Zero Line Of Sight
Interview with Bella Sabirova
Tamara Khasanova
21st May 2020
Would you play by the rules or would you dare to create your own? Running a gallery is never easy, but what does it mean to run a gallery in the country where the socio-political climate can hit you hard? Bella Sabirova, an owner of Tashkent based gallery Zero Line, which focuses on controversial and politically charged art of Central Asian artists, have some thoughts to share. We discussed with her the changes happening in the art scene in Uzbekistan and what Tashkent's architecture has to do with that.
Tamara Khasanova
Your gallery has been part of the Uzbekistan art scene since 2016, and over this period you have managed to organise a considerable number of cultural events and exhibitions - from your early exhibition Hlopok Odnoy Ladony (Clap of One Hand) in 2016 to the recent one Severnoye Siyanie Uga (Northern Lights of the South) in 2019. What has, in your opinion, changed in the cultural scene of Uzbekistan owing to the presence of Zero Line over the course of these four years?
Bella Sabirova
Upon opening the gallery, I was guided by a particular motivation. For a long time, I attentively followed the processes surrounding the Uzbekistan art community. Eventually, I noticed that there are artists for whom the access to all art spaces stays open due to their loyalty to the political elite and lack of critical civic engagement, meanwhile, there are others, unspokenly forbidden, for whom the access to the same exhibition spaces remains restricted. “Others” are chiefly an artist-conceptualist Vyacheslav Akhunov and a photographer Umida Akhmedova. So for me, this whole situation was unjust. Hence, despite the repeated cautionary remarks coming from respected people affiliated with the official art institutions, we concentrated our practice on organising exhibitions of our oppressed art scene. Eventually, as a result of our cooperation with such artists like Vyacheslav Akhunov, we proved that “forbidden art” could feel comfortable in the realm of private exhibition spaces. Besides, Akhunov is currently a curator at Zero Line.
In 2017, together with Vyacheslav, we invited Umida Akhmedova to hold a solo exhibition Smirnoye Nebo (Still Sky) in our gallery, which was her first exhibition in Uzbekistan over the preceding nine years. Umida Akhmedova was convicted with criminal offences in 2010 under articles 139 “Defamation” and 140 “Insult” of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. According to the accusations, with her works, Umida insulted the Uzbek people and their traditions tarnishing the image of Uzbekistan (in a photo book Women and men: from dawn till dusk, published in 2007, and a short film The Burden of Virginity, 2008). Later on, she was granted an amnesty and released from the courtroom.
Tamara Khasanova
What goals did you have in mind when opening the gallery?
Bella Sabirova
Only one goal - for there to be no such notions like “forbidden art” or “forbidden artist” in Uzbekistan. In just under four years, we have organised 24 exhibitions with various artists regardless of whether they worked with classical forms of representations or conceptual art - we have strived to highlight the topics that presently concern our society, to reflect upon the ways art influences our existence, to discuss the problems of social character, and to this day we try to reconsider the present moment through the prism of a philosophical and critical approach to reality.
Tamara Khasanova
In one of your interviews, you have mentioned that your mother is a well-known architect in Tashkent and that she supported you in opening Zero Line Gallery. What is her contribution to the project?
Bella Sabirova
My mother, Sabirova Svetlana Konstantinovna, was a leading architect of Uzbekistan and dedicated 40 years of her life to this profession. While working at the “TashkenPlan”, “UzNIIP Urban Planning” (now GUP “Uzshakharsozlik Liti”) together with team members, she designed architectural sites such as Turkistan Palace, which was originally intended to become the M. Gorky theatre, the Republican Puppet theatre, Golubye Kupola (Blue Doms) Square (earlier - Lenin Boulevard), iconic fountains on the central square of Tashkent Mustaqillik Maydoni (Independence Square). Her contribution to the formation and establishment of the gallery is immense and invaluable, however, it extends far beyond professional help from an experienced architect and designer. Rather, she is fully involved in the life of the gallery, in everything that’s happening in our art-space, where she relentlessly continues to share her rich life experience with me.
Tamara Khasanova
Could you tell us about the dynamics on the Tashkent gallery market, and whether you sense any potential prospects in it? Is there any legislative foundation for the development and support of gallery businesses in the country?
Bella Sabirova
The Revenue and Tax Code of Uzbekistan does not provide for any legal foundation related to the ownership and operation of gallery business, so in our case, we are registered simply as a retail business and pay taxes like any other business entity of this category. We do not hold any privilege over others, we do not receive any subsidies, and the government does not see us as a socially responsible business. Fundamentally, in order for us to fund and support our exhibitions and programming, we have to engage in retail, which is why we opened our store, and also provide services like art history lectures, creative evenings with entrance fee. However, we hosted a lot of events free of charge as well.
Tamara Khasanova
Due to the quarantine, the entire art world froze for a millisecond but then swiftly started looking for ways to escape from this critical situation by actively utilising social media platforms, and trying to attract as many potential audiences, buyers, donors as possible - what is your approach in this case?
