Qatar Museums Launches 'Uzbekistan: Heritage in Motion' Exhibition Showcasing 1,000 Years of Islamic Heritage

Doha, Qatar Aug 25, 2026 ALN: Organised by the Museum of Islamic Art in collaboration with Uzbekistan’s Art and Culture Development Foundation, the exhibition presents a comprehensive survey of Uzbek heritage up to the present day.

Qatar Museums (QM) will open “Uzbekistan: Heritage in Motion,” a landmark exhibition organised by the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) in partnership with the Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) of Uzbekistan. The exhibition will be on view at MIA’s Sheikh Saoud Al Thani Temporary Exhibitions Gallery from 3 September to 28 November 2026.

“Uzbekistan: Heritage in Motion” draws on more than 1,000 years of Uzbekistan’s artistic and cultural heritage, from the eighth century CE to the present.

The exhibition brings together 146 objects, including a monumental painting, Timurid architectural fragments, scientific manuscripts, ceramics, jewellery, and textiles from the collections of MIA, the National Collection of Qatar, Lusail Museum, Qatar National Library, and 13 institutions across Uzbekistan, ranging from the Afrasiab Museum in Samarkand to the Margilan Crafts Development Center.

“At MIA in Doha, we are in the uniquely privileged position of celebrating the world’s Islamic art, culture, and heritage with a global audience. Alongside our colleagues from the ACDF, we are thrilled to present this exhibition that showcases Uzbekistan’s cultural contribution not only to the Islamic world but also to our shared human heritage,” said Shaika Al-Nassr, Director of the Museum of Islamic Art.

Curated by Uzbekistan-born MIA curator Anastasiya Silkatcheva, “Uzbekistan: Heritage in Motion” examines how Uzbekistan’s Islamic-era traditions continue to shape art, architecture, and craft today, reflecting Qatar Museums’ commitment to promoting cross-cultural exchange and a shared narrative of heritage.

“Uzbekistan: Heritage in Motion presents the most comprehensive overview of Uzbekistan’s heritage in thirty years. The exhibition asks visitors to see Uzbekistan not as a country frozen in its monuments, but as one in constant dialogue with them,” said Silkatcheva.

Organised across four sections – Beyond the River, Building Earth and Empire, Architects of Thought and Image, and Legacies of Clay and Thread – the exhibition presents Uzbekistan as a crossroads of civilisations where historical traditions remain deeply embedded in contemporary life.

“From a Sogdian silk jacket produced on the eve of the Islamic conquest to a contemporary designer’s reinterpretation of suzani embroidery, the objects in this exhibition insist that heritage is not a legacy passively received; it is actively rewoven, generation after generation. With our partners at the ACDF, we are excited to bring Uzbekistan to the world,” said Silkatcheva.

Highlights of the exhibition include:

• A seventh-century wall painting from the Ambassadors’ Hall at Afrasiab, a significant archaeological site in Samarkand, bearing the same motifs as a Sogdian silk jacket from MIA’s collection.
• Interactive activities demonstrating the principles of architectural decoration in brick, the quintessential building technique of Islamic Central Asia.
• An immersive, affective experience in a space evoking a mausoleum, with a cenotaph from Khiva and a video allowing the object to speak in its own words.
• A presentation dedicated to the Qatari-supported restoration of Samarkand’s Bibi Khanym Mosque, which preserves the architectural heritage of the second Islamic Renaissance in the country.
• Manuscripts of astronomical, medical, and religious texts and a 15th-century astrolabe that trace the legacy of scholars including al-Khwarizmi, al-Biruni, and Ulugh Beg.
• Textiles, from early modern ikat-woven robes to modern-made lengths of silk, presented alongside a functioning silk loom from the Museum of Applied Arts in Tashkent and a video of modern silk weaving, marking Uzbekistan’s enduring craft traditions.
• Works on paper by modern Uzbek miniaturist and upcoming MIA Artist in Residence, Davlat Toshev, in dialogue with illustrated folios from the 16th century CE.
• Garments by Uzbek designer Madina Kasimbaeva, responsible for reviving the Tashkent school of suzani embroidery.

Beyond the galleries, the exhibition deepens the growing institutional relationship between Qatar Museums and ACDF, building on a partnership that already spans conservation, research, and public programming.

“Focusing on more than 13 centuries of history until the present day, Uzbekistan: Heritage in Motion brings out many inspiring objects from the collections of MIA and other Qatari institutions to share the light with significant loans from Uzbekistan. The exhibition reflects a genuine collaboration and reveals a history of remarkable ambition and resilience. We hope every visitor leaves inspired by how vividly the past continues to shape the present and eager to learn how much more there is still to uncover together,” said Al-Nassr.

“Uzbekistan: Heritage in Motion” is presented with the support of Visit Qatar.

The exhibition’s public opening coincides with Qatar Museums’ fall 2026 season – a globally connected programme of exhibitions that reinforces Doha’s role as a meeting point for cultures, ideas, and creativity.