Art and Culture - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 93

TCA Interviews

TCA Interview: Director Yernar Nurgaliyev: “It’s Time for Kazakh Cinema to Make Its Mark on the World”

Yernar Nurgaliyev still describes painting as his first love. Only now, instead of a brush, he uses a camera, and instead of a canvas, a screen. Today he shoots comedies, and dreams of a Kazakh multiverse where heroes never die. He is certain of one thing: Kazakh culture will be eternal, and he is doing everything possible to make it so. The Times of Central Asia spoke with the director about how he entered film, what he plans to shoot next, and why he believes it is time for Kazakhstan to make itself known to the world. TCA: Your films are always visually striking. Is this because you were originally trained as an artist? Nurgaliyev: Yes. I graduated from art college, then enrolled at the Zhurgenov Academy of Arts to study set design. I thought I would deepen my craft, but the first courses turned out to be a repeat of the college programme. I was very bored, so I decided to go to work. I didn’t start with music videos, but as an assistant propmaster. At that time, senior students recruited assistants from among firstyear students. An energetic girl, a production designer, asked me to help her with her diploma. Before that, I wasn’t interested in cinema at all, I lived for painting: I painted from life and did portraits. But when I saw the filmset, it was “wow.” I realised I wanted to work there. And I stopped going to the academy. I wanted to quit, but they wouldn’t let me. TCA: But you still got your diploma? Nurgaliyev: Yes, although it was difficult. I had nothing to do at the academy, still life, portraits, I had already done all that in college. There, they didn’t break us but helped us find our own style. At the academy, it was the opposite: the teacher said, “Draw like me.” But I can’t draw like someone else. I can only draw in my own way. TCA: Do you paint now? Nurgaliyev: I hardly have any time, but I recently picked up a brush again, and my hand remembers everything. Oil, watercolour, gouache, it’s as if there was no break. I am grateful to my hand; it remembers everything it was taught. TCA: Which is more important, talent or perseverance? Nurgaliyev: There are people who are gifted by God. But a gift is only the beginning. If you slack off and don’t develop, nothing will come of it. The worst thing is when a person is gifted but does nothing with it. I don’t sit still. If I have one day without work, it feels like I haven’t filmed for a year. I always need to be on the move. If the pause drags on, I start calling my friends myself: “Let’s come up with something.” [caption id="attachment_39639" align="aligncenter" width="300"] @Galiya Baizhanova[/caption] TCA: This year, you turned down many projects, choosing instead to focus on another film. Is this a new stage? Nurgaliyev: I’ve matured. Next year, I plan to shoot three of...

Art and Culture

AI Creator Ilona Brazhnik on Kazakh Myths and Creative Freedom

Alena Brazhnikova, better known by her pseudonym Ilona Brazhnik, is in many ways a product of her time. A decade ago, she was transferring art onto skin as a tattoo artist. Today, she creates viral videos powered by artificial intelligence, bringing to life mermaids, Zvezdy, and mythological girls with hooves and wings, symbols of a digital era in which neural networks replace paintbrushes, yet the pursuit of beauty, meaning, and freedom remains unchanged. TCA: Ilona, did your artistic journey begin with tattooing? Brazhnik: Yes, it all started rather quickly. When I began, there weren’t many artists in Karaganda, a mining town in central Kazakhstan, offering the style I worked in. At the time, "old school" tattoos with bold, rough lines were popular. But I wanted to explore subtlety, fine lines, and detailed work. Inspired by European artists, I posted an ad online. Within a month, I was fully booked for the next three months. My client base grew on its own because I was offering something different. TCA: Are there particular tattoo motifs that resonate with you? Brazhnik: I wouldn’t say I have one favorite. I rotate motifs regularly to avoid burnout. But I do love working with thin lines and soft dot shading, it gives the image depth and detail. [caption id="attachment_38469" align="aligncenter" width="417"] @ilona_brazhnik[/caption] TCA: The tattoo trend seems to have quieted. Is that your impression too? Brazhnik: Absolutely. The hype has passed. There was a time when everyone was getting tattooed just for the sake of it. Now, people are more thoughtful. They take their time, consult with others, and carefully choose their designs. The “everyone’s doing it, so I will too” trend ended around eight years ago. TCA: You’ve transitioned to AI and now earn money creating videos? Brazhnik: You could put it that way. There’s definitely demand for AI-generated content. But I didn’t start doing it for the money, I just found it interesting. When people started to respond positively to my work, I thought, why not? TCA: Your videos are visually striking. How much does a project like that cost? Brazhnik: It depends on the complexity. Is it a brand advertisement or a fantasy story? Do you need to showcase clothing, jewelry, or a specific location? Will the same character appear throughout? And of course, duration matters. I can only quote a price once I receive the technical brief. TCA: Are brand commissions more expensive? Brazhnik: Not necessarily. I never charged tattoo clients more just because they could afford it. It depends on the task. Brand work is usually more technically demanding. AI doesn’t like repetition; it redraws objects each time, so logos, packaging, and inscriptions often need to be added manually. I once made a video where glasses were disassembled into ornaments and then reassembled. When asked to replicate it, it took 20-30 failed attempts. AI just doesn’t do “exactly the same.” TCA: Did you start making videos to grow your TikTok and monetize content? Brazhnik: In Kazakhstan, you can’t earn money from...

