Art Dubai 2014 Marker Educational Guide

Education guide art from central asia and the caucasus

KAZAKHSTAN NOrth Caucasus russiA

Uzbekistan

Georgia Armenia

Kyrgyzstan

Azerbaijan

Turkmenistan

Tajikistan

In 2014, Marker turned its focus to Central Asia and the Caucasus. Curated by the artists Slavs and Tatars, this themed series of booth exhibitions and educational initiatives includes gallery booth exhibitions, talks, research projects and commissioned artists’ projects.

Caspian Arts Foundation is the education partner of Marker 2014, supporting daily tours of Marker, the appointment of an Assistant Editor and the production of this education pack and other materials.

The aim of this guide is not only to provide greater context for Marker 2014, but also to act as a guide for all those interested in the arts scenes of the Caucasus and Central Asia, encouraging greater research and engagement.

The booklet includes a brief introduction to Marker 2014, courtesy of the curators, Slavs and Tatars, a collection of short essays about the arts scenes of the region, with thanks to ArtAsiaPacific’s Almanac, an image gallery and an extensive listings section of resources and institutions in these regions.

CASPIAN ARTS FOUNDATION Education Partner, Marker 2014

Caspian Arts Foundation, a not for profit art and education organisation, was founded in 2011 by Nina Mahdavi, after she recognised the need for supporting students and aspiring artists from the Middle East and North Africa in furthering their education in the arts through a scholarship MA programme in London at their affiliate partners, University of the Arts London. In each year, students are given the opportunity to apply to one of the supported courses and are awarded based on their level of capability, talent and need as opposed to any particular culture or nationality within the region.

The Foundation supports students in the following courses: · Visual Art (fine art, film & photography) · Science & Art · Fashion · Performance arts · Dance · Curation · Creative writing Caspian Arts Foundation is a supporter of many platforms and important institutions in their public programmes, helping to advance knowledge in art & culture including SOAS, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), the Shubbak Festival, Art Dubai, the Nowruz Commission, amongst others.

MARKER

MARKER Introduction

Marker is Art Dubai’s curated programme of galleries and artspaces, which focuses each year on a particular theme or geography. This section aims to exemplify the fair’s role as a site of discovery and cross-cultural exchange, and is a feature of Art Dubai’s extensive not-for-profit programming.

In 2014, Marker focuses on Central Asia and the Caucasus and is curated by the artists Slavs and Tatars. This themed series of exhibitions and educational initiatives includes gallery booth exhibitions, talks and films.

The five artspaces and organisations selected for Marker 2014 are: ·· ArtEast (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) ·· Asia Art+ (Almaty, Kazakhstan) ·· North Caucasus Branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Art, NCCA (Vladikavkaz, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia) ·· Popiashvili Gvaberidze Window Project (Tbilisi, Georgia) ·· YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation (Baku, Azerbaijian) Marker features additional contributions by: ·· IADA International Art Development Association (Almaty, Kazakhstan / Paris, France) ·· Mardjani Foundation (Moscow, Russia) Slavs and Tatars worked with each space and their artists to present existing and new work that together forms a collective exhibition through a ‘regime of portraiture’, including faces, places and traces from mid-twentieth-century painting to contemporary drawings and sculptures.

At the fair, Marker takes the form of a chaikhaneh or Eurasian (tea) salon, to activate each work as a point of departure, to tell larger stories touching upon questions of faith, language, landscape and most importantly, how these notions are ritualised, interiorised and hybridised beyond the often brittle politics of identity.

Marker 2014 is supported by ESBD. Slavs and Tatars would like to thank Leeza Ahmady, Laura Bulian, Ayatgali Tuleubek and the Central Asian Pavilion, Venice 2013 team, and The Third Line.

MARKER

Slavs and Tatars Geography is a discipline as real as it is imagined, a subject as political as it is poetic. Take MENASA for starters. When the Muslim world is defined or imagined today — by the West or by Muslims themselves — it often includes countries from North Africa to South Asia, strangely skipping a heartbeat over the former Soviet sphere. But what of the Caucasus and Central Asia?

Coveted for its infamous trade routes, squeezed between empires, and battered by the major ideologies of the 20th and 21st centuries, the Caucasus and Central Asia offer a rare and urgent celebration of complexity and pluralism in a world increasingly seduced by the conventional and the orthodox.

Far from marginal, this region — Mawara al-Nahr, (Arabic for “what lies beyond the river”) — has played a central role in Islamic history. It was the renaissance home to Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, the founder of algebra; Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, the astrologer who discovered that the earth revolves around the sun; Ibn Sīnā, the polymath whose Canon of Medicine was the standard text in Europe and the Islamic world until the eighteenth century; and Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire — among others.

Art Dubai’s 2014 edition of Marker 2014 focuses on Caucasus and Central Asia through a regime of portraiture: faces, places, and traces—from midtwentieth-century painting to contemporary drawings and sculptures.

Five participating organisations—hailing from the North Caucasus to Kyrgysztan—join together to create a Eurasian version of a salon or chaikhaneh, inviting viewers to engage with the portraits both as artifacts and as works of art. Each tells a different story of identity, faith, nationhood or language, and how these are interiorized, masqueraded, ritualized and ultimately stretched to supersede today’s brittle identity politics.

On the occasion, we’ve invited five artists to publish books with the participation of Paris-based onestar press. These publications should serve as so many bricks to be thrown at the store-front of imposed ideas—now as in the past—as to what it means to be a Muslim, Christian, or Jew, or rather Abkhaz, Uzbek, or Armenian.

Slavs and Tatars is a collective with solo exhibitions at major museums — MoMA, Secession (2012), REDCAT (2013), Kunsthalle Zurich, Dallas Museum of Art (2014)—as well as group exhibitions across the Middle East, North America and Europe. They have published six books, including a translation of the legendary Azeri political satire Molla Nasreddin (2011, JRP-Ringier). Slavs and Tatars are represented by The Third Line, Dubai; Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin; and Raster, Warsaw.

