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FOCUS KAZAKHSTAN:
1 June – 21 October 2018
Artist Residency Exhibition
25 September – 20 October 2018
@ MOMENTUM Gallery
Kunstquartier Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin
Exhibition Opening Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 12:00 – 7:00pm. Closed Mondays
FEATURING:
Beibit Asemkul, Anar Aubakir, Liliya Kim,
Ykylas Shaikhiyev, Saule Sulemenova, Gulmaral Tatibayeva
A Cultural Exchange Partnership between
the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan and MOMENTUM Berlin
Curated by:
Rachel Rits-Volloch, Director of MOMENTUM
David Elliott, Chief Curator & Vice Director of Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, Guangzhou, China
Almagul Menlibayeva, Artist
Organized by:
The National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan
&
MOMENTUM Berlin
Showing works by 7 artists created during their 2-month Artist Residencies at MOMENTUM, this exhibition is a reflection upon Berlin through Kazakh eyes. These works, produced during the artists’ first trips to Berlin, and for some their first trips abroad, encompass a cultural dialogue between their traditions and the condition of the contemporary nomad. Dealing with topics ranging from wartime histories to personal histories, today’s refugees and migrants to the nomadic migrations of the artists’ grandparents, the Focus Kazakhstan: Artist Residency Show exemplifies the talents of young artists never before seen in Berlin. Focus Kazakhstan: Berlin is a 6-month cooperation between MOMENTUM and the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan resulting in two parallel exhibitions taking place at the Kunstquartier Bethanien on 25 September – 20 October 2018: Bread and Roses, Four Generations of Kazakh Women Artists and The Artist Residency Exhibition.
FOCUS KAZAKHSTAN BERLIN is a 6-month cooperation between the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan and MOMENTUM Berlin, involving Artist Residencies for 7 young artists held from 1 June to 1 October 2018, and two parallel exhibitions be held on 25 September – 20 October 2018. Focus Kazakhstan Berlin: BREAD & ROSES and the Artist Residency Show, organised by Momentum Worldwide at the Kunstquartier Bethanien Art Center, are part of the Focus Kazakhstan initiative implemented by the National Museum of Kazakhstan in association with the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan within the framework of the program Ruhani Zhangyru. Focus Kazakhstan, a cultural initiative to bring contemporary art from Kazakhstan to an international audience, is comprised of four different exhibitions, each with varying artists and curators, taking place between June 2018 to March 2019 in Berlin, London, Jersey City (USA), and Suwon (Korea).
Participating Artists
BEIBIT ASEMKUL
Beibit Asemkul: Born 1985 in Uzynagash, Almaty region, Kazakhstan. Lives and works in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Beibit Asemkul studied at the Republican College of Art, Almaty (1998-2004), and in the painting faculty of the Kazakh National Academy of Arts, Almaty (2004-2009). Since 2012, Asemkul has been a lecturer at the Kazakh National University of Arts, Astana. Selected exhibitions and awards include: “After 52 days” (2017), Center for Contemporary Arts ACAC, Astana; “Grand Pale. International Exhibition of Contemporary Art”, ART CAPITAL, Paris (2017); Art Fest, Astana (2017); 2016 – China. Urumqi International Exhibition of Artists. Plein Air; Grand Prix 2016 -Made in Astana, Republican competition of young artists; 2016 – “Cadmium Red”, NEONOMAD, Astana National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan; 2016 – “Infinity 3”, Gallery Hassanat, Astana; 2016 – “Infinity 2”, Korean cultural center of Astana; 2015- 1st place at the republic plein air competition among young artists of Kazakhstan, Aktau; 2014- solo exhibition “Secret of tenderness”, National Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana; 2013- Winner of the “PATRIOT” award of Republic of Kazakhstan; 2013 – International Exhibition of Young Artists, CHA Moscow; 2012- Winner of “Daryn” the State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan; 2012 – Winner of the Prize Fund of the first President of Kazakhstan – in the field of culture and art; 2012 – 1st place gold medal at the International exhibition New York Realism Fine Art. USA; 2012 – solo exhibition “POJIGRAFOMANIA” Palace of Independence. Astana; 2011 – “Discover the World of Art”, first solo exhibition at the Museum of First President of Republic of Kazakhstan; 2010 – Winner of the XIII international festival “Shabyt”, Grand Prix.
ANAR AUBAKIR
Born 1984 in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. Lives and works in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Anar Aubakir’s paintings, often shown in complex installations, emanate a disquieting poetic symbolism that, while referring to stories and relationships she has encountered in Kazakhstan, suggest a much broader reference. She completed an MA at the Kazakh National Academy of Arts in Almaty; in 2010 she won the best realist painting award in the Russian Art Week competition in St. Petersburg as well as the 1st painting prize in the Week of Kazakhstan Art competition in Almaty. Her work was awarded the Cholpan-Ata City Award in Kyrgyzstan in 2016. She is also the organizer of the first traveling exhibitions to have taken place since Kazakhstan became independent. From 2013 to 2017, she organized more than a dozen exhibitions, in which over 20 artists participated, which have traveled to Pavlodar, Semey, Aktobe, Atyrau, Kostanay, Karaganda, Temirtau, Kokshetau, Petropavlovsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Aktau and Astana. In each of the cities she conducted master classes in painting and interdisciplinary art. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held in Almaty (2010) and Astana (2015.) Her works are in museum collections in both Kazakhstan and Tatarstan.
