Dixit Algorizmi – The Garden of Knowledge

Dixit Algorizmi. The garden of knowledge sets out to question the origin myths and narratives surrounding modern technologies, using the lens of contemporary artistic practices to explore their forgotten roots and overlooked resonances with distant places, times and cultures. The book presents a reflection on the seminal work of Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, a scientist and polymath born and raised in the city of Khiva (present-day Uzbekistan). Al-Khwārizmī’s treatise On the Calculation with Hindu Numerals, written around 825 CE, was responsible for the introduction of Hindu-Arabic numerals to Europe, and it was the Latin transliteration of al-Khwārizmī’s name to Algorizmi that gave us the modern word ‘algorithm’. Dixit Algorizmi. The garden of knowledge engages divergent interpretations of technology as a medium, acknowledging the depth and complexity of its history to be explored. Dixit Algorizmi is an ongoing series of exhibitions, conversations and workshops initiated in 2019; it was presented in 2021 at CCA Tashkent and in 2022 at the Pavilion of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 59th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale.