Uzbekistan Makes Its Milan Design Week Debut

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When Apricots Blossom

This April, Uzbekistan arrives at Milan Design Week for the first time with When Apricots Blossom, an immersive exhibition taking over the historic Palazzo Citterio in Brera from 20 to 26 April 2026. Presented by Gayane Umerova, Chairperson, Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) and curated by architect Kulapat Yantrasast of WHY Architecture, the show is one of the more compelling debuts of the season.
Named after a 1930s Uzbek poem by Hamid Olimjon, the exhibition traces a narrative of resilience rooted in the Aral Sea region and Karakalpakstan, in northwestern Uzbekistan. Since the 1960s, the systematic diversion of the Aral Sea's feeder rivers caused the lake to lose over 90% of its volume, transforming a vast inland sea into desert. Kulapat Yantrasast frames craft and design as a living response to that legacy — not nostalgia, but a system of knowledge carrying memory and identity across generations — organising the exhibition around three pillars of Karakalpak culture: textiles, food and shelter.
Twelve international designers — including Bethan Laura Wood, Marcin Rusak, Fernando Laposse, Nifemi Marcus-Bello and Bobir Klichev — present new commissions made in direct collaboration with Uzbek artisans. Each created a bread tray and two bread stamps using materials native to Karakalpakstan: wood, silk, felt, ceramic and reed, celebrating the central role of bread in Uzbek culture and hospitality. Elsewhere, Wood's hand-woven tapestry of tassels and ribbons transforms the palazzo's facade, while a deconstructed yurt in the garden serves as a pavilion for talks and workshops throughout the week.
The exhibition also introduces ACDF's longer-term work in the region, including the Aral School design programme and the Aral Culture Summit. A specially commissioned film, Where The Water Ends, offers an intimate portrait of Karakalpak communities navigating life and memory amid environmental collapse.

When Apricots Blossom is open 20–26 April,
10:00–18:00 daily, at Palazzo Citterio, Via Brera 12, Milan.