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Almaty Museum of Arts

Almaty Museum of Arts Begins Centre Pompidou Partnership With The Clock

A year after opening, Almaty Museum of Arts (ALMA) has brought one of contemporary art’s best-known works to Kazakhstan: Christian Marclay’s The Clock, a 24-hour artwork assembled from thousands of film and television clips. The installation, jointly owned by Centre Pompidou, Tate, and the Israel Museum, marks the beginning of a long-term partnership between the Almaty museum and its Paris counterpart. The Clock opened to the public on September 12 and will run through October 12. The work is being shown in Central Asia for the first time. Marclay created it in 2010 from thousands of fragments of films and television programs showing clocks or referring to time. Together, they form exactly 24 hours of screen time synchronized with the real world. If a visitor watches The Clock in Almaty at 3:42 p.m., it is also 3:42 p.m. on screen. In 2011, the work won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale. A year later, it was jointly acquired by Centre Pompidou, Tate in London, and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The Clock has since been shown at major museums around the world. Four 24-hour screenings are scheduled in Almaty, on September 19 and 26, and October 3 and 10. “Cooperation with Centre Pompidou is not a one-off event, but the beginning of a long story,” museum founder Nurlan Smagulov said in the museum’s announcement of the exhibition. ALMA opened on September 12, 2025. At its core is Smagulov’s collection of more than 700 works of modern Kazakh art, assembled over the past three decades. It includes works by Salikhitdin Aitbayev, Sergey Kalmykov, Yerbossyn Meldibekov, and other leading Kazakh and Kazakhstan-based artists. According to the museum, more than 460,000 people visited ALMA during its first year. The museum staged four major exhibition projects, including a solo exhibition by video art pioneer Bill Viola. For its first anniversary, it opened Müsinder, an exhibition spanning seven decades of Kazakh sculpture. More than 110 other events included lectures, discussions, concerts, and film screenings. The museum also published three books. The arrival of The Clock marks a new stage in the young museum’s international ambitions. Centre Pompidou has been expanding its presence beyond Paris for more than a decade. Its Paris building is closed for renovation until 2030, giving added scope to its international exhibition program. Málaga opened in 2015, and a project in Shanghai followed in 2019. Centre Pompidou Hanwha opened in Seoul in June 2026, while KANAL–Centre Pompidou is due to open in Brussels in November. Another site is planned for Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, in 2028. The model varies between locations, with Centre Pompidou providing works from its collection, expertise, and jointly developed programs rather than simply reproducing its Paris museum abroad. Almaty is pursuing a different model again. There will be no Pompidou branch here: ALMA remains an independent private museum. For now, the partnership can be seen quite literally – in a darkened gallery where Marclay’s screen keeps Almaty time. The museum says its international network will expand again...

