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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.

Mural: Family Hearth. ‘Good People’. Almaty, corner of S. Seifullin Avenue and T. Ryskulov Street. Photo from open sources

Art group from Ukraine: Oleksandra Hrebeniuk, Oleksandra Britseva, Oleksandra Pryanichnikova and Andrii Kravchenko

Mural: Family Hearth. ‘Good People’. Almaty, corner of S. Seifullin Avenue and T. Ryskulov Street. Photo from open sources

The large-scale mural is situated on the end façade of a multi-storey building. Its composition forms a distinctive ‘portal’, an arch, a mihrab.The pictorial field is enclosed within an ornamental frame, opening an ‘entrance’ into the space of a yurt.The central figure is a woman – the embodiment of the Mother of Fire, depicted allegorically. She descends from a flame or a stream of light shooting upwards. The image personifies the guardian of the hearth, the spirit of creativity, or the energy of transformation.The composition is structured on the principle of associative montage: the objects are not bound by strict perspective. They flow into one another, forming a multi-layered symbolic space.Thanks to the contrast between warm and cool tones, the mural does not clash with the urban environment; it blends harmoniously into it as an independent work of art.