Time's Tail, 2025

In Time’s Tail (2025), Saodat Ismailova turns to a material and cultural symbol deeply rooted in her region: the horse. Continuing her exploration of possible surfaces for video projection, the work employs a screen made of horsehair—a choice that emerged from the artist’s research on traditional veils. Once used to conceal women’s faces and emotions, the veil here is reversed and unwoven. Female faces appear openly, looking directly into the camera. Their whispering voices address the viewer as if transmitting knowledge across generations. The domestication of the horse, believed to have originated in the steppes of Central Asia, fundamentally altered humanity’s perception of time, distance, and thought. Time’s Tail extends Ismailova’s reflection on temporality, tracing how the act of riding a horse reshaped our relationship to movement and the passing of time.

Photo: Exhibition view, I Compete with Time, ángels barcelona, 2025