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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.

Aily Kesh, 2020

Gulnazym Omirzak

Гулназым Омирзак. Айлы кеш, 2020 г.

This is an example of the synthesis of traditional Kazakh textile art and contemporary artistic strategies of decorative-symbolic thinking. In this work, the decorative structure forms a complex semiotic system in which each element carries both a visual and a semantic meaning.The composition of the work is organised according to the principle of the traditional tuskiiz, where the ‘frame-within-a-frame’ structure plays a key role. The multi-layered border functions as the boundary of a sacred space, separating the inner centre of meaning from the outer field. This structure creates the effect of a visual ‘window’ through which the viewer is drawn into a world of love. The central symbolic element of the work is the image of the moon (ai), which serves as both a semantic and compositional focal point. In the traditional system of symbols, the moon is associated with the ideas of the cyclical nature of time and the sacred time of love in a timeless context.