When Apricots Blossom

Presented by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation during Milan Design Week 2026, When Apricots Blossom is an immersive takeover of Palazzo Citterio in Brera that uses craft and design to trace a narrative of resilience in the Aral Sea region and Karakalpakstan. Commissioned by ACDF Chairperson Gayane Umerova and named after a 1930s poem by Hamid Olimjon, the exhibition brings together thematic installations, new contemporary design commissions, and live programming to reframe the material language and environmental legacy of a region shaped by profound ecological change. Conceived as a spatial journey through the historic palazzo, the project is guided by architect Kulapat Yantrasast’s focus on three key aspects of Karakalpak culture - textiles, food, and shelter - positioning craft not as nostalgia, but as a living system of knowledge, memory, and adaptation carried across generations.