The Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) and Delfina Foundation are pleased to announce an open call for early-career curators to participate in the Curatorial School of the inaugural Bukhara Biennial. The BBBB Curatorial School will take place in Bukhara and will bring together six curators, three selected from Uzbekistan and three based in Asia, to experiment with new approaches to commissioning and exhibition-making. The programme culminates in a major exhibition in an international venue in Spring 2026, co-curated by the participants.
Commissioned by Gayane Umerova and led by Bukhara Biennial Artistic Director Diana Campbell, the BBBB Curatorial School is not a conventional academic environment; it is a collaborative and peer-driven platform designed to foster shared learning, critical reflection, and long-term professional relationships. Participants will gain unique access to the workings of a major biennial while exploring how exhibitions can respond meaningfully to their cultural and historical contexts, with an international faculty of visiting curators.
This is an invitation to rethink curatorial practice as a generative, collaborative, and responsive process:
–How can artists and their ideas be supported at their earliest stages?
–How do we translate across cultures in a responsible and sustainable way?
–How do we build curatorial frameworks that are shaped by site, context, and collective imagination?
The BBBB Curatorial School is produced in partnership with Delfina Foundation.
Programme overview
The BBBB Curatorial School is structured around four intensive in-person chapters in Uzbekistan, with online and collaborative development sessions continuing into 2026.
Chapter 1: September 16–25, 2025
Introduction to the Biennial
Tour the BB Biennial and its heritage sites; networking with artists and visiting curators; attend lectures and case studies on generative curating and commissioning.
Chapter 2: October 1–9, 2025
Context & Collaboration
Attend the Central Asia Symposium; presenting early curatorial ideas shaped by BBBB for the collaborative exhibition; begin to explore common threads and crossovers.
Chapter 3: November 1–8, 2025
Mentorship & Exhibition Development
Presentations by international curatorial faculty to mentor and refine the collaborative exhibition proposal; take part in studio visits in Tashkent; meet with exhibition designers and previous biennial collaborators.
Chapter 4: November 16–22, 2025
Reflection & Review
Join the biennial closing events; attend workshops on curatorial critique, evaluation, and self-reflection with leading critics and practitioners.
The Finale: 2026
The international location and full scope of the co-curated exhibition will be disclosed as the collaborative process unfolds in 2025. It is anticipated that there will be two site visits between January and March 2026, with installation and exhibition in April/May 2026.
Eligibility
–Applicants must be under the age of 30 at the time of application.
–We welcome curators at various stages of their early career, including those finding their curatorial voice to those working with institutions or independently in grassroots/community settings.
–Uzbek applicants may be based in Uzbekistan or abroad.
–Applicants from Asia (including West Asia) must be currently based in Asia.
–Selected curators must be available to attend all in-person sessions on the dates listed above. They must also be available to work on and install this project in Spring 2026.
–All sessions will be conducted in English. If you have access needs, please feel free to note them in your application.
Support
Each curator will receive:
–Mentorship from internationally renowned curators and access to BBBB’s artists and curatorial network through a structured programme
–Round-trip travel to Bukhara, Uzbekistan for the four programme chapters
–Accommodation during all programme chapters
–Two international site visits to the 2026 exhibition venue
–A curatorial honorarium as part of developing a new exhibition
–The exhibition budget will be covered by ACDF with more details announced in autumn 2025.
How to apply
Please submit the following materials by 20 August 2025 via this link.
–A one-page CV
–Contact details for two referees (phone and email)
–A 500-word proposal describing a context familiar to you in which you would like to commission a new artwork. Please specify the artist you would invite and explain why this context is meaningful. In addition, briefly describe how you approach collaboration, whether with artists, peers, or communities.
Selection process
Curators will be selected by a committee including BBBB Artistic Director Diana Campbell and representatives from ACDF and Delfina Foundation.
Application deadline: August 19, 2025 at 11:59pm GMT.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an online interview on 25/26 August 2025.
Finalists will be notified by 28 August 2025.
Faculty
An international and Uzbek faculty will support the curators across this project. Among the 20 confirmed international faculty members are Aaron Cezar, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Diana Campbell, Sunjung Kim, Eungie Joo, and Beatrix Ruf, curators all known for their practice of supporting artists long-term in commission-based projects.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the BBBB Curatorial School based?
The BBBB Curatorial School will take place in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. The programme culminates in a major exhibition in an as-yet-to-be-disclosed international venue in Spring 2026.
I am an Uzbek curator based in Canada, can I apply?
Yes—we accept Uzbek curators living abroad.
I am a Korean curator based in the UK, can I apply?
No—non-Uzbek curators must be based in Asia.
Do I need letters of support?
No—we will contact your references if you are shortlisted.
Do I need a degree in curating to apply?
No.
Do I need to be available for all four chapters?
Yes.
I just turned 31—may I apply?
No. The age requirement is related to the youth demographics of Uzbekistan, and a generational approach to the programme.
I am an artist, can I apply?
The opportunity is focused on developing curatorial practice. We understand that some artistic practices naturally converge with the curatorial and that practitioners might work fluidly between the two. If you believe that you can demonstrate enough experience in supporting other artists in a curatorial capacity, please feel free to apply.
Do I need to have experience in exhibition making in the visual arts?
Not necessarily. We are open to those who approach curating in a widespread way that crosses other disciplines from performance to sound to writing.
I am from the Gulf or the Levant, can I apply?
Yes, this is part of West Asia.