Blindness machines
Andrey Fomenko wrote an article in Moscow Art Magazine, called Blindness machines about Alexander Ugay's first solo show. The show Topology of Image was on view at Aspan Gallery from 1 March to 8 April 2018.
"Red Tablet"
9 June - 30 June 2018
Alexander Ugay is taking part in the group show Red Tablet, which takes place at the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts in Bishkek. As part of the exhibition, the SI Laboratory initiates a conversation about memory and identity. Red tablet is a reflection on the topic "who are we?" and how the imposition of many factors forms our understanding of ourselves and others. The exhibition brings together 26 artists from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia.
http://laboratoriaci.org
Second Yinchuan Biennale announces the list of participating artists
9 June - 19 September 2018
Second Yinchuan Biennale titled Starting from the Desert. Ecologies on the Edge has published the list of participating artists, which includes Vyacheslav Akhunov, Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev, Said Atabekov and Alexander Ugay. The curator Marco Scotini's project will focus on the geographical region of the Silk Route and will inlcude ancient artefacts from national and private museums, as well as newly commissioned pieces by contemporary artists. The biennale will be held at the MOCA Yinchuan.
www.biennialfoundation.org
Yerbossyn Meldibekov’s 'Transformer' enters The BPS22 collection
Yerbossyn Meldibekov’s installation Transformer, 2013 was purchased by the Belgian museum BPS22 located in the city of Charleroi. The BPS22 is an exhibition space dedicated to art forms focusing on current social issues.
According to Viktor Misiano, “Yerbossyn Meldibekov’s Transformer deals with a certain podium on which numerous monuments that replaced each other are represented by disassembled elements of smaller wooden copies: the latter may be reassembled in line with their actual historical sequence, or by violating it. Thus, “by playing at Transformer, the viewer is able to experience as something personal a century’s worth of the history of an enormous region of Central Asia”.
Almagul Menlibayeva in 'The Dictionary of Evil'
3 February - 18 March 2018
Almagul Menlibayeva is taking part in the Gangwon International Biennale 2018. This year's theme is The Dictionary of Evil. The Biennale presents the efforts made by artists to observe the special or universal evils of our society, against a backdrop of the moral consciousness of human beings in an endless present, rather than a religious or ethical perspective on the “lack of good.” The Biennale macroscopically and microscopically reflects on the “faces of evil” from the perspective of artists, who do not accept the co-prosperity and coexistence of humanity. The exhibition will be on view until 18 March.
March Meeting 2018: Active Forms
16 March - 16 June 2018
March Meeting is an annual gathering of artists, art professionals and institutions concerned with the production and dissemination of art in the region and internationally. The 2018 edition titled Active Forms explores issues of resistance through consideration of organising as a primary act of and condition for artistic and cultural production. Active Forms will present an exhibition of works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection by Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev and Almagul Menlibayeva among others.
sharjahart.org/march-meeting-2018
Postkoloniale Kunst aus Zentralasien
17 February - 11 March 2018
A group show of Central Asian contemporary artists opened on 17 February at GEDOK Karlsruhe Women Artists Forum. The exhibition showcases the work of Bakhyt Bubikanova and 5 other women artists from the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The works illustrate the new ideological developments and a rebirth of old, pre-Soviet and even pre-Islamic cultures. The exhibition analyses the transformative nature of experience, including political boundaries, cultural identity, social struggle and personal reorientation. Postkoloniale Kunst aus Zentralasien will be on view till 11 March 2018.
Topology of Image
1 March - 8 April 2018
Aspan Gallery presents Alexander Ugay’s first solo show Topology of Image. The exhibition will feature a selection of Ugay's photographic and video works, as well as the artist's novation - a series of optical objects "Obscurations". According to the artist, an Obscuration “as an image, an object, and as a situation in space, is simultaneously a photographic and a spatial object. It can be a form of documentation of places of memory, or a new way of working with archive and memory.”
The show Topology of Image will be held at EXPO Villa, Villa Boutiques & Restaurants (Al-Farabi 140 A) from 1 March to 8 April 2018.
Yelena and Viktor Vorobyev in ‘Our Stories’
4 December 2017
Yelena and Viktor Vorobyev’s video Smiley was shown during the 2017 edition of The Compiler Screenings titled Our Stories which took place in Basel. Thirteen stories told by thirteen video artists from Switzerland, Palestine, Iran, Turkey and Kazakhstan communicated the political, cultural and social complexities of our world with the common goal of bridging our communal interconnection while taking into account the many challenges affecting us, our landscapes, our travels and our relationships.
The Compiler Screenings 2017 were organized by White Frame and Treibsand Online Exhibition Space.
Human Rights: 20 Years Later
6 - 20 December 2017
A group show of Kazakhstani artists Human Rights: 20 Years Later opens on 6 December at ARTMEKEN gallery in Almaty. The exhibition organized with the support of Soros Foundation Kazakhstan brings together 13 artists, among which are Yelena and Viktor Vorobyev and Yerbossyn Meldibekov. The exhibition curated by Valeria Ibraeva is timed to the world Human Rights Day celebrated on 10 December.