Aziza Pulatova and Odil Mukhamedov
Aziza Pulatova says the global popularity of digital culture and social media shows the increasing importance of the creative economy. And the British Council is already boosting the development of the creative sphere in Central Asia.
Aziza Pulatova and Odil Mukhamedov are some of the brightest creatives in Uzbekistan. Aziza is the founder and producer of Hendrix, a creative agency specialising in commercial video and documentary film production. She is also a gifted artist in the string-art technique, creating three-dimensional paintings and panels using nails and threads.
Odil Mukhamedov is the founder and executive producer of the MOC Fest, a free arts festival aimed at popularising the contemporary art of Uzbekistan, with painting, photography, music and short film exhibitions, as well as seminars, workshops and networking for the creative industry. Odil’s vision was to create a participatory community where creatives could interact and contribute to each other's projects.
Aziza and Odil teamed up to organise the festival. Also, Aziza leads the “New Matters” project, which she, with her team, first held in 2021. It became the final project of Aziza and two other participants - Anastasia Galimova and Maria Khudaiberdieva, after completing their studies under the British Council program "Creative Producers".
The pair applied for Creative Producers in May 2019, with Odil participating in the first round of the programme and Aziza in the second. Before the COVID-19 quarantine restrictions came into place, as part of their studies, they travelled to the UK to attend Manchester International Festival and Supersonic in Birmingham. This gave them the chance to see firsthand how large, international festivals are organised and to make useful contacts in the creative sector.
“My favourite aspect of the Creative Producers programme is that you can apply for a grant right away and start working pretty quickly,” says Odil.
In April 2020, the team was set to stage the “WECOSMOS” festival (“MYKOSMOS”), but pandemic restrictions meant it was postponed to the following year. During that time, graduates from the second round of Creative Producers joined their team, and together they came up with the idea for the MOC Fest.
Aziza and Odil founded the MOC creative association, a community of creatives in Uzbekistan that includes designers, artists, writers, photographers and videographers. Over the past year, MOC has grown from a grassroots community into a full production centre. The team is currently working on several projects, with the MOC Fest at the forefront.
“The community has already grown to almost 100 people. After participating in Creative Producers and the Creative Central Asia Forum 2019, we realised that we could continue the MOC Fest project and expand as an organisation. The MOC production centre continues to develop and now we are becoming the leading creative hub in Central Asia,” says Odil.
Aziza emphasises that the British Council’s programme was invaluable to their team’s success, offering them the opportunity to learn from experienced producers in the UK.
“The British Council gave us a fundamental educational platform, which gave us clarity on what we needed to do,” says Odil. “We’ve never had educational opportunities for event production in Uzbekistan. They have just recently introduced a training programme, but it’s still not at an international level. Creative Producers gave us a base of practical and theoretical knowledge and an opportunity to implement something of our own.”
The British Council’s programme also gave Aziza and Odil the skills to professionally present their projects and work to organisations and donors.
Aziza is also grateful for the Council's ongoing support for alumni projects. The MOC Fest will be held for the third time this year, though she says it will likely take five years for it to be a successful and well-known event across Uzbekistan and Central Asia. She says the Creative Producers programme is invaluable in creating pathways for Uzbeks to enter creative professions. The MOC Fest will continue to showcase that talent.
“We are so pleased to have worked closely with the British Council and are deeply grateful for the opportunity to realise our dreams and grow in our careers. We would like to wish the staff of the British Council continued success: 25 years is not just a number but an indicator of the long and friendly relations between Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom.”