ACWA Power Supports Women’s Agenda at the Bukhara Biennale

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The inaugural Bukhara Biennale, “Recipes for Broken Hearts”, featured a panel discussion titled “Women of Central Asia”, organized with the support of ACWA Power.

The session brought together women artists from across the region to explore how cultural heritage and contemporary realities shape their creative work. Held on September 6, 2025, at the House of Softness in the historic Gavkushon madrasa, the event became a focal point of the biennale.

The Bukhara Biennale is a new initiative in contemporary art staged in recently restored historical monuments of Bukhara, a member of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network (UCCN). Its first edition runs from September 5 to November 20, 2025, with plans for future development.

The panel reflected ACWA Power’s commitment to advancing women’s empowerment in Central Asia. The company not only supported the event as a partner but also invited female students from the Shirin Energy College to participate. This initiative forms part of ACWA Power’s broader strategy to develop women’s talent in the energy sector, complementing its ongoing educational programs at Shirin.

“ACWA Power is proud to be a strategic partner in Uzbekistan’s energy transition, with USD 15 billion invested in 15 transformational projects in wind, solar, energy storage, and green hydrogen. Our mission is to be a reliable partner in achieving Vision 2030, delivering affordable and sustainable energy through innovation and global expertise. We place special emphasis on developing local talent and supporting youth, ensuring our projects leave a lasting social and economic legacy. Women’s leadership lies at the heart of our strategy. We believe inclusivity and diversity are essential drivers of innovation and collective success. ACWA Power is more than an energy company: we are a partner in shaping a future where creativity, culture, and innovation coexist. Supporting this session reflects our deep commitment to women’s leadership. Women play a strategic role in shaping business and economic growth. We are expanding the number of women in leadership roles, encouraging participation in STEM, and building talent pipelines that allow them to strengthen their positions. Through art — through such dialogues with women leaders from across Central Asia — we want women’s voices to resonate louder. This is our contribution to a sustainable future,” said Zhanona Akhmedova, Head of Communications at ACWA Power Uzbekistan.

The session was moderated by Zoda Mirakova and featured participants from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan: socially engaged artist Jazgul Madazimova; visual artist and stage designer Nazira Karimi, known for video installations exploring collective memory and women’s destinies; Madina Kasymbaeva, the only woman continuing the Tashkent embroidery tradition; artist Saule Suleimenova, whose bio-collages and paintings address post-colonial identity and ecology; and documentary photographer Zilola Saidova, who has chronicled Central Asian communities for over two decades.

Each artist shared how women’s resilience and cultural heritage in Central Asia inform their artistic practice. Saule Suleimenova described Bukhara’s layered traditions as a tapestry woven from people and stories. Dilorum Saidova highlighted the biennale’s role in bridging traditional and contemporary art, presenting her project on the Mugat community aimed at preserving their rapidly changing culture. Nazira Karimi explained how her work draws on family oral histories, noting that in her film Haftar she blends fact and imagination, showing how creativity can reframe history. Jazgul Madazimova introduced her project A Thousand Prayers, for which she collected women’s scarves, each carrying memories of prayer, labor, and care, forming a bond with Bukhara’s women and underscoring the value of spiritual resilience in difficult times.

“Uzbekistan is ACWA Power’s largest market outside Saudi Arabia, and we are proud to play a key role in its economic and social development. Women are drivers of economic progress, and through discussions like today’s we move forward together. We are an energy company, yet we see countless intersections with art. Our support has brought to Uzbekistan the installation Al-Mousalla — a monument to Islamic civilization — a vivid example of how business can speak through art. For us, corporate social responsibility is about conveying values and meaning to society.

Girls from the Shirin Energy College in Syrdarya also joined the event. We want them to see that women’s role in society is invaluable. Moreover, the artists gathered here showed that there is a strong connection between the past and the future. Our task is to pass this understanding on to the next generation,” said Lamiya Khudoyarova, Head of Legal at ACWA Power Uzbekistan.

“In Uzbekistan we are implementing one of the largest energy portfolios, exceeding 12GW by 2031. These projects will cut CO₂ emissions by more than 10 million tons annually and reduce natural gas consumption by 5.02 billion cubic meters. We are bringing the best global technologies and expertise to the country, working with CCGT, solar and wind power plants, and green hydrogen projects. This means not only energy security and sustainable growth, but also new jobs, localization, and knowledge transfer to Uzbek specialists. Women’s empowerment plays a special role in this transformation. We are convinced that women’s leadership is both a strategic resource and a competitive advantage.

At ACWA Power we are increasing the number of women in leadership positions, creating more opportunities in science, technology, and engineering, and ensuring women’s participation in strategic decisions critical to the sustainable future of energy. Even through something as delicate as art, particularly the role of women artists in Central Asia, we emphasize our commitment to leadership and diversity. Development is not only about megawatts and infrastructure, but also about culture, inspiration, and meaning,” said Nigina Jumayeva, Head of Strategy at ACWA Power Uzbekistan.

The panel “Women of Central Asia” highlighted the diversity of artistic voices in the region and the power of cultural heritage in inspiring contemporary practice. The Bukhara Biennale demonstrated how Central Asian women are shaping the future of art and storytelling.

ACWA Power’s support and the involvement of students from Shirin Energy College underscored the importance of investing in women’s education and leadership.

The discussion concluded with a call to recognize the many forms of women’s resilience and to preserve women’s stories as part of the region’s cultural narrative.