HehujumThe "Cross-Blazing," which in Uzbek means "attack" or "offensive," was a campaign launched in 1927 by Soviet authorities with the aim of emancipating Muslim women in the Central Asian republics and promoting their integration into public life. One of the most visible aspects of this project was the requirement that women remove their veils, even at gunpoint if necessary. In Uzbekistan, it is estimated that on March 8, 1927, some 70,000 women participated in the mass burning of veils. "The Soviet authorities wanted to attack women and veils," states Uzbek artist and filmmaker Saodat Ismailova (Tashkent, 1981) on the occasion of the exhibition she is presenting at the Àngels Barcelona gallery (Pintor Fortuny, 27) until January 31, titled I compete with time.“I was still born in Soviet Uzbekistan, with the narrative that we owed our liberation and freedom to the Soviet Union,” says Ismailova.