Restored industrial building reopens as Tashkent's new contemporary art centre
A 1912 industrial building in Uzbekistan has been restored and transformed into the Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent, whose opening exhibition includes a work from New York's Guggenheim Museum collection. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev toured the site ahead of its public opening.
A century-old industrial building in Tashkent has taken on a new role as a hub for contemporary art. Designed in 1912 by architect Wilhelm Heinzelman, the structure originally served as a tram depot before later being converted into a diesel power station.
The building has now been carefully restored and reopened as the Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent, with its distinctive industrial character deliberately preserved rather than erased during the renovation.
Presidential visit and future programmes
Ahead of the centre's public opening, Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev toured the galleries, education spaces and public areas. He was briefed on plans for upcoming exhibitions, as well as research initiatives and artist residency programmes to be hosted at the site.
Library and archive
Among the centre's less visible features is a specialist research library dedicated to art, visual cultures and critical theory, with a particular emphasis on perspectives from the Global Majority. The centre is also building a growing archive documenting the studios of local artists.
The centre's inaugural exhibition, titled Hikmah, holds particular significance: it marks the first time an installation from the collection of New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has been presented in Uzbekistan.
