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Traditional and contemporary art of Kazakhstan

A Virtual Journey into the World of Kazakhstan’s Artistic Heritage

This Web Gallery presents the diversity of artistic practices in Kazakhstan, reflecting the continuity of cultural traditions and the dynamic development of contemporary creative processes. The virtual exhibition features works based on national images, symbols, and themes, as well as artworks by contemporary artists who reinterpret the country’s cultural heritage through contemporary artistic forms, expressive means, and modern technologies.

The selected works demonstrate the relationship between traditional and contemporary art, revealing the distinctive features of the national worldview, cultural identity, and cultural meanings. The presented materials allow viewers to trace how elements of historical and cultural heritage are reflected in contemporary artistic practice, while maintaining their significance and relevance in an increasingly globalized world.

The Web Gallery is aimed at promoting Kazakhstan’s artistic heritage, expanding public access to works of art, and fostering a lasting interest in national culture and art among a wide audience.

Sary-Arka, 2018. Tapestry, weaving

Saule Bapanova

Бапанова Сауле. Сары-Арка, 2018 г. Гобелен, ткачество

The work ‘Sary-Arka’ is an example of contemporary Kazakhstani textile art in a conceptual format. The artist uses weaving as a means of philosophically exploring space, memory and the cultural landscape.The textural composition of the work is based on a combination of a soft fabric surface and foreign natural elements — minerals embedded within the structure of the canvas. As a result, the tapestry loses its two-dimensionality and takes on a three-dimensional character. The contrast between the flexibility of the textile and the hardness of the stone forms an important semiotic opposition: culture and nature, the man-made and the natural, the transient and the eternal.The composition is based on a strict modular grid that divides the space into equal cells. This structure creates a sense of rhythmic order and is reminiscent of an archaeological catalogue or a system for storing artefacts. Each cell functions as an independent sign, within which a unique stone—a fragment of the steppe landscape—is placed. From a semiotic perspective, the grid acts as a cultural coding system, organising natural matter and transforming it into a vessel of memory.The colour scheme is based on ochre, sandy and muted green shades, evoking the landscape of Sary Arka. Colour serves a symbolic function here: it shapes the image of the steppe as an archetypal space of Kazakh culture. The stones woven into the fabric become a metaphor for the ‘body of the earth’, symbolising antiquity, stability and a connection to the historical memory of the people.