editorial

Words by Claire Boobbyer July 13, 2026
Long underrated by travelers, Tashkent, Uzbekistan’s largest city and political hub, is fast emerging as a destination in its own right.
<figure id="attachment_159847" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-159847" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-159847" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Teplo-Store-Founders-and-Gozar-of-Artisans-Interior.jpeg" alt="Charos and Timur Kamalov, the co-founders of Teplo Store in Tashkent; Uzbek crafts on display at Gozar of Artisans." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Teplo-Store-Founders-and-Gozar-of-Artisans-Interior.jpeg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Teplo-Store-Founders-and-Gozar-of-Artisans-Interior-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Teplo-Store-Founders-and-Gozar-of-Artisans-Interior-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Teplo-Store-Founders-and-Gozar-of-Artisans-Interior-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-159847" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: Charos and Timur Kamalov, the co-founders of Teplo Store; Uzbek crafts on display at Gozar of Artisans. (Courtesy of Teplo Store; Courtesy of Sebastian Böttcher/Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation)</figcaption></figure>
Most people come to Uzbekistan for the ancient Silk Road cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva. The capital, Tashkent, is often little more than a pit stop on the way in or out. That needs a rethink. With its wide boulevards and monumental architecture, this Central Asian city of three million is enjoying a creative renaissance, from art and fashion to food and drink. I’d visited once before and was bewitched, but didn’t have the chance to dig deeper. This time, with my tanish-bilish—an Uzbek term for personal connections—in place, I set out to meet those shaping the zeitgeist.
“Tashkent is no longer just a stopover city,” Dinara Dultaeva tells me over a basil gimlet at the rooftop <a href="https://sapiens.uz/en-gb/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gravity Bar</a> at Sapiens Hotel, a sleek new bolt-hole in the cypress-dotted Mirabad neighborhood. “It’s really vibrant now, with lots of emerging young artists, designers, and offbeat spaces.” Moon Boots’ “Come Back Around” buzzes through the air as Dultaeva, the publisher of Visit Uzbekistan magazine, talks about the capital’s creative resurgence.
I can’t wait to dive in—but first, I reacquaint myself with Tashkent’s extraordinary architectural legacy. In 1966, an earthquake directly beneath these streets gave Soviet urban planners the chance to fashion Tashkent anew. Swaths of the old city once ruled by the Timurids, Shaybanids, and later the Russians were cleared, replaced by tree-lined avenues and Soviet modernist architecture.
Armed with an app developed by research and preservation initiative <a href="https://tashkentmodernism.uz/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI</a>, I head out on a self-guided walking tour of the city’s eye-popping landmarks, from the turquoise-domed Chorsu Bazaar and flying saucer–like Tashkent State Circus to the 375-meter Tashkent TV Tower, a steel lattice structure that blinks neon orange after dark. Equally striking is the Tashkent Metro, its thematically designed stations embellished with marble, murals, and chandeliers. At the O’zbekiston stop, huge brass sconces with glass shades shaped like bulbous cotton bolls nod to Uzbekistan’s main crop; at Kosmonavtlar Station, space-themed decor includes large ceramic medallions honoring cosmonauts like Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova.
I find a taste for the celestial above ground, too. At the recently opened <a href="https://iccu.uz/en?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Islamic Civilization Center</a> in the historic Eski Shahar quarter, I pose in front of AI photo gadgetry and appear dressed as an astronaut. The ICC is pretty out of this world, as you’d expect from a multimillion-dollar cultural complex. It houses one of the oldest surviving Qur’ans in an exquisite chamber of rose-pink Portuguese marble; above it rises a 65-meter dome, hung with a chandelier of more than a million Swarovski stones. Elsewhere, exhibitions trace 3,000 years of pre-Islamic and Islamic history through artifacts and audiovisual wizardry. They conclude with a hagiographic display about the “New Uzbekistan,” highlighting the modernization agenda of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, complete with LED installations, holograms, and interactive screens. An Uzbek space program? It’s in the works for 2028.