Participating spaces Asia Art+ Almaty, Kazakhstan Almaty-based Asia Art+ Public Foundation supports the development of contemporary art in Kazakhstan and Central Asia through a variety of art and cultural projects. Asia Art+ promotes multiculturalism throughout Central Asia by showcasing complex and innovative art created by both established and emerging regional artists. Its educational programme addresses a wide array of audiences, from art professionals to students to members of its local and regional communities.

Director: Yuliya Sorokina Aiteke bi 132, apt. 7 050000 Almaty, Kazakhstan T: +7 727 233 4669 | E: yula.sorokina65@mail.ru astralnomads.net Popiashvili Gvaberidze Window Project Tbilisi, Georgia

Created to engage the public’s interaction with contemporary art, the Popiashvili Gvaberidze Window Project is a permanent, public art space located in Tbilisi, Georgia. Founded in 2013, the art space has presented a variety of exhibitions featuring the works of international and regional contemporary artists, often showcasing established artists alongside emerging local and regional artistic talent.

Director: Irena Popiashvili Rustaveli Avenue #37 Tbilisi Georgia T: +1 917 690 8886 | E: irena@npgallery.com windowproject.ge

ArtEast Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Created in November 2002 by artists Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev, ArtEast is dedicated to the development of the contemporary art scene in Kyrgyzstan. Through a series of programmes, seminars, exhibitions and workshops, ArtEast fosters outreach within the community with an emphasis on issues of local, regional and national heritage.

Directors: Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev 32, Mira Prospect Apt.3 720044 Bishkek Kyrgyzstan T: +996 312 210 115 | E: mjumali@yahoo.com arteast.ktnet.kg North Caucasus Branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Art Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia-Alania, Russia The North Caucasus Branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Art (NCCA) was established in 2010 and is the only state institution in the North Caucasus region. A platform for the promotion of regional contemporary art to the larger national and international communities, its programme of research, exhibitions and educational activities seeks to develop dialogue through the common cultural heritage of the Caucasus.

Director: Gala Tebieva 17, Mayakovsky Street 362000 Vladikavkaz North Ossetia-Alania Russia T: +7 8672 700 708 | E: tebieva@list.ru ncca.ru

YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation Baku, Azerbaijan

Founded in 2011 by Aida Mahmudova, YARAT is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally.

Project manager: Sadagat Isayeva 31-33 Asaf Zeynalli str.

Icheri Shexer, AZ 1000 Baku Azerbaijan T: +99 412 437 3970 | E: sadagat.i@yarat.az yarat.az

Additional contributions IADA (International Art Development Association) Almaty, Kazakhstan / Paris, France IADA is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to promote contemporary art, support artists from Central Asia and Europe and develop international cultural exchange.

Founders: Dina Baitassova, Indira Dyussebayeva, Laurent Lehmann and Saule Kurpenova 15 Rue Marbeau 75116 Paris France T: +33 6 99 302 157 onesteppeforward.com Mardjani Foundation Moscow, Russia The Mardjani Foundation for Support and Development of Research and Cultural Programs, named in honour of the eminent Tatar scholar and Muslim theologian Shihabutdin Mardjani (1818 - 1889), was founded in 2006 as the result of ten years of creative activities among a team of scholars and historians. The Foundation promotes implementation of research, educational and cultural projects and actions, aiming to preserve the cultural traditions of Eurasian peoples whose past and present are connected to Islam.

69, Vavilova Street Moscow 117997 Russia T: + 7 495 956 0478 | E: fond@mardjani.ru mardjani.ru

COUNTRY FOCUS Including articles first published in ArtAsiaPacific Almanac 2014 Armenia BY HANAE KO Azerbaijan BY SARA RAZA Georgia BY LALI PERTENAVA Kazakhstan BY MING LIN Kyrgyzstan BY HANAE KO Tajikistan BY SYLVIA TSAI Turkmenistan BY HG MASTERS Uzbekistan BY SARA RAZA

Armenia

BY HANAE KO

The former Soviet state of Armenia holds an influential position internationally due to the nation’s rich culture and history, as well as the reach of its diaspora. For 2013, the city of Gyumri was selected as the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) Cultural Capital, and a state-funded committee organized art, theater and film festivals throughout the year that celebrated Armenian culture and heritage. The capital Yerevan has a strong Soviet ethos, but its cultural foundations are improving. The National Gallery of Armenia presented “Hello” (6/4–9/4), which showcased renowned TurkishArmenian photographer Ara Güler’s iconic images of historical events and figures.

Yerevan’s main contemporary art venue is the Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art (ACCEA), founded in 1994 by Iranian-Armenian couple Edward and Sonia Balassanian. The ACCEA hosts exhibitions, public programs and, from 1995 to 2009, organized the Armenia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. It is also in the process of developing an independent study program for art graduates, modeled after the one offered by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

This year’s lineup at the ACCEA included a solo exhibition of Anna Khachatryan’s photographs in “One Day Project” (2/23), followed by “The Big Bang Theory” (9/27–10/19), featuring red, yellow and blue abstract sculptures by Manan Torosyan. The 17th annual Alternative Festival of Art, “Emancipate the Time” (4/5–5/25), highlighted works that investigate the notion of artistic freedom.

Elsewhere in the city is the Modern Art Museum of Yerevan, founded in 1972. This year its program included a solo exhibition of the young Paris-based multimedia artist Taline Zabounian (7/2–7).

Opened in 2009, Cafesjian Center for the Arts, a multidisciplinary center for art, film and music, is sponsored by the Armenian-American Cafesjian family. It hosted “Chicken Paintings” (10/13–12/29), a series of Kafkaesque paintings of grotesque fowl created by American artist Doug Argue.

Yerevan’s National Association of Art Critics, founded in 2005, holds curatorial seminars, study programs and residencies, and established the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), Yerevan, in 2012. This year the ICA hosted “To Perform and to Curate: Between Two Practices of Constitution” (8/12–18), with a program of lectures, workshops and an exhibition that brought together local and international curators, artists and academics.