Silk Road

The Artistic Brilliance of Central Asia Takes Center Stage at Sotheby’s

On October 29, Sotheby’s will host its Arts of the Islamic World and India sale, featuring a dazzling selection of manuscripts, ceramics, metalwork, and jewelry that together trace the creative reach of Central Asia across six centuries. The auction highlights how the region’s artists shaped Islamic visual culture from the early medieval period to the Timurid age. Among the most important works is a rare page from the monumental Baysunghur Qur’an, produced around 1400 in Herat or Samarkand. Another piece connects to the earlier Samanid Dynasty, whose rule from Bukhara and Tashkent fostered a flourishing of calligraphic pottery in the ninth and tenth centuries. The Arab geographer al-Maqdisi once praised the “large bowls from Shash,” an early name for Tashkent, noting their reputation throughout the Islamic world. [caption id="attachment_38298" align="aligncenter" width="1797"] A line from the 'Baysunghur Qur'an', attributed to 'Umar al-Aqta, Herat or Samarkand, circa 1400; image: Sotheby's[/caption] Two colorful Timurid mosaic tiles from the fourteenth or fifteenth century illustrate the architectural splendor of Samarkand and Herat. Their glazed patterns in cobalt, turquoise, and white once formed part of vast decorative panels in mosques and mausoleums. The geometric interlace and stylized foliage that define them became a visual signature of Timurid architecture, a style that spread from Central Asia to Persia and India. [caption id="attachment_38301" align="aligncenter" width="1346"] A Golden Horde turquoise and pearl-set gold belt or necklace, Pontic-Caspian Steppe, 14th century; image: Sotheby's[/caption] The Times of Central Asia spoke with Frankie Keyworth, a specialist in Islamic and Indian Art at Sotheby’s, for a closer look. TCA: How did manuscripts like the Baysunghur Qur’an serve as symbols of power and faith in the Timurid court, and what does its immense scale - a Qur’an so vast it took two people to turn a page - reveal about the empire’s ambition, artistry, and self-image? Keyworth: The manuscript was a hugely ambitious and challenging project, even just by the tools it would take to create, with monumental sheets of paper measuring 177 by 101cm., and a large pen whose nib would have to measure over 1cm. Displayed on a magnificent marble stand, the manuscript would be a staggering visual representation of the patron’s wealth and piety. Their subsequent use during public recitation reinforced the elite’s religious aspirations. The fact that this manuscript is unsurpassed by any other medieval Qur’an and remains so valued centuries after it was produced at the turn of the 15th century reveals the key role manuscripts played in the establishment of the Timurid dynastic image. [caption id="attachment_38299" align="aligncenter" width="1346"] A Timurid brass jug (mashrabe), Herat, Afghanistan, 15th-early 16th century; image: Sotheby's[/caption] TCA: A brass jug from Herat shaped like a Chinese vase, a ceramic bowl from Tashkent inscribed in Arabic script - these objects tell of traders, scholars, and artists linking worlds from Samarkand to Beijing long before globalization had a name. What can you tell us about how this trade transpired, and are there similarities to modern transport corridors? Keyworth: Trade via the so-called Silk Road endured for...