Bella Sabirova
I haven’t noticed any “swiftness,” rather it reminded me of agony and impotence. All art institutions, irrespective of their form of ownership, have been suffering from enormous losses and this will last for a long time, we have to admit it. When the quarantine was announced, I immediately closed my gallery without any shadow of regret. I cannot think of my gallery as being a source of an outbreak of the fatal disease; thus I won’t be looking for ways to open the space at this point - I do not have even the slightest bit of interest in this. We will hold online lectures and events, and possibly I will consider organising an artist residency. We already have all the conditions for this in a picturesque suburban area, therefore, once the borders reopen, we are ready to take this conversation further.
Tamara Khasanova
Are there any opportunities to partner with galleries outside of Uzbekistan? Establish and maintain relationships with international cultural organisations and institutions, for instance, in China or the Middle East?
Bella Sabirova
Overall, we have managed to maintain relationships with international cultural institutions and organisations aimed at supporting initiatives protecting human rights. The Goethe-Institut has a Cultural Academy programme with which we had a chance to work together, they offered courses and trips abroad; Creative Central Asia, a platform for development and promotion of creative economy in the countries of Central Asian region, had held a large conference in Tashkent under the auspices of the British Council where we had delivered a report; Under the Prague Civil Society Centre initiative, I was invited to visit Yerevan, where I met wonderful people from the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe, who also chose to follow an arduous path in the development of social businesses in their home countries starting from projects in the field of inclusion, ending with the organisation of co-working spaces.
In regards to partnerships with international galleries, we participated in the First Parabiennial in Astana in 2019. Besides, our gallery hosted many international guests, including the group of artists, curators and collectors from the Garage Museum, Moscow. Don’t want to look far ahead of myself, but in the near future we are pursuing a partnership with a museum in Germany, they are very interested in purchasing a work from the Uzbek artist Dilyara Kaipova. We have recently had an exhibition of her works at our gallery. This is an incredibly invaluable opportunity for us as it will mark the first official sale of the contemporary artwork by an Uzbek artist through a gallery.
Tamara Khasanova
In the western institutional practice (aka institutional critique) last 20 years were pivotal in the establishment of the critical approach towards organisation and structuring of the galleries, nonprofits, museums etc. Institutions are involved and responsible for the selection of content, and by doing so they set certain power dynamics around them. How is the decision-making process regulated in your gallery and who is responsible for it?
Bella Sabirova
Nowadays, it is hardly possible to talk about local cultural institutions as structures that set “power dynamics”. All exhibition spaces, in some way or another related to the governmental agencies, are fully regulated. You can barely find art that has any critical nature to it. For instance, prior to recent years, the actionism didn't have a chance to be developed here hence it is almost unknown to the majority of Uzbekistan artists for whom even performance art is rather a theatrical action. Local public, for many years visually stuffed with the art of commercial quality, which has been declared as “traditional therefore filled with sacred spiritual beginning and means of national art”, often does not appreciate neither the forms nor the context of conceptual art. However, owing to the efforts of our gallery, it no longer expresses its acute rejection so flagrantly as it used to earlier in the days.
After all, one time our front windows were even shelled with the non-lethal weapons at night; the perpetrators have not been found to these days, and their motives stay unclear. It was ultimately one of the most distressing events for us, however, we responded with turning the shattered glass into the installation The Shards of Hatred, 2017.
Therefore, I would not claim that we are changing the structure of society here. It does not receive us with open arms; rather, it is disposed towards us with restraint and caution. However, we don’t try to please the majority, and we believe it is the right thing to do because this would lead to a banal conformism, which we already have more than enough. But I am happy that nevertheless, we have loyal and benevolent audiences with which we are on the same page.
As for the process of decision making and planning in the gallery, everything is decided within our small team: curator — art historian — gallerist. Generally, a curator is the one generating ideas for the upcoming exhibitions, while art historian stays responsible for texts and partly organisation of a display, and gallerist helps with bringing artists’ ideas into practice. Absolutely standardised scheme.
Tamara Khasanova
What can you say about Uzbekistan contemporary art these days? What forms of support do young artists receive in the country, if any?
Bella Sabirova
For now, it is clear that the development of the arts is not a priority for the country, although recently there was an opening of the Centre of Contemporary Art, which is gradually gaining traction. Among their first projects is CCA LAB, a research laboratory whose task is to develop contemporary art and cultural practices in Uzbekistan. This centre was formed by allocating private and state funds, it engages in large-scale projects including the support of young artists. So far it is just a beginning.
Tamara Khasanova
Lastly, what piece of advice could you give to those who eventually would like to start their own gallery business in Tashkent?
Bella Sabirova
First and foremost, you have to find like-minded people. People are the most crucial asset in any endeavour, which is why right now we are willing to voluntarily self-isolate for those we may not even know. And not to be afraid of haters, their place is in the shadows of fake accounts and hoods covering their true identities. So let them stay there, they are nothing.
Bella Sabirova is an owner of Zero Line gallery in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, which she has been running together with Vyacheslav Akhunov since 2016.
Tamara Khasanova is an emerging art professional, aspiring young curator and intern at TransitoryWhite. Her professional, academic and research practice concerned with contemporary art and culture from the countries of Eastern European and Central Asian regions. She is based in San Francisco, CA.