Elly-Belly. Solo Show

Curated by Anzhela Popova

Exhibition dates: 29th November – 3rd December, 2024

Event: Kids workshop - 1st November, 12 pm

Location: St.Margaret’s House

21 Old Ford Road, London E2 9PL, United Kingdom

The solo exhibition ‘Elly Belly’ by Zulfiya Spowart features cultural origins and traditions through the lenses of childhood and motherhood. It is an invitation to reflect and research the ideas which seem simple but have the greatest power. Everyday little traditions specify the familiar boundaries of the developed territory of the human. They reveal to us its close border. We know that we cannot overcome it but we accumulate cultural practices and gain new experiences, while remaining within the same boundaries.

The central core of the exhibition is ‘Lullabies’. For centuries, this genre has continued to serve as an expression not only of a mother’s feelings for her children, but also her experiences, her upbringing and her origins. By singing to her children, the artist Zulfiya Spowart is attempting to remember her own experiences and cultural identity. Lullabies become a powerful force in revealing genetically inherent abilities and ethnic codes; they help to form and consolidate cultural consciousness in each person.

Central Asia forms a cultural crossroads; successive regimes, belief-systems and artificial borders have caused great unrest. Spowart reflects on the resulting loss of culture, languages and local traditions of past generations. In doing so, textile artworks by Zulfiya Spowart refer to the Uzbek influence of her mother and reveal her cultural identity as an artist. They act in helping overcome the threshold state of in-betweenness and suspension. Spowart keeps this intangible heritage alive with her work, using memory as a tool for healing.

Spowart’s large-scale blankets link us with childhood, corporeality and folklore. The artist transforms self-portraits and photographs of her children using angles of the photos at eye level, to represent the artist’s view of herself from the side. They serve as the main reference for her textile objects, alongside folklore motifs from different cultures.

The search for textiles becomes a challenge as Spowart uses textiles from Uzbekistan, her homeland. Sewing becomes the artistic meditative process and evolves around labour-intensive, contemplative practices to show the tactile nature and unbreakable bond between a mother and her children.

The central piece is the cradle, called a beshik, with a textile blanket. Beshik is a traditional cradle from the Central Asia region. Zulfiya hand-carved, then hand-painted each wood element of Beshik which is the result of delicate, lengthy and painstaking work. This artwork symbolises recognition of her roots, personal identity and postcolonial heritage.

Exhibition ‘Elly Belly’ shows the world of women and motherhood through this artistic approach. Spowart focuses strongly on women, who play a key role in maintaining cultural heritage because all our stories are passed down from mother to daughter for generations.