Aziza Izamova

This dissertation examines artistic and craft production in Central Asia during the early Soviet period—a transformative era defined by national-territorial delimitation and mass collectivization. Focusing on figures who operated simultaneously as artists, craftspeople, educators, and state representatives, the project articulates how visual and material practices actively contributed to shaping a distinctive Soviet Central Asian identity. The research integrates archival investigation, digital mapping of regional museum collections, and apprenticeship-based fieldwork at a weaving workshop in Uzbekistan. It engages previously unstudied materials and embodied modes of knowledge production, highlighting overlooked intersections between craft and modern art. Ultimately, the dissertation expands Central Asian art history by offering an alternative, materially grounded narrative of Soviet modernism.