Gyumri, the second-largest city in Armenia, is home to the Gyumri Biennial and

Official Country Name Republic Of Armenia Languages ARMENIAN Population 2,974,184 Median Age 32.9 GDP Per Capita US $5,900 Source: CIA World Factbook

the Gyumri Center of Contemporary Art, co-founded by artist Azat Sargsyan.

This year, the Armenian government drew the ire of the educational community when it announced plans to consolidate the city’s main cultural institutes, citing the low enrollment rates at schools. Under the proposal, the Gyumri branch of the Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts will merge with the state conservatory and film institute to become the Gyumri Academy of Arts.

The art collective 5th Floor Group participated in “Culture for the Eastern Partnership” (10/4–6), an international symposium on Eastern European identity and culture that took place in Lublin, Poland. Group member Aleksey Manukyan staged a drawing performance at the accompanying Integrations–Meditations art festival (10/1–6).

Armenian-born Armen Eloyan displayed new expressionistic canvases depicting cartoon characters at Tim Van Laere Gallery (12/5–1/25/14) in Antwerp. Also in Belgium, Hamlet Hovsepian’s video works from the 1970s were included in “The Collection as a Character” (6/7–9/22) at MHKA, Antwerp. Karen Sargsyan showed his paper sculptures in “Coup de Ville” (9/13–10/13), a public art exhibition organized by the WARP Contemporary Art Platform in Sint-Niklaas.

Elsewhere in Europe, “Ambiguous Boundaries” (3/29–4/14), a group show of Armenian artists at InteriorDAsein, Berlin, included photographer Mher Azatyan and pop painter Karine Matsakyan, among others. Eva Harut and Mariam Mughdusyan took part in “Borderland” (7/12–14), a collaborative performance art project held along a riverbank in Zittau, Germany. Azat Sargsyan showed his photo series “Public Constructivism” (2008) in the group exhibition “1, 2, 3, b4” (6/18–9/1) at the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki, in Greece. Sonia Balassanian, Karine Matsakyan and five other Armenian artists were included in “At the Crossroads” (3/4–12), a selling exhibition of contemporary art from the Caucasus and Central Asia, at Sotheby’s London. “Armenian Contemporary Art: Selected Works” (8/9–9/8), curated by Edward Balassanian, was shown at the National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Moscow.

In the United States, “Juxtaposition: Contemporary Armenian Artists” (9/5–14), hosted by the New York Armenian Student’s Association, featured sculptor Christopher Gasparian and painter David Kareyan, among others. The Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, showcased sculptural paintings by Varujan Boghosian (12/13–5/25/14).

Looking ahead to 2014, French-Armenian artist Melik Ohanian’s POLYLOGUES – Double Edition, an archival monograph of his conceptual installation and video works since 1995, will be published by Sternberg Press. © AsiaArtPacific. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without prior permission from AsiaArtPacific.

Total Value of Art Exported (UN Comtrade Database 2012) us $13,531 Arts Funding (Culture, Religion and Miscellaneous) US $56,351,771 Art Programs (University Level) 4 Student Enrollment 1401 Source: National Statistical Service

Museums Exhibiting Contemporary Art 2 Contemporary Art Galleries (Commercial) 15 Contemporary Art Spaces (Nonprofit) 6 Art Foundations (NGO + Private) 5 Source: National Statistical Service & AAP (non-official) Acknowledgments: Edward Balassanian, Anahit Safyan, Azat Sargsyan

Azerbaijan

BY SARA RAZA

Ilham Aliyev, the country’s long-standing president and son of the previous strongman, was again returned to office in elections held in October; this result came as no surprise since the election results were accidentally released before voting began. Despite recent economic growth, there have been scant improvements on human rights and severe restrictions on press freedom remain. The country remains in conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh territories, inhibiting collaborative regional events.

Azeri cultural activities are centered in the capital Baku and receive support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, supplemented by the regional NGO, the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation. Applied arts and crafts still dominate the country’s state-run museums, including the Rustam Mustafayev Azerbaijan State Museum of Art. Other state-affiliated organisations such as the Vajiha Samadova Exhibition Hall at the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan and the Yeni Gallery (formerly the Baku Art Center) organize regular exhibitions.

Baku’s prime nonprofit contemporary art space, Yarat Contemporary Art Space was founded by artist Aida Mahmudova in 2011 and has steadily increased its activities. In 2013, Yarat’s program included the summer urban festival “Participate!

Baku Public Art Festival” (3/12–9/12), which included Farkhad Hagverdi’s project “Yard Art” (6/24–30), which transformed residential backyards with public art.

The Baku Creative Center continued with its mission of supporting local Azerbaijani arts and crafts, and hosted the Azerbaijan Art Festival (6/4–10). The Center also mounted the

Official Country Name Republic of Azerbaijan Languages Azerbaijani (Azeri) Population 9,590,159 Median Age 29.8 GDP Per Capita US $10,700 Source: CIA World Factbook

group exhibition “Inversion” (11/22–12/10), curated by Alekperli Ferekh, that focused on social themes and included mixed-media artists Novruz Mamedov and Mehmet Rashidov.

Despite its completion in 2012, the touristic landmark and Zaha Hadid-designed Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center has not yet been officially opened to the public. The Baku Museum of Modern Art, initiated in 2009 by first lady Mehriban Aliyeva, with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Fund, hosts major exhibitions such as “Beyond Time and Beauty” (11/15–1/14/14), a retrospective of acclaimed Moroccan artist Lalla Essaydi featuring photographs inspired by Orientalist paintings.

In 2012, two galleries dedicated to contemporary art were launched in Baku. Yay Gallery, established by Yarat founder Mahmudova, held several group and solo shows including “Stalemate” (1/16–2/16), which focused on gender issues with works by Baku-based Afghan painter Reza Hazare and mixed-media artists Fidan Seyidova and Nazrin Mammadova. The gallery also mounted “Echo” (11/16–12/10) by emerging sculptor Mahmud Rustamov.

