Uzbekistan’s immersive apricot show

Uzbekistan is using one of Milan’s newest cultural addresses as a stage set. From April 20 to 26, “When Apricots Blossom” will fill Palazzo Citterio in Brera during Milan Design Week 2026, turning the 18th-century palace into an immersive exhibition of craft, design, and live programming. (fuorisalone.it, palazzocitterio.org) The venue matters almost as much as the show. Palazzo Citterio only opened to the public on December 8, 2024, after a project that official site materials say took more than half a century to realize, so Uzbekistan is landing in a space Milan is still learning to see as part of the city’s design map. (palazzocitterio.org, cultura.gov.it) The exhibition is being presented by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, the state-backed body that has spent the past few years putting Uzbek culture on bigger international platforms. Its chair, Gayane Umerova, commissioned the project and is also listed by the foundation as a senior official in Uzbekistan’s creative economy and tourism policy apparatus. (acdf.uz, nova.acdf.uz) This is not a generic “national style” showcase. The project is centered on Karakalpakstan in northwestern Uzbekistan and on the Aral Sea region, which gives the installation an environmental story as well as a design one. (fuorisalone.it, timesca.com) That background is heavy. The United Nations says communities in Karakalpakstan have faced salinized land and water, dust storms, poor drinking water, and health pressures as the Aral Sea disaster reshaped the region. (un.org, aralschool.uz) So the apricot image is doing two jobs at once. Official descriptions say the show takes its title from a poem by Uzbek writer Hamid Olimjon and uses blossom as a symbol of hope, renewal, and resilience rather than as a simple springtime motif. (fuorisalone.it, nova.acdf.uz) Inside the palace, the show will mix thematic installations with newly commissioned objects and public programs. Dezeen’s event listing says there are 12 new products made with regional materials in collaboration with Uzbek artisans, with contributors including Bethan Laura Wood, Fernando Laposse, Marcin Rusak, and Raw-Edges. (dezeen.com, fuorisalone.it) The curatorial setup is also unusually international for a country presentation. Architect Kulapat Yantrasast is named as curator, while the designer list spans Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, tying Uzbek materials and craft knowledge to a global design roster instead of keeping them in a sealed heritage display. (arte.it, fuorisalone.it) The timing puts Uzbekistan directly into the busiest week on the design calendar. Milan Design Week runs across the city from April 20 to 26, while the Salone del Mobile furniture fair at Rho runs April 21 to 26, which means the installation will be catching the same global crowd moving between trade halls, palazzi, and brand spectacles. (comune.milano.it, salonemilano.it) That is why countries use Milan this way. A pavilion in Brera is not just a tourism ad; it is a chance to put specific materials, colors, and craft methods in front of the buyers, editors, curators, and designers who often turn one week of looking into the next few seasons of interiors and collectible design. (designboom.com, dezeen.com) In this case, Uzbekistan is betting that a story about bread, blossom, reeds, textiles, and a vanishing sea can travel farther than a booth full of products. Milan gets another must-see room, and Uzbekistan gets to frame itself not as a supplier of motifs from the past, but as a country using design to talk about ecology, memory, and contemporary identity. (gulftoday.ae, timesca.com)