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Gayane Umerova is dedicated to developing the culture sector in Uzbekistan.
Deputy Head of the Department of Social Development of the Presidential Administration and Chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), Gayane Umerova is at the helm of building Uzbekistan’s cultural infrastructure. Her efforts are bringing the nation’s art, artists, and cultural heritage into the global spotlight. Currently, she is overseeing the restoration and development of the Centre for Contemporary Art in Tashkent, poised to become a new cultural hub for the region, and is the commissioner of the Bukhara Biennial (5 September - 20 November 2025). She has just spearheaded the inaugural Aral Culture Summit (April 4-6, 2025); is driving the construction of the new State Museum of Arts designed by Tadao Ando, is the commissioner for the Uzbekistan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Arte and Architettura since 2021 as well as for Uzbekistan’s participation in Expo 2025 Osaka, among other significant projects.
Committed to boosting Uzbekistan’s prominence on the international culture scene, Umerova serves as the Chairperson of the National Commission of Uzbekistan on UNESCO Affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers and has recently been awarded France’s Order of Arts and Literature.Her public service commitment is evident in her dedication to creating opportunities for young people in Uzbekistan’s cultural sector and fostering a cultural economy that unites communities and generations.
Throughout her career, Gayane Umerova has tirelessly worked to elevate Uzbekistan’s art on the global stage. She has been instrumental in bringing pioneering exhibitions of Uzbek art and culture to prestigious institutions worldwide and showcasing the works of major international artists in Uzbekistan.
Under Umerova's leadership, Uzbekistan’s cultural heritage was first showcased at the Louvre and the Arab World Institute in 2022. She also organized an exhibition of archaeological artifacts at the James Simon Gallery in Berlin in 2023, led two exhibitions in China and brought the Design Biennale Craft of Uzbekistan: Traditions in Threads to Doha in 2024. For the first time, Uzbekistan: Avant-Garde in the Desert‚ Light and Colour and Uzbekistan: Avant-Garde in the Desert, Form and Symbol exhibitions are currently on display at the Uffizi Gallery and Ca Foscari. A groundbreaking exhibition on Uzbekistan’s culture and heritage, Silk Roads, opened at The British Museum in autumn 2024. She also hosted the World Conference on Creative Economy for the first time in Uzbekistan in October 2024. While launching in 2017 “Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI”, an ongoing research project documenting and protecting the city's modernist architecture, Umerova’s also commissioned two significant publications in collaboration with Rizzoli New York (published in November 2024) and Lars Müller Publishers (to be published in early 2025).
Umerova played a pivotal role in bringing the exhibitions Henry Moore: Master of Graphics (2015) and The New Past: British Contemporary Arts (2016) to Uzbekistan. She oversaw the first Uzbek contemporary art auction in partnership with Christie’s in 2012, held at the Savitskiy’s Museum in Nukus, Uzbekistan. Previously, Umerova served as senior curator at the Art Gallery of Uzbekistan and worked with leading global auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s. She also curated the 6th Tashkent International Biennial of Contemporary Art.