<figure id="attachment_159849" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-159849" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-159849" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Islamic-Civilization-Center-Dome-and-Local-Creative-Figures.jpeg" alt="The dome of the Islamic Civilization Center in Tashkent; ACDF Chairperson Gayane Umerova with designer Nada Debs outside Gozar of Artisans." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Islamic-Civilization-Center-Dome-and-Local-Creative-Figures.jpeg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Islamic-Civilization-Center-Dome-and-Local-Creative-Figures-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Islamic-Civilization-Center-Dome-and-Local-Creative-Figures-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Islamic-Civilization-Center-Dome-and-Local-Creative-Figures-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-159849" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: The dome of the Islamic Civilization Center; ACDF Chairperson Gayane Umerova with designer Nada Debs outside Gozar of Artisans. (Courtesy of Islamic Civilization Center; Courtesy of Sebastian Böttcher/Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation)</figcaption></figure>
Under a much smaller dome is the months-old <a href="https://www.instagram.com/okhun.gozar/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gozar of Artisans</a>. Backed by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), it occupies an 18th-century women’s mosque that has been stylishly reimagined as a craft gallery by Lebanese designer Nada Debs. Umid Zokirov, the dapper manager, invites me through a beautifully carved walnut door into the serene, low-lit space.
I’m instantly drawn to a slim-necked vase that glows in shades of teal and turquoise. It’s the work of leading ceramics master Abdulvahid Buhoriy, finished with a radiant glaze made from crushed quartz and the ashes of a desert plant called ishkor. Elsewhere, rails of clothes showcase pieces from Uzbekistan’s most celebrated suzani embroiderer, Madina Kasimbaeva, and Saadi jean jackets embellished with a chili-pepper design.
The art scene here is also flourishing. At <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hlmrdv_gallery/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hlmrdv Gallery</a>, a compact contemporary space founded by architect Ulugbek Kholmurodov, an exhibition running until the end of October spotlights the bold, abstract work of 78-year-old Bukhara artist Zelimkhan Saidjanov. Later this year will see the opening of another ACDF baby, the <a href="https://ccat.uz/en?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Centre for Contemporary Arts Tashkent</a>, housed in a 1912-built tram depot and diesel station reimagined by Paris-based architects Studio KO. The inaugural exhibition will feature international names like Jamaican-American artist Nari Ward and Tunis-born Nadia Kaabi-Linke alongside such local talents as seventh-generation Uzbek ceramicist Shokhrukh Rakhimov.
Just around the corner from Hlmrdv Gallery, <a href="https://teplo.store/en?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Teplo Store</a> blurs the lines between art and fashion in what co-founder Timur Kamalov, a participant in last year’s London Design Biennale, describes as a “marketplace with a soul.” Begun as a pop-up, the store now works with 100 mostly female designers who reinterpret tradition through contemporary fashion and jewelry. I fancy a gorgeous pair of velvet shoes with pink hearts by Suraya Collection and an alluring velvet chapan (long-sleeved robe) striped with bold ikat patterns. Uzbeks call ikat abr, from the Persian for “cloud,” owing to the blurred, feathered edges of its motifs.
<figure id="attachment_159850" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-159850" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-159850 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Stairs-to-Teplo-Store-and-a-Plate-Being-Painted-with-Uzbek-Designs.jpeg" alt="Climbing the stairs to Teplo Store; a work in progress at Rimma Gazalieva’s ceramics studio." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Stairs-to-Teplo-Store-and-a-Plate-Being-Painted-with-Uzbek-Designs.jpeg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Stairs-to-Teplo-Store-and-a-Plate-Being-Painted-with-Uzbek-Designs-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Stairs-to-Teplo-Store-and-a-Plate-Being-Painted-with-Uzbek-Designs-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Stairs-to-Teplo-Store-and-a-Plate-Being-Painted-with-Uzbek-Designs-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-159850" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: Climbing the stairs to Teplo Store; a work in progress at Rimma Gazalieva’s ceramics studio. (Courtesy of Teplo Store; Claire Boobbyer)</figcaption></figure>
I find it everywhere, from clothing to ceramics to candy. When I meet <a href="https://rimmagazalieva.com/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rimma Gazalieva</a>, a leading porcelain artist who gives masterclasses in her home studio, she’s painting delicate ikat motifs on a plate. Amid shelves of tableware and ornaments, I notice pomegranates and suzani-inspired designs in her work as well. As I leave, she gifts me a small plate in yellows and blues, rendered in an ikat style.