LILIA KIM
Lilia Kim: Born 1969 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Lives and works in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
Lilia Kim, a member of the Artists’ Union of Kazakhstan, graduated from the Karaganda Pedagocical Institute (KarPi) in the graphic arts department in 1991. Recent solos exhibitions include: “Made in Karaganda”, Ular Gallery (Almaty, Kazakhstan); “Eco-Love” (Karaganda, Kazakhstan); “When the soul smiles” (Karaganda, Kazakhstan); “The Cost of Meaning” (Astana, Kazakhstan); “A Look at Asia” (Astana, Kazakhstan); “Who Is It” (Karaganda, Kazakhstan); “Shining Spheres”, Museum Iso (Karaganda, Kazakhstan); “Oriental Motives”, Nagornaya Gallery (Moscow, Russia); “Music in colors”, Ufa Gallery (Russia); “L’artigiano in fiero”, the International Handicraft Exhibition (Milan, Italy). Awards include: Grand Prix of the international competition, nomination “Master”, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Winner of the republican contest “Sheber”, Kazakhstan; Prize-winner of spring salon, gallery “Kulanshi”, Kazakhstan. International artist residencies include: Central Asia Art Month – residence for artists, Abu Dhabi, UAE, with participation in the exhibition, “Days of Kazakhstan culture in the Emirates”.
YKYLAS SHAIKHIEV
Yklas Shaikhiev: Born 1995 in Kyzylorda region, Kazakhstan. Lives and works in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Shaikhiev Ykylas earned a Bachelors from the KazNPU in Almaty, and is currently completing his MFA at the same university. Ykylas’s practice steers towards the conceptual, combining abstract images with realistic forms. The artist is interested in the paradoxicality that arises at the points of intersection of the modern and archaic.
SAULE SULEIMENOVA
Saule Suleimenova: Born 1970 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Lives and works in Kazakhstan.
Saule Suleimenova graduated from the Kazakh State Academy of Architecture and Construction in 1996, and was awarded an MFA from the Kazakh National University of Arts in 2013. She has been a member of Union of Artists of Kazakhstan since 1998. She works with mixed media, creating images and sculptures from plastic bags in a process she describes as ‘waste collage’. Residual Memory, her current project, revisits the traumatic history of Kazakhstan by recycling reproductions of little known photo documents into waste collages. Still painful themes such as the Jeltoksan (the Kazakh youth riots in 1986), and the Asharshylyk (the colonial genocide resulting from Stalin’s Collectivization policies during 1932-1933), give her practice an edge of activism. Awards include: Fellowship of the President of Kazakhstan (1998); Laureate of the Shabyt, Zhiger and Tengri Umai awards; Laureate ‘For creative achievements’ in the №1 Choice of the Year, Kazakhstan, 2017; Shortlisted for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2017; Nominated for the Singapore Art Prize 2017; Nominated to Prince Claus Foundation Art Prize 2016.
Her selected exhibitions include: Somewhere in the Great Steppe, Contemporary Art from Kazakhstan, Erarta Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2017-2018; Somewhere in the Great Steppe. Skyline, National Museum of Kazakhstan. Astana, 2017. Culture Summit 2017, Abu Dhabi, UAE; Dis/Possessed. A Question of Spirit and Money, Manifesta 10, Folium, Zurich, Switzerland, 2016; One Belt One Road, Federation of Women, Sotheby’s, Hong Kong; 56th Venice Biennale in the Why Self project (2015); 5th Moscow Contemporary Art Biennale in the Migrants project of RSGU (2013); ARTBATFEST Almaty contemporary art festival (2013, 2014, 2015); East of Nowhere, Foundation 107, Turin, Italy (2009); Kazakh: Paintings By Saule Suleimenova, Townsend Center, Berkeley University, USA, 2005.
GULMARAL TATIBAYEVA
Gulmaral Tatibayeva: Born 1982, Scherbakty, Pavlodar Region, Kazakhstan. Lives and works in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Gulmaral Tatibayeva received a Bachelor degree in design from the Kazakh National Academy of Arts in 2002. She is a member of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan; the Eurasian Designers Union; the Eurasian Creative Guild; and the art group ‘KADMII QYZYL’. She has participated in many national and international exhibitions and competitions; she won the Grand Prix in the Astana city competition for the best billboard design to promote family values (2014) and has exhibited in the First Astana Art Salon; ‘Plein Air Aktobe 2015’, an international symposium of Art; the new media lab in EXPO-2017 at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow; AstanaArtFest, Astana Contemporary Art Centre (2015); International Festival of Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture, (2017); the Eurasia Sculpture Biennale – International Biennial Of Sculpture Art, Astana (2017); ‘Days of Culture of Kazakhstan in Turkey’, Istanbul (2017). Her works may be found in museums in Kazakhstan, and private and public collections in Kazakhstan, Jordan, Turkey, Holland, Russia, and Great Britain.
The title FOCUS KAZAKHSTAN was initially coined by MOMENTUM and was subsequently extended to cover all four international exhibitions taking place in 2018 within the framework of the Ruhanyi Zhangru initiative of the Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Republic of Kazakhstan: “Modern Kazakh Culture in the Global World”. FOCUS KAZAKHSTAN takes place in Berlin (MOMENTUM), London, Seoul, and New York.
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