Food

In The Kitchen: A Reflection of Taste and Art, Savoring the Color of Flavor

In the culinary world, all eyes have turned towards Almaty, as the city becomes the stage for In the Kitchen: Anniversary Edition, an international project uniting haute cuisine and contemporary art. This year’s edition centers on Austrian conceptual artist Norbert Brunner-Lienz, whose work explores how language and reflection shape perception, turning words and images into immersive experiences. At Laureate Grand Café, his installation has become the heart of a three-night gastro-performance. Mirrored surfaces invite guests to see themselves within the art, blurring the line between viewer and participant. Each reflection reveals the unseen link between seeing and being seen, transforming perception into part of the artwork. Light and meaning shift with every glance. [caption id="attachment_38089" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Image: Ilyas Otan[/caption] Brunner, who lives and works between Vienna and New York, is personally presenting the project in Almaty, with guests having the opportunity to meet him, learn about his creative philosophy, and experience how his art connects the visual, linguistic, and culinary worlds. The gastronomic performance is led by Michelin-starred twin chefs Dominik Sato and Fabio Toffolon from The Chedi Andermatt in Switzerland. Inspired by the Japanese concept of ichi-go ichi-e, the art of treasuring each unrepeatable moment, their menu transforms dining into a multisensory journey. Completing the team is Yoshiko Sato, pastry chef at The Japanese (two MICHELIN stars), celebrated for desserts that balance technical mastery with grace and feeling. [caption id="attachment_38090" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Image: Ilyas Otan[/caption] Education plays a key role in this edition. Students from Almaty Technological University (ATU) will attend free masterclasses with the Michelin-starred chefs. Workshops are being held at both the Laureate Grand Café and ATU, giving young chefs direct access to the world of haute cuisine. Among the special guests are Giliola Masseroni, owner of Gioielleria Maison “Giglio” in Cremona, Italy; Olga Daniele, founder of 365 ART in Switzerland; and Ainur Akhmetova, founder of Laureate Grand Café and co-founder of In the Kitchen. Olga Daniele imagined In the Kitchen as a dialogue between art and gastronomy, where creative thought is served alongside taste and texture. In collaboration with Ainur Akhmetova, she brings this vision to Kazakhstan, weaving together good food with art to create an experience that speaks to all the senses. [caption id="attachment_38091" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Image: Ilyas Otan[/caption] Their partnership rethinks how we encounter art and eating: not as separate disciplines, but as intertwined forms of expression that reveal how creation lives in every brush stroke, flavour, and idea. A forthcoming book of culinary art will capture this collaboration, inviting readers to engage with these themes further. In the Kitchen: Anniversary Edition unfolds as a shared act of creation, where food becomes a language and creativity takes shape in the exchange between those who make and those who taste. The event will be held at the Laureate Grand Café, 85 Bogenbai Batyr St., Almaty, from October 23–25, 2025.

Art and Culture

Tajik Students Win Award in Los Angeles for Music Video Honoring Jalaluddin Rumi

The music video Nai Noumie by Jalaluddin Rumi, directed by Ilyas Daudi, won first place in the “Best Music Video” category at the Los Angeles Cinema Festival of Hollywood. The project was selected from among hundreds of international submissions. Creating the Project Tajik students Shahriyor Gulmakhmadzoda and Yosuman Ismailova, both studying at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow, participated in the video. They recited poetry by the renowned Persian mystic Jalaluddin Rumi, set to music by Iranian composer Arash Faladvand. The composition is part of a trilogy by Daudi dedicated to Eastern philosophy and poetry. According to the director, the choice to involve Tajik students was intentional. “The involvement of students from Farhad Mahmudov’s Tajik workshop was guided by the linguistic and cultural proximity between Persian and Tajik traditions,” Daudi explained. He praised the voices of Yosuman and Shahriyor as perfect for the project. Faladvand’s symphonic piece was adapted into what Daudi described as a “concise rock version with an exquisite professional arrangement.” The project had an international scope from the outset. Iranian historians and linguists contributed to ensuring the poetic integrity of Rumi’s work was faithfully preserved. Daudi, an award-winning director and screenwriter, is also the author of the book In the Kunduz Circle. He has received accolades in Los Angeles, Austin, Berlin, Geneva, Madrid, and other cities. Shahriyor's Story Shahriyor Gulmakhmadzoda, 22, is from the Matchinsky district in Tajikistan's Sughd region. His parents, both farmers, currently work in Russia to support his studies. Passionate about the performing arts from a young age, he participated in school productions and later enrolled at the M. Tursunzade Tajik State Institute of Culture and Arts under the mentorship of Kurbon Sobir, a People’s Artist of Tajikistan. “My parents and my brother Shohrukh always supported my path. My teacher Kurbon Sobir gave me so much and showed great patience to shape me. He helped me enter VGIK through a presidential quota, and Maestro Farhad Makhmudov accepted us. For me, he’s someone I would give all my blood to,” Shahriyor said. Yosuman's Story Yosuman Ismailova, 21, was born in Dushanbe and is originally from Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan region. Her mother worked as a dispatcher at Shabakai Avval (First Channel), and her father, a taxi driver, recently relocated to Moscow. From childhood, Yosuman aspired to perform on stage. She studied vocals and graduated from the A. Bokulov College of Arts. “I still remember my teacher, Irina Norayrovna Arutyunyan, with deep appreciation. She did so much for me, and I’m immensely grateful,” she shared. First Steps into Cinema This summer, both students began their studies in Farhad Makhmudov’s workshop at VGIK. Upon learning about the new Tajik students, Daudi invited them to join his project. “We gladly agreed, even though we had no prior experience. Everything was new, filming, recording vocals, working on set,” Yosuman recalled. Filming took place in VGIK’s training studio and on location in the Zavidovo nature reserve outside Moscow. For Shahriyor and Yosuman, this was their first professional cinematic experience and a...

