Since childhood, he dreamed of a shoemaker's booth, and today he transforms the empty walls of his workshop into a vibrant artist's space. For him, freedom is not an absolute but a paradox: "Freedom is like oxygen sickness: a person dies from an excess of oxygen,", says Akhunov.

He argued with his father, lost his jobs, faced bans and censorship, but it was precisely resistance that became the source of his creative energy.

"Loneliness is the lot of the artist. Conceptualism loves loneliness, loves contemplation. It is an emptiness of a different kind. Emptiness is that from which ideas, things are born. It is the place of ritual," — Akhunov on his approach.

Outside the workshop, he has a different life: 44 years with his wife Ozoda, a kettle, chopped onions, and domestic tranquility. "Without her, it's not a home," the artist admits.

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