Almagul Menlibayeva Explained

Almagul Menlibayeva is a Kazakhstani artist and curator who splits her time between Kazakhstan and Germany.[1] [2] Her art's main themes revolve around social and ecological issues in Central Asia.[3]

Early life and education

Menlibayeva was born in 1969 in Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan.[4] She obtained her MFA degree from Academy of Art and Theatre, Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1992.[2] [5]

Works

Selected solo exhibitions

Notable works

Transoxiana Dreams (2011)

Transoxiana Dreams explores the social, economical, and ecological issues surrounding the lives of the Araikum generation – the term used to call the people living in the vast region of the rapidly receding Aral Sea coastline.[6] The deteriorating environment is caused by the radical irrigation policies of the former Soviet Union in the 1960s – between Soviet, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and southwestern Kazakhstan.[7]

A dreamy, surrealistic mixture of documentary and fantasy, Transoxiana Dreams explores the desertification through the eyes of a fisherman's daughter as the main protagonist.[8] The girl's father encounters strange mythical female creatures during his journey as he ventures for new fishing grounds – scarce leftover of what once was Aral Sea. The mythical creatures – derived from Greek's mythological figure, the Centaur, was chosen as according to legend, upon their initial meeting, the ancient Greeks mistook the nomads of Transoxianian Steppes on their horses as mythological.[9]

Transoxiana Dreams won the main award at Kino der Kunst 2013 – an international film festival hosted in Munich, Germany.[10]

Milk for Lambs (2010)

The visual of this 11:35 minute video installation is composed of alternating black-and-white and color frames. Milk for Lambs straddles the line between contemporary Kazakhstan and its mythically infused historic ritual.[11] Set against the vast landscape of the steppe, it traces what's left of Tengriism – where the skygod Tengri is the main deity[12] and his wife, Umai, the all-nurturing mother goddess of the Turkic Siberians. The film follows the former nomads[13] as they celebrate the festivities held in honor of Tengri and Umai, and the accompanying rituals.

Milk for Lambs won KfW Audience Award of the Videonale 13: Festival for Contemporary Art in Kunstmuseum, Bonn.

Kissing Totems (2008)

Kissing Totems is the first solo exhibition Almagul Menlibayeve held in the United States, and the title of the solo exhibition is one of her recent works in 2008 with the same name.[14]

In her film, “Kissing Totems”, it is about a set of surrealist actions and impossible encounters happened on the territory of a deserted factory from the Soviet era. The industrial ruin of Communism has become a stage, a kind of bird, also a totem and peris which mark the transition of dream-narrative. By invoking confounding feelings and curiosity, the artist asks audiences to watch the film through the eyes of a little girl, the audiences observe the unbelievable thing by contemplative detachment. When the little girl walks through the past symbol of Communism, from camera to industrial materialism of industry. At the same time, the little girl feels comfy with two symbol systems. Through her imagine gaze, the post-communism becomes another totemic myth that being occupied by ideologies and the newly revived beliefs.

On the Road (2007)

One the Road is one of Almagul Menlibayeve's artworks blends in poetry into video and performance that being presented in a unique setting as brings topic of Islamic cultural tradition and contemporary art together. The following is her own artist statement towards On the Road:[15]

Awards and grants

Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ON THE ROAD SERIES: Cultural Nomad – An Interview with Almagul Menlibayeva. 22 March 2011. Berlin Art Link. 28 October 2016.
  2. Web site: CV. Almagul Menlibayeva. 28 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161222201043/http://www.almagulmenlibayeva.com/cv.html. 22 December 2016. dead.
  3. Web site: Menlibayeva, Almagul VIDEONALE13 Festival. v13.videonale.org. 27 October 2016.
  4. Web site: Lifting the veil: photography and video by Kazakhstan's Almagul Menlibayeva – artist profile Art Radar. Radar. Art. 28 October 2016.
  5. News: Delegates. 13 January 2012. Asia Society Women Leaders of New Asia. en-US. 28 October 2016.
  6. Web site: Camera Q&A: Almagul Menlibayeva on Kazakhstan & the Aral Sea Camera in the Sun Locations Under the Lens. camerainthesun.com. 27 October 2016.
  7. Web site: Collector Systems. gallery.collectorsystems.com. 27 October 2016.
  8. Web site: Ausstellung Dresden. NORDWIND-Festival. 27 October 2016.
  9. News: Almagul Menlibayeva: Transoxiana Dreams. 9 February 2011. Asia Art Archive in America. en-US. 27 October 2016.
  10. News: The winners of KINO DER KUNST 2013!. en-GB. 27 October 2016.
  11. Web site: Visceral Filmmaking: The Video Art of Nina Yuen and Almagul Menlibayeva NYABlog New York Art Beat. www.nyartbeat.com. 27 October 2016.
  12. News: Milk for Lambs. 4 September 2015. IFFR. 27 October 2016.
  13. Web site: Kunstraum Innsbruck. www.kunstraum-innsbruck.at. 27 October 2016.
  14. Web site: Kissing Totems, Almagul Menlibayeva's First Solo Exhibition. Artdaily. 20 October 2016.
  15. Web site: ON THE ROAD SERIES: Cultural Nomad – An Interview with Almagul Menlibayeva. Berlinartdate. 22 March 2011 . 20 October 2016.
  16. Web site: Cérémonie de remise des insignes de chevalier dans l'ordre " Arts et lettres " à l'artiste Almagul Menlibayeva. Ambassade de France au Kazakhstan – Посольство Франции в Казахстане.

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