The exhibition "TURANDOT: To the Daughters of the East" at ACP–Palazzo Franchetti in Venice (May 9–Oct 31, 2026) explores the cultural and political history of the Turan region—encompassing parts of modern-day Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—through the lens of the fictional heroine Turandot. Curated by Ziba Ardalan, the show features 11 female artists including Mona Hatoum, Nazira Karimi, Huma Bhabha, and Afruz Amighi, whose works address themes of nomadic identity, shifting empires, dowry practices, and the opium trade, using the character's transformation from Persian poetry to Puccini's opera as a starting point.
This exhibition matters because it reclaims a historically marginalized region's narrative from Orientalist stereotypes, centering the voices of contemporary female artists from or connected to Central Asia. By linking Turandot's resilience to the artists' own explorations of cultural tradition, political upheaval, and personal memory, the show offers a nuanced, feminist perspective on a region often reduced to geopolitical clichés, while also contributing to ongoing dialogues about decolonizing art history and museum practice.