Saodat Ismailova: ‘Melted into the Sun’
Saodat Ismailova, Melted into the Sun, 2024, 36 min. All rights reserved by the artist
About the Work
Ismailova’s most recent work, Melted into the Sun, records the story of Al-Muqanna (The Veiled One), an 8th-century mystic and revolutionary from Khorasan who fought against the Abbasids in the far-flung reaches of their empire. Al-Muqanna’s proto-socialist ideas and use of magical practices have reverberated throughout the history of Central Asia. The film takes us to the banks of the Amu Darya river, the round burial ground of Chillpiq, then on to the Zoroastrian fortress of Kafir-Kala, with its charred door depicting the water goddess Nana being worshiped around an altar of fire, and finally to the solar furnace of Uzbekistan, and the city of Bukhara. All of these locations were said to have been touched by Al-Muqanna’s legendary deeds, such as summoning a second moon from a well.
About the Artist
Saodat Ismailova (b. 1981; based in Paris, France, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan) is an Uzbek filmmaker and artist. Interweaving myths, rituality and dreams within the tapestry of everyday life, her films investigate the historically complex and layered culture of Central Asia, which stands at the crossroads of diverse material histories and migratory legacies. Departing from her personal history marked by growing up in the post-Soviet Uzbekistan, Ismailova reaches out to collective memory. She initiated Davra research group in Central Asia, 2021. In 2022 she participated in 59th Venice Biennale and presented new work at documenta fifteen. In 2022, she received The Eye Art & Film Prize, Amsterdam. Her new film Melted into the Sun is presented at Nebula collective exhibition, commissioned by Fondazione In Between Art Film, during the 2024 Venice Biennale.
About EMAP x FRIEZE FILM SEOUL
For the third year in a row, Frieze Film returns to Frieze Seoul 2024. This year’s programme is presented in partnership with Ewha Media Art Presentation (EMAP) and is on view from 2 – 6 September at Ewha Womans University and online at frieze.com.
Curated by Joowon Park and Valentine Umansky, this year’s programme is titled ‘All that Weaves the Universe: Of Quantum Entanglements’. It brings together time-based media works of 37 international artists, unfolding under eight chapters.