Total Value of Art Exported (UN Comtrade Database 2012) us $869,406 Arts Funding (Arts and Culture) us $143,567,571 Art Programs (University Level) 2 Student Enrollment 898 Source: State Statistical Committee

At Gazelli Art House, director Mila Askarova tested the Baku art market with a selection of artists previously shown at her London outpost, including shows by sculptor Jane McAdam Freud (1/12–3/6) and mixed-media artist Olympia Scarry (9/21–11/30).

Abroad, Azerbaijan’s official pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale, “Ornamentation” (6/4–11/24), featured six artists exploring characteristics of Islamic art, with an installation by conceptual pioneer Chingiz and images of contemporary society by photographer Fakhriyya Mammadova. Parallel to the official pavilion, Yarat commissioned the collateral exhibition “Love Me, Love Me Not,” curated by Iranian-Swiss art consultant Dina Nasser-Khadivi, presenting art from Azerbaijan and the Caucasus. The mixture of established and emerging artists included digitally created interpretations of carpets by artist Faig Ahmed. In London, Ahmed’s contemporary interpretation of the traditional Azerbaijani craft earned him a spot on the shortlist for the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Jameel Prize. In the United Arab Emirates, Zeigam Azizov’s text-based works were featured in the Maraya Art Center’s group show, “The Beginning of Thinking Is Geometric” (7/17–9/30).

Looking ahead, the sixth installment of the international Aluminium Biennale will return to Baku with a mix of international and domestic artists, while the local and international scene continues to embrace Azerbaijani artists.

© AsiaArtPacific. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without prior permission from AsiaArtPacific.

Museums Exhibiting Contemporary Art 39 Contemporary Art Galleries (Commercial) 30 Contemporary Art Spaces (Nonprofit) 33 Art Foundations (NGO + Private) 2 Source: State Statistical Committee Acknowledgments: Mary Amirova, Zeigam Azizov, Jahangir Selimkhanov, Catherine Wilson

Georgia

BY LALI PERTENAVA Since emerging from a decade of volatile, totalitarian statehood, Georgia has embraced democracy and a growing economy. This transitional period has also birthed an interesting contemporary art scene, inspired by modern-day political and social upheavals, as well as the long history and deep cultural traditions of the country.

In October 2012, the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia announced the first-ever open call for curatorial proposals for the 55th Venice Biennale’s Georgia Pavilion (6/1–11/24). The winning project, “Kamikaze Loggia,” curated by Joanna Warsza from Poland, comprised of a shanty-like structure atop an old building in the Arsenale, modeled after vernacular extensions added to Soviet buildings in Georgia after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Pavilion hosted works by sculptor Thea Djordjadze, architecture-researcher and artist Nikoloz Lutidze, and Gela Patashuri with Ei Arakawa and Sergei Tcherepnin, among others.

Tbilisi, the capital city, is the main artery of cultural life in Georgia, home to many of the nation’s museums and galleries. This year, two artist-run galleries opened in Tbilisi: Gallery Nectar, which held several exhibitions, including a showcase of Shota Bostanashvili’s architectural sketches and videos (12/12–30), and Gallery Container, the first to focus on contemporary photography, which was inaugurated in June.

Commercial spaces in Tbilisi include Baia Gallery, which showed Kota Sulaberidze’s landscape paintings covered with colorful dots (3/31–4/8), and Art Gallery Vanda, which presented “Kiev-Tbilisi-Transit” (9/13–23), with graphic and media art by four Ukrainian artists.

Official Country Name gEORGIA Languages georgian Population 4,555,911 Median Age 39.6 GDP Per Capita US $6,000 Source: CIA World Factbook

The nonprofit Center of Contemporary Art – Tbilisi (CCAT) organizes exhibitions, education programs and international projects. This year, CCAT held “SubTehran: Subjective Truth from Iran” (6/21–7/12), which featured 19 established and emerging Iranian artists, including photographers Sasan Abri and Gohar Dashti.

GeoAIR, founded in 2003, holds exchange programs and residencies for artists from Georgia and the Caucasus. This year, GeoAIR organized the street art festival “Art Active” (10/2–8) as part of the European Union-funded project Culture Factory.

The festival took place in the regional towns of Rustavi, Mestia and Zugdidi, and included photographer Tamara Bokuchava and Spanish group Boamistura.

Artist-run space Tram also held cultural activities in various towns across the country, organizing the folk art showcase “Telavi International Festival – New Nadimi” (10/13–20) in the east Georgian city of Telavi.

The sixth Artisterium – Tbilisi International Contemporary Art Exhibition and Art Events (10/4–14) took place at 11 different venues. Among the highlights were US-based Georgian artist Lado Pochkhua’s photo series “Anatomy of Georgian Melancholy” (1993– 2004), which was presented at the National Gallery of the Georgian National Museum.

Abroad, Galleri Image presented video works by six Georgian artists, including Koka Ramishvili and Levan Chogoshvili, at the Institut for X art space in Aarhus (8/31–9/8), as part of the 2013 Images Festival in Denmark. Georgia was presented as a focus country at ViennaFair (10/10–13) with a special group exhibition that included photographer Natela Grigalashvili, sculptor Giorgi Khaniashvili and illustrator Maya Sumbadze, among others. Amsterdam-based performance artist Nadia Tsulukidze co-wrote and staged “Me and Stalin” (10/11–12) at Kaaitheater, Brussels. Seoul’s Gallery Sun Contemporary organized a traveling exhibition of painter Alexander Antadze, which was held at Lotte Gallery’s branches in Daejeon (11/8–12/3) and Anyang (12/6–1/8/14), South Korea.

