Shakhnoza Karimbabaeva
For Shakhnoza Karimbabaeva, participating in the British Council’s programmes is about broadening her horizons and opportunities to look at her work differently.
Shakhnoza Karimbabaeva is the founder and director of the Bonum Factum Gallery, a Tashkent-based platform for contemporary art. The gallery opened its doors in 2010 and focuses on contemporary art and education, as well as support for the creative potential of children and youth. The gallery functions as a venue for exhibitions and discussions and also promotes modern Uzbek art across the globe.
“Before opening a private gallery, I already had 20 years of experience in the field of art development and museum work. After graduating from Uzbekistan State University of World Languages (USUWL), I worked at the Ministry of Culture as a chief specialist in the management of museums and cultural-education institutions. And after that, I was director of the Tashkent House of Photography,” Shakhnoza recalls her early career.
The first British Council project that Shakhnoza took part in was the Creative Spark programme, during which she studied at the V&A Museum in London.
Museums in the UK were among the first to become self-sufficient and generate income. Drawing on Britain’s museum-development expertise, the British Council, together with the Foundation for the Development of Culture and the Arts and Goldsmiths University, launched the Museum Management Development Programme. Shakhnoza was one of its first participants.
As part of the programme, participants had the opportunity to learn from colleagues at museums in the UK, including the V&A. The ‘Generating Income Stream’ module was particularly useful for Shakhnoza. In this module, she studied the essential features of museum marketing, art monetisation and tools to attract new visitors, allowing her to improve gallery management and development strategies. Shakhnoza was pleasantly surprised to find that employees from well-known museums in Belgium, Singapore and other countries also participated in the programme alongside her.
“I was especially struck by the fact that all museums face the same issues. Whether it’s the largest art museum in Singapore or a small private gallery in Tashkent, everyone is worried about one common problem: low attendance numbers,” she says.
“Galleries and exhibition spaces today feel an increasing push to engage visitors and develop their reputations beyond ‘boring places to visit’,” says Shakhnoza. Modern art, science and technology all come together and are developing in parallel. Museums and galleries must match their content to the visitors they want to attract and must be interesting for all segments of the population, particularly young people and tourists.
“After studying in the UK, I returned inspired with new creative ideas. I used the skills from the V&A Museum courses in new projects. I have never left the idea of supporting emerging artists and creative people whose life is connected with art. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to open an art residence in Bukhara for young artists,” she explains.
Shakhnoza is proud that the Bonum Factum Gallery team continued to work remotely even during the pandemic. In a short time, they managed to create online courses and a residence for artists in Bukhara, as well as launch an international exhibition online.
Following her UK course, Shakhnoza has taken part in several British Council projects. The most memorable for her were the training courses in the Creative Spark and Museum Management programmes. Representatives of London's Goldsmiths College (Nicola Turner, Sean Prime and Adrian de la Cour) and from consulting agency Morris Hargreaves McIntyre (Joanna Taylor) spoke at the trainings. Shakhnoza says their advice on museum branding and marketing in the field of culture had a positive impact on the gallery's work.
Through the British Council, Shakhnoza has met a number of key contacts and interesting professionals that ended up playing crucial roles in the projects she launched during the pandemic. Among them was Sylvia, who gave lectures as part of the Museum Management programme and reviewed the exhibition, elevating it to international status.
On May 18, during the height of the pandemic, Shakhnoza launched Uzbekistan’s first international online exhibition to coincide with International Museum Day. The show featured paintings from the Savitsky Museum and the State Museum of Arts, along with paintings from other global collections and works by young Uzbek artists.
“International museums generate income from branding the museum’s collection of objects, but in Uzbekistan, this branding is not yet sufficiently developed,” says Shakhnoza. “As part of the international online exhibition, I requested permission to include digital paintings in the collection. Now copyrights cover everything, including digital pictures from the internet. Compliance with copyright is extremely important for artist support and development.”
Shakhnoza sends her best wishes to the British Council in Uzbekistan: “In honour of the significant celebration of the 25th anniversary of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the British Council, I would like to wish the whole team success with their plans and in all projects!”