The Bukhara Biennial has appointed Kulapat Yantrasast as artistic director of its second edition, which will run from September 3 to November 21, 2027.

Trained as an architect under Tadao Ando, Bangkok-born Yantrasast founded WHY Architecture in 2004 and has since expanded his practice into multidisciplinary design. His recent work spans theMichael C. Rockefeller Wing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Dib Bangkok, and Riyadh’s ILMI Science Discovery & Innovation Center, with upcoming projects for the Louvre in Paris—situating him at the intersection of museology, cultural infrastructure, and exhibition making. His collaboration with the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) on When Apricots Blossom at Milan Design Week 2026, which explored stories of perseverance and community, further aligns him with the biennial’s focus on cultural heritage, tradition, and contemporary practice.

The inaugural 2025 edition of the Bukhara Biennial was founded and commissioned by ACDF chairperson Gayane Umerova and curated by Diana Campbell. Guided by a vision “to revitalize heritage not as a static memory, but as a foundation for creative futures,” the biennial fostered collaboration between international contemporary artists and local Uzbek artisans, drawing approximately 1.8 million visitors. Participating artists included Antony Gormley, Marina Perez Simão, Erika Verzutti, Subodh Gupta, Delcy Morelos, and Dana Awartani, among others.

For the 2027 edition, Yantrasast will continue to uphold the artist-artisan model while introducing new perspectives from local economists, ecologists, and scholars. Programming will expand to rejuvenated caravanserais, madrasas, public squares, and historic sites—some opening to the public for the first time—positioning the biennial as “a catalyst for long-term cultural and civic development” in heritage conservation and tourism. 

Joyce Lee is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.