After a successful exhibition at Zone2Source in Amsterdam in January 2024, the art project Connecting Geographies by Dutch artist Marjolijn Boterenbrood is now on display in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 21 to 29 May 2025. The exhibition is part of the Art Station Residency of the Silk Road International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage.

The installation features reworked maps by thirty artists from Central Asia, created during Boterenbrood’s road trip from Amsterdam to Bishkek in 2023. Her original maps, part of the project Letter to a Silk Road, were literally overwritten by the artists she met along the way. By adding their own stories and perspectives, they shifted the ‘power’ from the original mapmaker to a shared narrative shaped by reciprocity, forming an alternative Silk Road.

Connecting Geographies explores themes of ecology, climate change, and collective memory. It invites visitors to reflect on how we shape our environments and how art can foster a shared understanding of ecological and social issues During the exhibition, a series of seminars, guided tours, and workshops will be held, open to the public. Curator and director Alice Smits (Zone2Source) and program maker Kees Foekema (De Balie) will lead these sessions, contributing their expertise in the intersection of art, ecology, and society.