Film Festival

Women, Cinema and Changing Kazakhstan at QYZQARAS 2026

From August 20 to 30, Almaty hosted the third edition of QYZQARAS, an independent international film festival dedicated to women directors’ voices and the female gaze in cinema. Held this year at the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, the festival presented 21 feature films, including five notable works from Central Asia, among them Kristina Mikhailova’s widely discussed River Dreams. River Dreams had its world premiere in the Berlinale Forum Special section in 2026 and received the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury in the Forum program. The screening marked an important milestone: the film became the first Kazakh documentary feature to premiere at the Berlinale. After a run of international festival appearances, the film returned home: on August 20, it opened QYZQARAS at the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture. River Dreams “This epic helped me believe in myself and feel at peace. I believe every frame,” Kristina said after the long applause that followed the final scene. Opening with a striking metaphysical orange river, River Dreams explores the inner lives of women in Kazakhstan. Constantly balancing between dream states and startlingly candid confession, the documentary immerses viewers in a wide range of themes – love, trauma, resistance, and survival – as women reflect on their pasts beside moving water. Grounded in a deeply humanist perspective, Mikhailova’s film presents tenderness as a sustained act of courage. Kristina’s presence behind the camera and the atmosphere of trust on set create an unpretentious portrait of contemporary Kazakhstan. It explores how the image of women is changing in this context, and how women directors themselves are shaping that change. Mikhailova begins with a simple question: “What kind of river are you?” From there, she builds the film around the personal stories of women of different ages and social backgrounds in Kazakhstan. This initial impulse encourages them to compare socially constructed ideals of femininity with what actually exists inside each of them. The most unexpected aspect of the film is the amount of humor. The protagonists’ wry, self-aware voices form an uncompromisingly honest agenda for contemporary Kazakh society: corruption, impunity, language, violence against women, and decolonization. “Decolonization is not only about one’s native language; it is about hierarchy. We look down on one another – it is a slave mentality: ‘I am better than you, so I will discriminate against you,’” says one of the young women featured in River Dreams. The director takes a transparent approach to the sensitive issue of language: in her view, what matters most is not which language we speak, but whether we are speaking about what truly matters. [caption id="attachment_56247" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Image: Azhar Utezhan[/caption] “The girls did not resist or struggle with the concept of radical vulnerability; it is a very simple idea,” Mikhailova said. The Aksai River, where Kristina grew up and where her father taught her as a child to be stronger, becomes an embodiment of the socio-political whirlpool into which women in Kazakhstan have been drawn over the past 30 years. Unpredictable weather and shifting water levels carry...

Gulzira Zhantemir

How a Ballerina from Kazakhstan Built a Career in German Ballet

When Gulzira Zhantemir arrived in Kiel, Germany, in 2017, she spoke virtually no German or English. Behind her were eight years at a ballet school in Almaty and three seasons at Astana Opera; ahead lay an unfamiliar country and theater system in which she would have to prove herself all over again. Nine years later, Zhantemir is completing this chapter as an established member of Ballett Kiel, with a repertoire encompassing classical and contemporary work. In 2023, the Gesellschaft der Freunde des Theaters in Kiel awarded her its Förderpreis in recognition of her work with the company. For Zhantemir, the path to this European career began much earlier, in Kazakhstan, and almost by chance. At the age of four, her mother enrolled her in a dance group at the local Palace of Schoolchildren, a type of extracurricular education center common across the former Soviet Union. Her first classes were not in ballet. Everything changed in the fourth grade, when teachers from the Alexander Seleznev Almaty Choreographic School came to her school looking for children suited to professional training. Her mother enjoyed watching ballet on television and encouraged her to try. At 10, Zhantemir entered the school and began eight years of professional ballet training, with daily classes and rehearsals alongside rigorous academic preparation. She graduated with honors in 2014 and won a gold medal at the Orleu International Ballet Competition that same year. After graduating, Zhantemir joined Astana Opera, the State Opera and Ballet Theatre in Kazakhstan’s capital. She had long wanted to move to Europe. Doing so meant leaving behind an established professional life and starting again with an audition. In 2017, Zhantemir successfully auditioned for Ballett Kiel, part of Theater Kiel, the municipal theater in this northern German city. The move also required her to adapt to a different way of working. “At Astana Opera, there was more time for rehearsals for each production and more space. Theater Kiel is much more compact, and we have one main stage, so we have to plan our time very precisely,” Zhantemir said. Even with those constraints, Kiel offered the professional variety Zhantemir had sought in Europe. “Working abroad gives you an incredible opportunity to train with guest choreographers and teachers from around the world and learn different contemporary and classical techniques,” she said. Outside the theater, other dancers from Kazakhstan and Ukrainian choreographer Yaroslav Ivanenko, who led Ballett Kiel for many years, helped her settle in while she learned German. Gradually, her list of roles grew beyond the classical repertoire. Zhantemir danced both central female roles in Giselle, Giselle herself and Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis. Her repertoire came to include Odette in Swan Lake and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She also appeared in West Side Story and contemporary productions. Her Kiel roles included Swanilda in Coppélia and Cinderella. With another company, she performed Kitri in Don Quixote. For a ballet dancer, the differences between these roles are significant. Kitri requires virtuosity and temperament, while Giselle calls for...

