Almaty-Berlin
Art Perspective into Central Asia's Post-Socialist Era
photography, video installation,digital MULTIMEDIA
contact: almagul2@gmail.com
Almagul Menlibayeva
CONTEMPORARY ART CENTRAL ASIA / KAZAKHSTAN
Artist statement
Artistic Interpretation of Central Asian Emergence.
Personal Perspective, Socio-political Commentary,
Global Relevance, Narrative Construction,
Evocative Symbolism through:
Site-specific VIDEO installations
PHOTOGRAPHY
CYBER TEXTILE
AI as a Medium
My artistic practice encompasses a decolonial and nomadic aesthetic, situated within the dynamic context of post-socialist, contemporary Kazakhstan. Through my photographic and video works, I explore the intricate interplay of these themes, drawing inspiration from enduring mythologies and geopolitics. This exploration is further informed by my educational background in the Soviet avant-garde school of Futurism, allowing me to bridge the past and present, tradition and innovation, in my creative journey
I use specific ways of expression in contemporary art as a vehicle to investigate my personal archaic atavism as a certain mystical anthropomorphism.
In other words, I explore the nature of a specific Egregore, a shared cultural psychic experience, which manifests itself as a specific thought-form among the people(s) of the ancient, arid and dusty Steppes between the Caspian Sea, Baikonur and Altai in
today’s Kazakhstan. Archaic Atavism is personalized as a digital entity, which points to and creates a different meaning. It's not just about the idea of an archaic element in the collective subconscious of a people, but about the embodiment of archaic atavism, which becomes an active digital entity, much like an artificial being. It's as if it has awakened under the influence of the post-Soviet experiences of the indigenous Kazakh people, who are re-establishing their identity after 80 years of Soviet domination and cultural genocide.
He began to have entertaining dialogues with the transnational
circulation of ideas in contemporary art. For this dialogue, I meticulously curate raw data, blending a tapestry of media—documentary, staged footage, and the cyber realm as he like to work with the notion of memory and reality. He is interested in my video explorations in the Steppes and in post-
socialist Asia. I become his voice, enabling a cultural exodus from long oblivion. My work raises
metaphysical questions such as Who am I? and Where shall I go?; this (psychic)
experience and perspective mark my artistic language.