Echo of the Self: The Soul in Motion, the Body Forgotten In collaboration with Andrey Arakelyan, 2025
4-channel Video Collage
By exploring what remains when sensation is stripped away, Aziza Shaden's video collage invites viewers into the intangible space where body and soul separate. The work is inspired by In Sina's Floating Man thought experiment.
Conceived in the eleventh century while the philosopher was imprisoned in Fardajan castle in modern-day Iran, Sina imagined a person suspended in the air, devoid of all sensory input yet still conscious of their existence. This radical idea asserts the soul's existence through pure self-awareness, independent of the physical body. Shadenova reinterprets this premise in the visual language of contemporary Uzbekistan, weaving together fragments of moving images.
The work captures people in states of in-between moments of making, pausing, and becoming, alongside objects in process. It reflects on consciousness not as a static state but as something shaped through gesture, labour, and presence. In this poetic dislocation, Shaden reveals consciousness as a given and also as something continually negotiated through the interplay of craft objects and their creators, between weight and weightlessness, between motion and memory. In the words of the artist: 'I layer my stories to explore the intimate ties that bind me to my homeland. The theme of one's soul is a central focus of my work as I search for expression of the longing to belong.
"It's only through the juxtaposition of nostalgia and instincts that help me understand the essence of my heart?" - Aziza Shaden
Commissioned by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) for the Bukhara Biennial 2025
Curated by Diana Campbell
Assistant Curator Timur Zolotoev
Animation & Music by Andrey Kornienko
Project Producer Asli Samadova, Installation Producer Aleksandra Maleeva
The Disappearing City, 2011
Single Channel Video / In collaboration with Edward Goh
Premiered at Winter - Central Asian Pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale, Curated by Tiago Bom and Ayatgali Tuleubek
My film explores the relationship between mothers and daughters within the cultural traditions of Central Asia. It is inspired by the expectations placed on women and girls from an early age, and the tension between tradition and the desire for personal freedom.
In many Central Asian communities, children are taught their social roles from a young age. Girls learn domestic responsibilities and are expected to support older women, while boys are prepared for other duties within the family. These traditions have shaped generations and continue to influence contemporary life.
The film also addresses the issue of bride kidnapping, a practice that, despite being illegal, still occurs in some areas. Through this subject, I examine how women navigate systems of tradition, family expectations, and social pressure. At the same time, I acknowledge that Central Asia today is far more modern and complex than many outside perceptions suggest.
I see the region as a place where tradition, Soviet history, political change, and contemporary values coexist and often collide. These layers of history and culture create both challenges and possibilities. Through this work, I reflect on the ways women negotiate their identities within these shifting realities and question how cultural traditions can evolve while preserving their meaning.
The Dowry of Quilts, 2021 / Collaboration with Anvar Musrepov
4-channel video
This experimental video work layers Shaden’s childhood VHS home movies over her face in geometric patterns, accompanied by her voice and narration of words and poetry by Anvar Musrepov. The piece explores a longing to return to childhood, a response to the pressures and struggles of adulthood. Through memory, reflection, and self-portraiture, Shaden questions how our early experiences shape who we become.
The image of a sewing hand layered across the face echoes a recurring theme in her practice: the patchwork quilt. It serves as a metaphor for identity, suggesting that we are all stitched together from different memories, experiences, and fragments of self.
Music by Sebastien Froment & Will Tarzian
Installation photo: Théa Giglio
Fireland - ONE GEE IN FOG Geneve, Switzerland; Photography by Théa Giglio
Out of the comfort zone (Performance video), 2018
Single Channel Video
Out of the Comfort Zone emerged from a period of questioning my artistic practice. I felt a strong desire to grow, yet every attempt at change seemed forced and disconnected from my instincts. In response, I began exploring the idea of “stepping outside the comfort zone,” experimenting with unfamiliar mediums and approaches. This performance became both an exploration and a satire of that impulse. Having never ice skated before, I attempted to paint a self-portrait while skating, introducing elements of motion, uncertainty, and humor. The self-portrait serves as a metaphor for an ongoing inner search. Through this absurd challenge, the work reflects on authenticity, suggesting that artistic growth can come not only from pushing boundaries but also from trusting one’s own nature and continuing to look inward.
Camera: Suinbike Suleimenova; Location: Medeu, Almaty, Kazakhstan,2018
Zeitgeist Rabbit Part 1 & 2, 2012, Kyrgyzstan
Single Channel Video
Zeitgeist Rabbit is an experimental video work created during my time in college and marks my first exploration of filmmaking and moving image. At the time, I was interested in themes of coming of age, cultural conditioning, and the feeling of being trapped within the expectations of one’s upbringing. Through a series of playful video sketches, I sought to capture the atmosphere and environment surrounding the protagonist, a teenage girl who dreams of escaping domestic routines, household chores, and the limitations imposed upon her in pursuit of freedom.
The work reflects my early attempts to translate personal observations and emotions into a cinematic language. While I do not consider Zeitgeist Rabbit to be a major work within my practice, it represents an important beginning. It was created during a period when I was deeply inspired by the films of Harmony Korine, whose unconventional storytelling and portrayal of youth had a significant influence on me as a teenager.
Looking back, Zeitgeist Rabbit stands as a document of artistic discovery, a first step toward exploring narrative, character, and the emotional landscapes that continue to inform my work today.