Bukhara Biennial

Bukhara Biennial Sets 2027 Dates and Names New Artistic Director

Organizers of the Bukhara Biennial have announced key details of its second edition: the event will run from September 3 to November 21, 2027, with architect and designer Kulapat Yantrasast appointed artistic director. The announcement was made at the Fondation Beyeler during Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland, placing the Uzbek cultural project before an international art and museum audience. What Is Known About the 2027 Concept Yantrasast will succeed Diana Campbell, who curated the first edition in 2025. The biennial’s organizer remains Gayane Umerova, chairwoman of the Art and Culture Development Foundation of Uzbekistan (ACDF). In 2025, artists were paired with Uzbek master craftsmen. The 2027 format will expand that model by involving local ecologists, scientists, and economists. The central theme will be the connection between art, urban space, and sustainable development. Bukhara as Venue Biennial projects will be housed in restored caravanserais, madrasas, hammams, city squares, and other historic sites, some of which are expected to open to the public for the first time. The aim is to place contemporary art within Bukhara’s historic urban fabric. The city holds UNESCO Creative City status in crafts and folk art, giving the biennial a venue with international cultural recognition. [caption id="attachment_51635" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Image: bukharabiennial.uz[/caption] Who the New Artistic Director Is Kulapat Yantrasast studied architecture under Tadao Ando and founded the studio WHY Architecture in 2004. His recent projects include the reconstruction of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the ILMI Science and Innovation Center in Riyadh, and the Dib art museum in Bangkok. His studio is also working on the Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art at the Louvre in Paris and the National Museum of India, which is expected to become the largest museum in the world. Yantrasast has previously worked with ACDF on When Apricots Blossom, shown at Milan Design Week in 2026. The First Edition The first Bukhara Biennial ran from September 5 to November 23, 2025, under the theme Recipes for Broken Hearts, curated by Diana Campbell. It drew 1.8 million visitors, more than half of them from Bukhara and other regions of Uzbekistan. Participating artists included Antony Gormley, Marina Perez Simão, Erika Verzutti, Subodh Gupta, Delcy Morelos, and Dana Awartani. [caption id="attachment_51636" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Image: bukharabiennial.uz[/caption] Part of a Wider Cultural Strategy The Bukhara Biennial forms part of a wider ACDF program to expand Uzbekistan’s cultural infrastructure. The foundation is overseeing the Center for Contemporary Art in Tashkent, due to open on September 6, 2026, and the National Museum of Uzbekistan, designed by Tadao Ando. ACDF has also formed an international advisory board for the biennial, with members including Chris Dercon and Michael Govan. [caption id="attachment_51637" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Image: bukharabiennial.uz[/caption] The Art Basel announcement suggests that Uzbekistan is positioning the biennial as a recurring international platform, while keeping Bukhara’s historic sites and local audiences at its center. In 2025, nearly two million people attended the event in the city’s restored historic spaces. For the 2027 edition, the challenge...

