Patterns of Protection, Bukhara Biennial

Public Art —

Patterns of Protection is a site-specific installation by Suchi Reddy for the inaugural Bukhara Biennial, transforming the courtyard of the historic 16th-century Gaukushon Madrassah into a sanctuary for reflection, connection, and learning. Conceived as both a public space and an artwork, it weaves conviviality and a sense of shared humanity into the historic fabric of Bukhara.

Guided by Reddy’s mantra form follows feeling, the work combines a woven canopy suspended between mulberry trees with communal tables and benches designed for non-hierarchical gathering. Created in collaboration with Uzbek master weaver Malika Berdiyarova, the canopy draws on traditional ikat patterns, especially comb motifs that symbolize protection, abundance, and fertility. As light filters through the weaving, shifting shadows animate the courtyard and generate an atmosphere of care and respite.

Commissioned by Gayane Umerova and curated by Diana Campbell under the Biennial’s theme Recipes for Broken Hearts, Patterns of Protection reimagines the Madrassah’s legacy as a place of knowledge into a contemporary House of Softness—a living classroom for healing, dialogue, and collective imagination.

Inspired by the integrative philosophy of Ibn Sina, whose blending of metaphysics, poetry, medicine, and psychology continues to shape cultural thought, the work reflects Reddy’s exploration of neuroaesthetics and the empathic exchange between person and place. By foregrounding local craft as both cultural heritage and contemporary innovation, Patterns of Protection embodies architecture as social practice and design as care.