Yelena Vorobyeva's paintings in a group show in Astana

23 June - 23 August, 2016

An exhibition of contemporary painting from Kazakhstan Towards Future: Contemporary Heritage is opening at the National Museum in Astana. Yelena Vorobyeva will present a dozen of her paintings, including well-known canvases Ceiling (2010), Zero Equals Infinity (1991) and Blue Sky (Metal Sunshine) (2005), in which she explores the widespread use of window bars in the shape of the sun in the Post-Soviet region, the subject of Vorobyev couple's Day-Night (2006) and Sunsets and Sunrises (1998-2003) installations.

‘The Government Inspector’ by Nikolai Gogol at Deutsches Theater Almaty

18, 24 and 26 June, 2016

These days in Deutsches Theater Almaty is taking place the premiere of The Government Inspector based on the play by the Russian classic writer Nikolai Gogol. The scenery and costumes were made by the artists Yelena and Viktor Vorobyev.

dtk.kz

Almagul Menlibayeva in a group show DIS/POSSESSED?

10 – 12 June, 2016

DIS/POSSESSED? exhibition opens on 10 June in Zurich during the Manifesta 11. The show features works by Almagul Menlibayeva and nine other Kazakhstani contemporary artists. The exhibition invites to explore a new territory on possession and dispossession and to immerse into interlinked viewpoints and multiple climaxes, in which questions such as: “What possesses who?” are not as easy to answer as it might first appear.

Astana Art Fest 2016 participants announced

4-6 July, 2016

The participants of the second edition of contemporary art festival Astana Art Fest have been announced. The festival will last three days and will be dedicated to the theme of Human Energy. Among the works by 40 Kazakhstani contemporary artists there will be installations by Almagul Menlibayeva and Yelena and Viktor Vorobyev.

Aliya Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen’s book ‘Central Asia in Art: From Soviet Orientalism to the New Republics’

Aliya Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen’s book ‘Central Asia in Art: From Soviet Orientalism to the New Republics’ will be published this July. In this study the art historian reveals that Soviet artists’ figurative oil paintings dating from The Cold War era were produced as part of the imperial programme of the Soviet state with an aim to control the peripheries of the USSR, particularly Central Asia. In her book Aliya Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen also discusses contemporary Central Asian art, including the work of Yerbossyn Meldibekov, Almagul Menlibayeva, Rustam Khalfin, Sergey Maslov and Yelena and Viktor Vorobyev.

Almagul Menlibayeva in a group show dedicated to the victims of repressions

30 May - 15 July, 2016

From 30 May to 15 July the National Museum of Kazakhstan in Astana will hold an exhibition Archipelago Karlag dedicated to the Remembrance Day of the victims of political repressions. The show is organised with the assistance of the scientific-educational center Karlag: Memory for the Future and is curated by Almagul Menlibayeva. The artist will also present her new works, created especially for the exhibition. 

Almagul Menlibayeva took part in Shymkent Art Days

13 - 15 May, 2016

Organised with the help of the City Council, contemporary art festival Shymkent Art Days took place for the first time in Shymkent in Southern Kazakhstan. Among other Kazakhstani contemporary artists Almagul Menlibayeva exhibited her new installation Tradition! Tradition! consisting of dastarkhans (Kazakh traditional round tables). According to Menlibayeva, “Dastarkhans symbolise readiness for the new as they usually are collected before a big trip. Dastarkhan is a circle, planet, centre, laughter, communication, openness".

Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev at a Festival of European Photography in Reggio Emilia

6 May - 10 July, 2016

The 11th Festival of European Photography "The via Emilia. Roads, Journeys, Borders" has opened in Italian city Reggio Emilia. Bishkek-based duo Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev have presented their five-channel installation 'A New Silk Road: Algorithm of Survival and Hope' among other works by more than twenty photographers from around the world.

www.fotografiaeuropea.it

Almagul Menlibayeva in a group show HERO MOTHER

14 May - 12 June, 2016

A group show HERO MOTHER is opening in Berlin, organised by non-profit platfofrm for time-based art Momentum, bringing together 30 women artists from 20 post-communist countries rethinking the notion of heroism. The title of the exhibition is derived from Soviet, or rather Stalinist practice, when women who raised many children received the honorary title “Hero Mother”. The project focuses on the role of gender, citizenship, nationalism, migration and personal freedom, as well as the relation between the artists and institutions, such as the state structures.

momentumworldwide.org

Aspan Gallery donates Yelena and Viktor Vorobyev’s "Costume Jewelry for the Sky" to A. Kasteev Museum of Arts

The series executed between 2001 and 2007 and consisting of six lightboxes will become part of the Kasteev Museum’s permanent collection and will be exhibited in the museum’s contemporary art display. 

Yelena Vorobyeva