Art and Culture

Kanybek Kalmatov Interview: Kyrgyz Director Takes on Chinghiz Aitmatov

At 25, Kanybek Kalmatov is taking on a subject many older directors might have avoided: Chinghiz Aitmatov, Kyrgyzstan’s most internationally recognized writer and a figure deeply embedded in the country’s cultural identity. Kalmatov, a cinematographer and graduate of VGIK, the prestigious Moscow film school, is making his directorial debut with Aitmatov, billed as Kyrgyzstan’s first full-length feature film about the writer’s life and career. The project has already drawn attention beyond Kyrgyzstan, not least because Russian actor Sergey Bezrukov has joined the cast. For Kalmatov, the film is also personal. He first encountered Aitmatov as a schoolboy through The Little Soldier, and later found that even at film school in Moscow, Kyrgyzstan was often viewed through the writer’s name. Now, after months of research and nearly a year spent developing the screenplay, he says he is ready to take on a life that one film can only partly contain. The Times of Central Asia spoke with Kalmatov about why he chose a biopic rather than an adaptation, how he approached Aitmatov’s life at such a young age, and why he hopes the film will send younger viewers back to the writer’s books. TCA: You have chosen an ambitious project for your directorial debut. How did the film come about? Kanybek Kalmatov: Since childhood, there have been two stories I always dreamed of filming. The first is about my parents, because they have an incredible love story. The second is about Aitmatov. It wasn’t only his works that fascinated me. It was the scale of his personality, how determined he was and how many different things he managed to do at the same time. I fell in love with Aitmatov when I was about 12, after reading The Little Soldier. It’s about a boy whose father died in the war. Since then, Aitmatov’s works have always stayed with me. Even at VGIK, where I studied, people often saw me through that lens: “You’re from Kyrgyzstan? The homeland of Aitmatov?” For us, he’s not just a writer; he’s part of our cultural code. So I felt that, sooner or later, this film was bound to enter my life. TCA: Were you afraid the project might not work? Kanybek Kalmatov: No. Probably because I believe strongly in intention. Any big undertaking starts with that. If your motivation is right and you understand why you’re doing it, things begin to fall into place. From the start, my intention was pure. I never saw this film as a way to gain fame or prove something to anyone. I wanted to tell the story honestly of someone who means so much to our culture. TCA: Don’t you think one has to “grow into” Aitmatov first? Kanybek Kalmatov: There are topics you need to mature into. But if you wait for the perfect moment, you may never make anything at all. Maybe if I waited another 15 years, I would approach this story differently. Or maybe I’d never dare. Personally, I respect people who aren’t afraid...

Contemporary Ballet

Kazakhstan’s Astana Ballet Stages a Dance of Gold and Steppe Wind

The Astana Ballet hosted the premiere of Altyn Gul - The Secret of the Golden Tulip, a production that has drawn attention in the art community. In the new performance, archaeology and national mythology meet contemporary choreography in a single stage narrative. The theater’s chief choreographer, Abubakhrieva Mukaram Saidakimovna, known professionally as Mukaram Avakhri, an Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, turned to one of the most recognizable symbols of the Kazakh steppe, the wild tulip, transforming it into a metaphor for memory, continuity, and the search for identity. From the first minutes, the audience was captivated by the beauty of the music, costumes, and dance. A spectacle unfolded on stage, with warriors in red and gold armor marching into battle, followed by beautiful beings of the steppe whose forms seemed to shift between nymphs and flowers. The starting point for the performance was a real archaeological artifact, a gold plaque from the 3rd-2nd centuries BCE depicting a tulip, found in the Tenlik burial mounds. This small object of ancient jewelry became more than a museum discovery. It offered a way to reflect on how natural symbols survive through the ages and remain preserved in a people’s cultural memory. At the center of the story is a master jeweler, a young man named Zerger, who is inspired by the beauty of the steppe flower. The image of the tulip he creates gradually becomes a symbol of beauty, harmony, and the creative power of nature. Yet Altyn Gul is less a historical reconstruction than a philosophical parable. The protagonist’s path unfolds as an inner journey filled with symbolic trials and discoveries, while the tulip accompanying him gradually reveals itself as a sign of renewal, continuity, and the bond between human beings and the world around them. For Avakhri, turning to nature and historical memory was a logical continuation of her artistic direction. In her previous productions, Jusan, Ot Qyz, and The Silk Road, the choreographer had already explored the relationship between cultural heritage and contemporary movement language. Avakhri has said the central image of the steppe tulip symbolizes the fragility and strength of life. She also said the combination of national traditions with classical ballet and contemporary dance was intended to make the performance accessible and meaningful to today’s audience. According to theater director Tair Karatayev, the new production has taken a special place in the Astana Ballet repertoire. Altyn Gul has become an example of how national artistic images can receive a contemporary stage interpretation while preserving their connection to history and cultural heritage. The music for the production was written by Renat Gaissin, Honored Worker of Kazakhstan and one of the country’s leading contemporary composers. The libretto was created by Bakhyt Kairbekov, also an Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, and the costumes were designed by Aigerim Altybasarova. The premiere performances were accompanied by the theater’s symphony orchestra under chief conductor Arman Urazgaliyev. Altyn Gul closed the Astana Ballet theater season with an attempt to reinterpret one of the oldest cultural images of...