Total Value of Art Exported (UN Comtrade Database 2012) us $2,126,188 Arts Funding (Culture and Monument) US $102,038,655 Art Programs (University Level) 7 Student Enrollment 18,823 Source: Ministry of Finance, National Statistics Office & AAP (non-official)

Museums Exhibiting Contemporary Art 4 Contemporary Art Galleries (Commercial) 8

This year, Georgian artists also took part in international auctions, such as painter Avto Varazi, who was included in the selling exhibition “At the Crossroads: Contemporary Art from the Caucasus and Central Asia” (3/4–12) at Sotheby’s London.

Contemporary Art Spaces (Nonprofit) 5

Looking ahead to 2014, in January Gallery Sun Contemporary will tour Alexander Antadze’s show to Gwangju, while in February Baia Gallery will present a solo exhibition series of the Georgian artists featured in Sotheby’s “At the Crossroads” show.

Art Foundations (NGO + Private) 9 Source: AAP (non-official) Acknowledgments: Beate Cegielska, Magda Guruli, Anna Riaboshenko, Wato Tsereteli, Nadia Tsulukidze, Gvantsa Turmanidze, Joanna Warsza

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Kazakhstan

BY MING LIN

Ethnically and religiously diverse Kazakhstan facescontinuing challenges under president Nursultan Nazarbayev, the country’s first and only post-Soviet leader. Despite his self-proclaimed success in ensuring the stable conditions necessary for economic progress, a crushing victory in the 2011 presidential election was followed by serious disturbances in the west of the country, and criticism of his oligarchic practices is growing.

Although Kazakhstan has a rich cultural tradition in applied arts and music, fine arts were only introduced under direct Soviet rule, which lasted from the late 1930s to 1991. Today, the government offers only limited support for contemporary artists, who largely exhibit abroad. The Soros Center for Contemporary Art, the primary organisation for artists, closed in 2009, limiting the domestic art scene’s activities.

The biggest art institution in the cultural capital of Almaty is the Kasteev State Museum of Arts, which is known for a strong collection of fine art and applied art that includes significant bodies of work from Russia, China, Japan, India and Western Europe. After undergoing a much-needed renovation in recent years, the museum reopened in February 2011. This year, to mark the 75th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s oldest art-education institution, the Almaty College of Decorative and Applied Arts, the museum hosted “The Golden Cradle” (11/15–25), launching a catalog and clothing line in conjunction with the exhibition. In December, the museum celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan with a series of discussions (12/3).

The fourth International Contemporary Art Festival (ArtBat Fest), “Almaty: The City as a Canvas” (9/6–10/6), featured installations by more than 30 Kazakh and international artists and collectives in parks and public spaces around central Almaty.

Official Country Name republic of kazakhstan Languages kazakh, russian Population 17,736,896 Median Age 29.5 GDP Per Capita US $14,100 Source: CIA World Factbook

The country’s oldest gallery, Tengri Umai, showed “The Art of You | Light Up!” (5/7–10), spotlighting Russian artist Leonid Tishkov’s “Private Moon” photographic series (2003– ) recording the poetic journey of a neon moon installation, which has been traveling the world for ten years. Later in the year, Almaty-born artist Anna Margatskaya’s “The Process of . . .” (11/21–12/14) explored the dangers of consumerism.

Another long-standing player, Ular Art Gallery promotes socialist realism alongside contemporary work. In September it hosted a solo exhibition of landscape artist Rakhman Bertleu’s oil paintings (9/11). In Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, the most notable shows take place at the Museum of Modern Arts. This year, to mark the 15th anniversary of Astana’s elevation to the position of capital city, it held “The First Female Artist of Kazakhstan” (7/4–9/30), with works from 28 women artists, including Aisha Garifovna Galimbaeva and Gulfairus Mansurovna Ismailova.

As in previous years, Kazakh artists gained more attention abroad than at home. For the 55th Venice Biennale’s Central Asia Pavilion (6/1–11/24), Kazakhstan-born, Oslobased curator and artist Ayatgali Tuleubek, along with Tiago Bom of Portugal, brought in works by several artists from across the region, including a site-specific, yurt-inspired installation, Zhol (The Way) (2013), by Kamilla Kurmanbekova and Erlan Tuyakov, under the theme of “Winter,” inspired by a poem by 19th-century Kazakh writer Abay Qunanbayuli. In the hope that the country might have its own Venice pavilion in 2015, the International Art Development Association, which promotes European and Central Asian art, also hosted contemporary Kazakh artists at the Palazzo Bragadin. Its show, “One Step/pe Forward,” gathered works by Gaisha Madanova, Said Atabekov, Galim Madanov and Zauresh Terekbay that linked to the concept of the endless Kazakh steppe.

Erbossyn Meldibekov and Almagul Menlibayeva were among the Kazakh artists to feature in “Lost to the Future: Contemporary Art from Central Asia” (10/25–12/10), which explored the artistic legacies in countries of the former Soviet Union at Lasalle College of the Arts in conjunction with the Singapore Biennale. Laura Bulian Gallery, Milan, held a survey of husband-and-wife duo Elena Vorobyeva and Viktor Vorobyev covering the previous ten years of their career (10/3–11/30).

Under the auspices of the French embassy, 2013 saw a celebration of French culture through shows in Kazakhstan’s cultural hubs, including “Napoleon: The Life, the Legend” (12/20–2/23/14) at the Independence Palace in Astana.

The exchange will be completed in 2014 when Kazakh artists, musicians and performers descend on France for “The Year of Kazakhstan in France.”

© AsiaArtPacific. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without prior permission from AsiaArtPacific.

Total Value of Art Exported (UN Comtrade Database 2012) us $306,700 Arts Funding (Culture, Sport, Tourism & Information) US $750,961,161 Art Programs (University Level) 5 Student Enrollment N/A Source: Agency of Statistics & AAP (non-official)

Museums Exhibiting Contemporary Art 4 Contemporary Art Galleries (Commercial) 2 Contemporary Art Spaces (Nonprofit) 2 Art Foundations (NGO + Private) 3 Source: AAP (non-official)

Kyrgyzstan

BY HANAE KO

In late July, the New York-based Open Society Foundation, a key benefactor for the arts community in Central Asia, announced that its arts and culture program would stop at the end of the year. Though the closure is a serious loss, the Kyrgyz art community is still seeing development through alternative sources of domestic and foreign funding.