Aspan Gallery

Where Wings Grow: New Show at Aspan Gallery, Almaty

Let’s move Aspan Gallery from name to place, from reputation to reality. As one of the Kazakh galleries most visible on the fair circuit, known for its impeccable presentations and strong roster of Central Asian artists, visiting its headquarters in Almaty felt almost inevitable. It didn’t disappoint. Tucked into the underground floor of a shopping complex in a leafy area of Almaty, where you might catch a glimpse of a stylish passerby balancing a matcha cup before descending the stairs, the gallery unfolds as a quiet enclave. There, Where Wings Grow opens as a multifaceted meditation on the cycles of nature, and particularly on the steppe, explored by several Central Asian artists through ecological, historical, and mythic lenses. What emerges is not a nostalgic portrait of a nomadic past but a layered reflection on resilience and renewal. At the center of the curatorial vision is Alan Medoev, the archaeologist whose 1960s expeditions uncovered hundreds of sites across the Kazakh steppe. His discoveries challenged Soviet portrayals of the region as an empty expanse and instead presented it as a cradle of memory. The exhibition extends that lineage, tracing how the steppe continues to act as an archive where cultural, personal, and ecological time intersect. The installation is clean and deliberate: suspended collages, unframed paintings, and subtle shifts in light. Walking through, one feels the exhibition itself has been conceived as a kind of landscape. [caption id="attachment_37355" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Where Wings Grow, installation view; image: Theo Frost[/caption] The Interplay Between Distance and Proximity This quality resonated strongly when encountering the works. At a distance, some pieces seemed almost naïve or casual in their painterly surfaces, but up close, their textures, materials, and embedded details revealed far more intricate worlds. This is true of Saule Suleimenova’s Plasticographies (two works titled Zhana Omir – New Life and Steppe Romanticism). From afar, they appear to be simple, even sentimental landscapes. Up close, however, they are revealed as collages of discarded plastic: fragments of packaging, commercial logos, counterfeit brands, and old ID cards. Suleimenova, who grew up in Almaty and trained as an architect before turning to socially engaged art, calls plastic “a treasure” and uses it to question both waste and memory. Within these luminous surfaces are startling details such as embryonic forms and small figures hidden in the texture. These unsettling images evoke new generations coming into a world shaped by waste, suggesting both renewal and ecological crisis. Steppe Romanticism distills the landscape into minimal horizons and contemplative silence. Yet knowing it is made of plastic prevents forgetting the contradiction, serenity marked by civilization’s residue. It recalls how landscapes themselves operate, inviting from afar but, up close, layered with scars, residues, and histories. [caption id="attachment_37353" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Moldakul Narymbetov, "Untitled"; image: Aspan Gallery.[/caption] In a similar spirit, Moldakul Narymbetov’s paintings establish the exhibition’s tone. A founding member of the radical Kyzyl Tractor collective and one of the central figures in Kazakh contemporary art, Narymbetov (1948–2012) was known for fusing folklore, shamanic motifs, and gestural abstraction....

TCA Interview: Director Yernar Nurgaliyev: “It’s Time for Kazakh Cinema to Make Its Mark on the World”