Joint Residency with Art Explora
Edition 2026
Residency from 04 May 2026
In 26 days
Welcome to Oyjon Khayrullaeva, the laureate of this second edition. Her artistic practice is based on digital collage and explores the cultural heritage of Central Asia through memory, mythology and architectural ornamentation. Working primarily with photographs of mosaics from Bukhara and Samarkand, she reassembles fragments to create new visual narratives that explore identity, gender and historical continuity.
Keeper of Memories is a project presented in the form of digital collage miniatures, created from photographic fragments, architectural ornamentation, mosaics and visual details from Bukhara. The works are digitally assembled compositions, informed by the oral narratives passed down by Oyjon Khayrullaeva’s grandmother regarding family life and the city’s past.
The project draws inspiration from the compositional logic of Islamic miniatures whilst using contemporary digital collage as its primary medium. Through these digitally constructed miniatures, the artist explores memory, identity, mythology and feminist perspectives, reflecting on the lived experiences of women in Central Asia and the tension between inherited cultural narratives and contemporary realities.
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Launched in 2021, the Art Explora Residencies are an ambitious initiative born in Montmartre in partnership with the Cité internationale des arts. They offer artists and researchers from all over the world the opportunity to develop their research and creative work in the heart of Paris, in association with the French artistic scene.
Since 2020, Lafayette Anticipations has welcomed more than 40 artists in residence, who have benefited from unique support and production resources to create their works in the Fondation's workshops.
By combining their expertise, the two Fondations are able to offer artists in residence an enriched environment, combining research, creation and production. Two artists are welcomed each year under this extended scheme.
Cover image: Installation view of Oyjon Khayrullaeva’s Eight Lives, 2024–25, in collaboration with Raxmon Toirov and Rauf Taxirov, at the Bukhara Biennial, 2025. Photo by Andrey Arekelyan. Courtesy the artist and the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, Tashkent.