Contemporary art activity is centered in the capital Bishkek, which has a lively and growing scene. The Gapar Aitiev Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts (GAKNMFA) houses an extensive collection of 20th-century Kyrgyz and Russian art.

In 2013, the museum held “April 2010” (4/2–18), an exhibition of Nina Gorshkova’s black-and-white photographs documenting the 2010 Kyrgyz Revolution.

The country’s leading NGO is the Bishkek Art Center (B’Art), founded in 2002 by the Artists’ Union of the Kyrgyz Republic and run by Shaarbek Amankul.

In 2013, B’Art held its “Nomadic Art Camp” again, bringing together around 30 local and international artists to create collaborative works. Results of the workshop were exhibited at GAKNMFA (8/27–9/27), where B’Art subsequently also held “Period: 1980–2013” (12/11–1/31/14), with paintings and sculptures by 100 Kyrgyz artists from the Soviet, post-Soviet and modern eras.

The two-year-old independent art space Loft held “Fences/Future” (1/25–31), with collaborative videos, photography, sound installations and performances by Bishkek artists and international group Across Collective. ArtEast, run by artist couple Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev, held “Art of Interaction” with the backing of the

Official Country Name kyrgyz republic Languages kyrgyz, russian Population 5,548,042 Median Age 25.4 GDP Per Capita US $2,400 Source: CIA World Factbook

San Francisco-based Christensen Fund. The yearlong project started in January, and held cultural workshops for residents of Bulan Sogottu, a village near Lake Issyk Kul. The fifth edition of the “Lazy Art” workshop (7/7–14) was also held by Lake Issyk Kul at a local yurt camp. Key figures from the Central Asian art community—including Kazakh curator Yulia Sorokina, Kyrgyz artist Ulan Japarov and Uzbek photographer and activist Umida Akhmedova—gathered to discuss their respective works and future projects.

The one-year-old Tolon Museum of Modern Art (TMMA) shows contemporary works by local artists. The museum—along with Loft, the Cinema Development Fund of Kyrgyzstan and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation—organized the REFORMAT13 International Video Art Festival (8/29–9/5), at the hall of the Artists’ Union of the Kyrgyz Republic in Bishkek. Headed by TMMA director Gamal Bokonbaev, it included screenings, seminars and an exhibition of experimental films by more than 20 artists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

London-based photographer Aza Shade represented Kyrgyzstan in the Central Asia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (6/1–11/24). Shade, along with other Kyrgyz artists, also participated in the selling exhibition “At the Crossroads: Contemporary Art from the Caucasus and Central Asia” (3/4–12) at Sotheby’s London. Bermet Borubaeva and Diana Ukhina of activist-artist collective StrekOOza discussed Kyrgyzstan’s art scene in a talk series at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw (7/10). Kyrgyz artists duo Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev took part in the collateral exhibition “Lost to the Future: Contemporary Art from Central Asia” (10/25–12/10) at the Lasalle College of Arts as part of the Singapore Biennale.

Looking ahead to 2014, B’Art will reprise its “Nomadic Art Camp” in August and will also organize “No Entry Under 16!” in Bishkek during November, with the participation of mainly Kyrgyz artists.

Total Value of Art Exported (UN Comtrade Database 2012) us $19,980 Arts Funding N/A Art Programs (University Level) 3 Student Enrollment 30 Source: Compiled by Bishkek Art Center (non-official)

Museums Exhibiting Contemporary Art 2 Contemporary Art Galleries (Commercial) 0 Contemporary Art Spaces (Nonprofit) 3 Art Foundations (NGO + Private) 3 Source: Compiled by Bishkek Art Center (non-official) Acknowledgments: Shaarbek Amankul, Muratbek Djumaliev

© AsiaArtPacific. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without prior permission from AsiaArtPacific.

Tajikistan

BY SYLVIA TSAI

Since its civil war in the 1990s, this landlocked country in Central Asia has remained economically unstable, with the lowest per capita income in the region. Tajikistan’s foreign revenue comes mainly from exports of aluminum and cotton, along with remittances from nearly one million Tajiks working abroad, primarily in Russia, although the country’s GDP grew an estimated 7.5 percent in 2013. With Persian roots, Tajik culture remains under-examined due to the lack of interest in Soviet times and the political and social difficulties since.

The aftermath of Soviet rule, ongoing civil unrest and the limited economy have created multilayered obstacles for local art development. The first contemporary art exhibition was not held until 2006, as part of a collaboration with other artists in the region related to the participation of Tajik artists in the 2006 Tashkent Biennial.

Cultural institutions are still relatively scant—Bactria Culture Centre (BCC) is perhaps the most active and significant player. Established in the capital Dushanbe by French NGO ACTED, this 12-year-old center provides multidisciplinary programs, aiming to create a platform for contemporary art by providing a space for artists and by supporting regional art initiatives. Among its many projects, BCC partnered with organisations such as Open Society Foundation and Goethe-Institut Tashkent for its European Week (11/16–24), which focused on introducing cultural activities to youths, and included a workshop of critical animation organized by Tajik curator Georgy Mamedov, who is currently the artistic director of STAB (School of Theory and Activism) in Bishkek.

Official Country Name republic of tajikistan Languages tajik Population 7,910,041 Median Age 23.2 GDP Per Capita US $2,300 Source: CIA World Factbook

Support for contemporary art was evident at the National Museum of Tajikistan, which opened its renovated building in June and held its first contemporary art exhibition in August. Curated by Anna Basanova and Faruh Kuziev, “Is It Hard to Be Young?” (6/22– 8/17) addressed issues faced by the younger generation, including hopelessness and social segregation, and included Aziza Sultanova’s performance Art and Life (2013) for which she painted her face in the same manner as her canvases and then sat in front of them. In the same show, Bahriddin Isamutdinov and Damir Egamberdiev displayed their photoseries “Reflection” (2013) which captured scenes of contemporary hardship.

