomes visible and the sacred is unveiled.

The work tells a story of search and spiritual journey covering ancient pre islamic rituals, ancestral knowledge and local understanding of the cycle of life and its possible alternatives through the critical moments of one’s personal life.

Bibi Seshanbe Ona – is a widespread female ritual in sedentary Central Asia that includes a recitation of an ancient local tale, equivalent to Cinderella.

The animalistic elements of the Central Asian version, connection to zaroastrianism through the elements of fire and ashes, manifests how still ancient rituals accompany woman’s life from her birth, puberty, maternity and death.

The ritual of Bibi Seshanbe Ona – The Protectress Lady Tuesday - a veneration of female cult figure – who brings blessings to all women, happens in a small circle of women by cooking ritualistic food, lightening forty handmade candles, telling a story of a girl who finds her happiness and fortunetelling through a drawings on flour.

Bibi Seshanbe Ona is still performed today in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.