Traditional and contemporary art of Kazakhstan

The development of Kazakh painting in the 21st century is a complex and multi-layered process in which the national worldview, the visual memory of culture and the current strategies of contemporary art interact organically. The focus or direction of the artworks presented in this section of our gallery can be described by the term ‘heritage painting’, proposed by the renowned Kazakh art historian Dilyara Sharipova. This concept refers to a movement in contemporary art that draws upon cultural memory, national archetypes, historical imagery, and symbols of traditional culture. In such works, artists do not merely reproduce elements of the past, but reinterpret heritage through the language of contemporary painting, combining tradition with current artistic practices.

In this context, the semiotics of the visual image takes on particular significance, viewing a work of art as a system of signs, symbols and cultural meanings. The French semiotician Roland Barthes noted that an image is never neutral: any visual image constitutes a ‘text of culture’, saturated with hidden meanings and ideological codes. In contemporary Kazakh painting, such a system of signs manifests itself through the use of archetypal images of the steppe, the shanyraq, the yurt, ornamentation, traditional costume, the symbolism of nomadic civilisation and much more. These elements function as visual markers of collective memory and national identity.

From the perspective of Umberto Eco’s theory of visual semiotics, the artistic image is an ‘open work’ that allows for multiple interpretations. This is precisely why contemporary Kazakhstani painting actively combines traditional symbols with the aesthetics of contemporary art, creating new forms of visual expression. Artists draw upon the principles of intertextuality, cultural code and visual narrative, embedding national motifs within a global artistic context. As a result, ‘old’ images acquire new meanings and begin to function as a universal language of visual communication.

The American theorist of visual culture, William John Thomas Mitchell, emphasised within the framework of the ‘pictorial turn’ that contemporary culture increasingly perceives the world through visual images. In this respect, 21st-century Kazakh painting demonstrates a transition from traditional narrative imagery to conceptual visual thinking, in which symbols, metaphors, signs and cultural associations play a crucial role.

The concept of ‘cultural hybridity’, developed by Homi Bhabha, takes on relevance in the study of contemporary art in Kazakhstan. According to his theory, contemporary culture is formed in the space where the local and the global, the traditional and the modern, interact. It is precisely this principle that becomes one of the key elements in 21st-century Kazakh painting, where ethnic motifs are combined with the aesthetics of postmodernism, digital art, mixed media and the visual practices of global contemporary art.

Thus, contemporary Kazakh painting can be viewed as a complex semiotic system in which the visual image serves as a vehicle for cultural memory, national identity and new forms of artistic thought. Through the language of symbols, signs and visual codes, artists in Kazakhstan create a space for cultural dialogue, linking tradition with current global artistic trends.