Dushanbe Art Ground, a contemporary art center, conducted artist residencies and workshops that culminated in the exhibition “Based on True Story” (1/26), which looked at gender politics in Tajikistan through various media including performance, video, photography and public art.

Other infrastructures are also showing signs of embracing the arts.

Total Value of Art Exported (UN Comtrade Database) n/A Arts Funding (Culture, Religion and Miscellaneous) US $105,931,069 Art Programs (University Level) 3 Student Enrollment 2,738 Source: Statistical Agency & AAP (non-official)

Opened in 2012, the National Library of Tajikistan is the largest library in Central Asia. In July, it was the venue of the traveling exhibition “Tohoku – Through the Eyes of Japanese Photographers” (7/3–21), organized by the Japan Foundation.

Around the region, in Bishkek, at the REFORMAT13 International Video Art Festival (8/29–9/5), Alexei Rumyantsev screened a selection of his video art pieces.

Overseas, Sotheby’s London held “At the Crossroads: Contemporary Art from the Caucasus and Central Asia” (3/4–12), their first selling exhibition of contemporary work from the region. Tajikistan was represented by Rumyantsev’s The Wall (2009), an installation in which silk was layered between tiers of red brick. Anton Rodin and Sergey Chutkov were included in the Central Asia Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale (6/1–11/24)—their project, Letters from Tajikistan (2013), portrayed patterns of affinity and dissent across different strata of Tajik society.

An organisational restructure is in store for Dushanbe Art Ground in 2014. Currently running as an independent art space, it will become a semi-governmental entity when it merges with the state-funded Institute of Visual Arts and Design, one of the major art schools. This partnership is intended to foster a rich visual culture, along with critical exchange, through the promotion of contemporary art practice.

Museums Exhibiting Contemporary Art 1 Contemporary Art Galleries (Commercial) 4 Contemporary Art Spaces (Nonprofit) 3 Art Foundations (NGO + Private) 3 Source: AAP (non-official) Acknowledgment: Faruh Kuziev

© AsiaArtPacific. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without prior permission from AsiaArtPacific.

Turkmenistan

BY HG MASTERS

Since Kurbanguly Berdymuhamedov became president in 2006, natural-gasrich Turkmenistan has gradually opened up to international trade. Although the country is home to a rich tradition of weaving and jewelry-making, in the postSoviet-era Turkmenistan’s artists have been instrumentalized in the service of the personality cults that surround the country’s autocratic leaders. In June 2012, an exhibition of sculptures by Erdem Tsybikjapov, the Russian cultural attaché in the capital Ashgabat, marked the first time that nude figures had been permitted to go on view. Travel abroad by Turkmen artists is largely restricted, leading to their ongoing exclusion from most regional and international exhibitions, including the Central Asia Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale (6/4–11/23).

Art activity is confined almost entirely to Ashgabat. The country’s main arts venue is the Museum of Fine Arts (MAFA), which in November displayed canvases by Russian 20th-century painters Svyatoslav and Nicholas Roerich—émigrés who traveled widely through India and the Himalayas. Inaugurated in 2011, the Art City district is where artists live and work and is home to the State Institute of Culture.

Opened in October 2010, the Exhibition Center of Fine Art has remained underutilized. In April, an “art contest” for the depiction of the Ahal-Teke breed of horses saw the awarding of USD 1,000 prizes to sculptor Saragt Babayev and painter Parahat Gapanchyaev.

Ashgabat’s primary private gallery, Studio Juma was formerly the workplace of sculptor Juma Jumadurdy and is maintained by the late artist’s widow Natalya Jumadurdiyeva.

It hosts occasional events that remain largely unsanctioned by the government.

Since 2010, when the Ministry of Culture shut down its retrospective of the late Tokar Tugurov (1944–2008), the Union of Artists has been largely ineffectual. Members harshly criticized former chairman Babasary Annamuradov and sculptor Saragt Babayev for slavishness to the politicians on whom they are reliant for public commissions.

In March 2012, MAFA curator Saparmamed Meredov was appointed chairman of the Union, without members’ support. Several artists who objected—including two People’s Artists of Turkmenistan, Gulnazar Bekmuradov and Chary Amangeldiev—were fired from their positions at the State Academy of Fine Arts shortly thereafter. © AsiaArtPacific. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without prior permission from AsiaArtPacific.

Official Country Name turkmenistan Languages turkmen Population 5,113,040 Median Age 26.2 GDP Per Capita US $8,900 Source: CIA World Factbook Total Value of Art Exported (UN Comtrade Database 2000) us $1,822,054 Arts Funding n/A Art Programs (University Level) 1 Student Enrollment 100 Source: AAP (non-official) Museums Exhibiting Contemporary Art 1 Contemporary Art Galleries (Commercial) 2 Contemporary Art Spaces (Nonprofit) 3 Art Foundations (NGO + Private) 0 Source: AAP (non-official)

Uzbekistan

BY SARA RAZA

Despite a rich artistic history, Uzbekistan struggles to escape the legacy of its Soviet past, in political, economic and cultural spheres. The art scene suffered a major blow on November 21 when Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the country’s president, Islam Karimov, and chairperson of the main funding body for the arts, the Forum of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan Foundation (Fund Forum), announced that its activities would be halted temporarily. Many assume this is due to the political maneuvering surrounding presidential succession—Karimova is seen as a potential candidate.

Since its establishment in 2004, the Fund Forum has organized the Tashkent Biennale — the country’s sole contemporary art event — and other stateendorsed exhibitions. These remain heavily censored and restricted to the capital, Tashkent, under Karimova’s patronage. In 2013, the seventh Tashkent Biennale (10/22–27) took place across six venues with the theme “Different Cultures – One World.” One of the highlights was a dome-shaped video installation by Russian artist Alikhan, entitled Triptych . . . Architecture. Music.

