Saodat Ismailova's 'Amanat, The Sacred Forest' opens at LUMA Arles

Uzbek artist Saodat Ismailova, born in 1981, has launched her solo exhibition, 'Amanat, The Sacred Forest,' at LUMA Arles. A key highlight is her newly commissioned film 'Amanat' (2026), created in collaboration with the Swiss Institute in New York and Kunsthalle Bern. Her artistic approach blends film, installation, archives, and sound, delving into the rich cultural and spiritual stories of Central Asia, inspired by myth, oral traditions, rituals, and her own life experiences. The exhibition showcases a mix of new and past works, with a strong emphasis on the walnut forest of Arslanbob, where local legends speak of a mystic who kept a date seed under his tongue for 200 years before passing it to a young boy.