All this talk of plates leads me to Uzbek food, with its doughy breads, zingy salads, and rich meat dishes. At <a href="https://www.instagram.com/boboycafe_uz/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boboy</a>, an atmospheric café near the Hast-Imam Mosque and ICC, I devour a hearty laghman soup brimming with hand-pulled wheat noodles and beef strips, washed down with fresh lemonade served by the jug. Another standout is modern Uzbek restaurant <a href="https://www.instagram.com/afsona_restaurant/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Afsona</a>, where I order chiroqchi, a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers slathered in garlicky katyk yogurt; and moshkichiri, a risotto-like mung bean porridge with rice, beef, and cumin. A dry white wine made from native bayan shirey grapes provides the perfect accompaniment.
Curious to learn more about Uzbek viticulture, I arrange a visit to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/chateauhamkor/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chateau Hamkor</a>, a 90-minute drive from town in the foothills of the Tian Shan Mountains. During a tasting, winemaker Malika Sayfullina tells me that Uzbekistan grows more than 300 grape varieties. I content myself with sips of the estate’s full-bodied 2016 cabernet sauvignon and a prosecco-style riesling, sweet and deliciously floral.
Sayfullina also tips me off to Tashkent’s craft spirits scene. She recommends <a href="http://instagram.com/zimmer_tashkent?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zimmer</a>, a cozy, vintage-accented spot near Amir Temur Square. The bar is lined with tinctures and infusions; I try the honeysuckle gin, served in a petite liqueur glass. Pure nectar. Zimmer’s speakeasy vibe and comforting food—chicken Kiev, pork brisket with barley and truffle sauce—make it easy to linger, much like Tashkent itself. I toast the tanish-bilish that led me to its door.
<figure id="attachment_159846" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-159846" style="width: 1800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-159846" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Gravity-Bar-at-Sapiens-Hotel.jpeg" alt="Settling in at Sapiens Hotel’s rooftop Gravity Bar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan." width="1800" height="1200" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Gravity-Bar-at-Sapiens-Hotel.jpeg 1800w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Gravity-Bar-at-Sapiens-Hotel-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Gravity-Bar-at-Sapiens-Hotel-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Gravity-Bar-at-Sapiens-Hotel-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Gravity-Bar-at-Sapiens-Hotel-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Tashkent-Uzbekistan-Gravity-Bar-at-Sapiens-Hotel-1568x1045.jpeg 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-159846" class="wp-caption-text">Settling in at Sapiens Hotel’s rooftop Gravity Bar. (Courtesy of Sapiens Hotel)</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Tashkent Tip Sheet</h2>
<h2>GETTING THERE</h2>
Tashkent’s main Southeast Asian air link is Kuala Lumpur, with multiple weekly flights. <a href="https://www.uzairways.com/en?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Uzbekistan Airways</a> also serves Bangkok on a more limited basis.
<h2>WHERE TO STAY</h2>
The city’s ever-expanding hotel scene now includes top-tier properties like <a href="https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/hotels/us/en/tashkent/tasat/hoteldetail?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">InterContinental Tashkent</a> (from US$310 a night), a sleek, glass-clad tower near Amir Temur Square. For a more intimate, artsy vibe, consider homegrown <a href="https://sapiens.uz/en-gb/?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sapiens Hotel</a> (from US$95 a night).
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This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">June/July 2026</a> print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Capital Assets”). Buy a single issue or subscribe <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Settling in at Sapiens Hotel’s rooftop Gravity Bar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Tashkent’s Time: The Creative Boom in the Heart of Central Asia