educational research programme focusing on
the Aral region
The Aral School is an ecological education programme in Nukus, Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan, committed to the social, ecological, and cultural regeneration of the Aral Sea region. Reframing environmental challenges through education, local community engagement, and global expertise, the Aral School develops new solutions for the region and wider world facing broken ecosystems and the impact of climate change.
Core research
themes
The theme of the Aral School's second cohort is Climate and Landscape.
Where the first cohort studied food and water at the scale of the household, the second asks what territory produces this food and water, and what territory they produce in return: soils, hydrology, wind and salt, irrigation and the history of agriculture, and the cultural and social life that a changing landscape shapes.
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Joseph Grima is an architect, curator and writer based in Milan, whose work over the past two decades has spanned institutional leadership, curatorial practice and design research. From 2017 to 2025 he was Creative Director and Chairman of the Executive Board of Design Academy Eindhoven, where he reoriented one of the world's leading design schools towards a reflection on designs role in responding to ecological and social transformation. Through Space Caviar, the design and research studio he founded, he directed Non-Extractive Architecture, a major international research programme investigating the possibility of building without depleting finite natural resources, and has worked extensively in Central Asia, as curator and designer of the National Pavilion of Uzbekistan at the Venice Biennale and of The Man from Kwarizm at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Tashkent.
He has curated numerous international biennials and triennials, including the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2015 and the first Walker Art Center Design Triennial, Beyond Materialism, opening in October 2026. With Valentina Ciuffi he co-founded Alcova, the itinerant platform for independent design that has grown from a single Milanese venue into one of the defining events of the international design calendar, and he was previously Editor in-Chief of Domus and Chief Curator of Design at Triennale Milano.
About ACDF
The Aral School is an initiative of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF).
The Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) preserves, promotes and nurtures Uzbekistan's heritage, arts and culture. Founded in 2017 and led by chairperson Gayane Umerova, ACDF drives the country's cultural ecosystem and creative economy, creating opportunities for practitioners locally, regionally and globally.
To date, ACDF has reached over 5 million visitors through landmark exhibitions worldwide, with projects in more than 17 countries and collaborations with over 40 international institutions including the Louvre and Arab World Institute in Paris, the Uffizi in Florence, the British Museum in London and the Palace Museum in Beijing.
ACDF spearheaded the Bukhara Biennial which drew over 1.8 million visitors to its 2025 inaugural edition, with the next edition running 3 September–21 November 2027. It also oversees the Aral Culture Summit, uniting global experts on ecological and cultural renewal, with its second edition set for spring 2027. In Samarkand, ACDF hosted the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference (30 October–13 November 2025), underscoring Uzbekistan's role in global cultural heritage dialogue. Capacity-building remains central to ACDF's mission, with artist residency and curatorial programmes running in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, alongside the Aral School in Nukus, a new ecological education initiative.
Internationally, ACDF has commissioned the Uzbekistan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale Arte and Architettura since 2021 - most recently The Aural Sea (2026) - as well as Uzbekistan's participation in Expo 2025 Osaka. It has also overseen When Apricots Blossom at Milan Design Week 2026 and Instruments of the Mind at Palazzo Franchetti in Venice (open until November 2026), and is partnering with London's Science Museum to spotlight the scientific contributions of Islamic cultures.