Dance (2013), which showcased official images of daily life in Uzbekistan.

The majority of state institutions remain Soviet in structure and content. The State Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan in Tashkent holds one of the largest collections of art in Central Asia, with both regional and Western works of applied and fine arts.

The Gallery of Fine Arts of Uzbekistan, which opened in 2004, remains active. In the western city of Nukus, the Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art houses an

Official Country Name republic of uzbekistan Languages uzbek Population 28,661,637 Median Age 26.6 GDP Per Capita US $3,600 Source: CIA World Factbook

important Russian avant-garde collection—after a prolonged partial closure it appears that USD 17 million has been allocated for the construction of two new buildings.

There are only two commercial galleries in Uzbekistan, both in Tashkent: Art+Fact and Granart Gallery, which mount circumspect programs. Independent art spaces are rare, with the exception of the Ilkhom Theatre, a recipient of a 2011 Prince Claus Award.

Total Value of Art Exported (UN Comtrade Database) n/A Arts Funding (Culture and Sports) US $103,586,112

It hosted Global Art Lab in 2013, including a workshop by New York street artist Gabriel Reese (4/20–30), coinciding with the exhibition “Refresh!” (4/23–5/4) of street dance, photography and performance inspired by urban themes.

Art Programs (University Level) 5

Another independent platform is the underground video and film festival VideoART.uz, run by outspoken director Oleg Karpov. In 2013, Karpov presented “How I Spent Last Summer” (09/15–19)—a collection of 15 films exploring human-rights issues shown at a private movie theater to avoid censorship.

On the outskirts of Tashkent, the Chorsu Gallery hosted an exhibition of local artists (10/26) from the historical city of Samarkand.

Student Enrollment 1,000

Government censorship remains a hindrance: it has been reported that writer and artist Vyacheslav Akhunov was denied an exit visa to attend the 55th Venice Biennale in June as a result of his political sentiments. He exhibited at the Sotheby’s London Central Asian selling exhibition “At the Crossroads: Contemporary Art from the Caucasus and Central Asia” (3/4–12) as well as at the 55th Venice Biennale’s Central Asia Pavilion (6/1–11/24), alongside Uzbek filmmaker Saodat Ismailova.

Exhibitions from the state collections are planned in Doha at the Museum of Islamic Art in 2014, and at the Orientalist Museum in 2015, while efforts are underway to secure an official Uzbekistan Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015.

Source: Ministry of Finance & Tashkent Biennale (non-official)

Museums Exhibiting Contemporary Art 2 Contemporary Art Galleries (Commercial) 3 Contemporary Art Spaces (Nonprofit) 5 Art Foundations (NGO + Private) 1 Source: AAP (non-official) Acknowledgment: Farhad Ahrarnia

© AsiaArtPacific. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without prior permission from AsiaArtPacific.

ARTIST FOCUS

Altai Sadikhzadeh Altai Sadikhzadeh (b. 1951, Baku, Azerbaijan) studied at the Azimzadeh State Art College in Baku. He continued his education at the Faculty of Painting at the Surikov State Academic Art Institute in Moscow from 1971 to 1977. The scope of Sadikhzadeh’s artistic practice includes pictorial and graphic work, sculpture and installation, and his work has been featured in many exhibitions since the 1970s. He has been a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR since 1979 and a member of Baku Arts Centre since 1988. His works are held in national and private collections in Azerbaijan, Belgium, France, Germany, Iran, Israel, Norway, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US. From 2008 to 2009, he was the designer of the Museum of Modern Art in Baku.

Altai Sadikhzade, Observers of the Planets, 2010, Oil on Canvas, 170 x 145 cm, Courtesy of Courtesy of Baku MOMA

Reza Hazare Reza Hazare (b. 1987, Zahedan, Iran) was born to an Afghan refugee family and now lives and works in Baku. Refused citizenship by both Afghanistan and Iran, Hazare explores his identity and refugee status in his work. His paintings and drawings expose the challenges of coping with war as a young artist. Hazare graduated from the Visual Arts School of Tehran in 2005 and Azerbaijan State Fine Arts Academy in 2012.

Reza Hazare, Nostalgya, 2009, Mixed Media on Canvas, 120 x 140 cm, Courtesy of Yay Gallery

Stanislav Kharin Stanislav Kharin (b.1973, Ukraine) graduated from the Art and Graphic Faculty of the North Ossetian State University. A past participant of exhibitions and biennales in Russia and Turkey, his work often turns to the invisible link between the history of his country, city and family with his own biography and the subconscious. In his project, ‘Poetic Entente or Occupation of the Heart’, he explores the works of the poets who have influenced him deeply, as a well-organised block of potential aggressors, because any culture is aggressive per se.

Stanislav Kharin, From the Series “Poetic Entente or Occupation of the Heart” Takahashi Shinkichi, 2009, Acrylic on Canvas, 120 x 100 cm, Courtesy of NCCA

Ruslan Tsrimov Ruslan Tsrimov (b. 1952, Russia) graduated from the Art and Graphic Faculty of the Karachay-Cherkessian Pedagogical Institute. Having participated in exhibitions in Russia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Korea, Turkey, the UAE, UK and US, his paintings offer exquisite, delicate colours that combine finesse with the deciphering of mysterious laws of nature — a transformation using the signs that are known only to the artist.

Ruslan Tsrimov, Selfportrait, 2004, Oil on Canvas, 70 x 50 cm, Courtesy of NCCA and the artist

Alimjan Jorobaev Alimjan Jorobaev (b. 1962, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) lives and works in Bishkek. He belongs to a generation of artists from post-Soviet countries that have experienced continuous change since the early 1990s, starting with the collapse of the USSR and the establishment of newly independent states.

His photographs often focus on the remnants of the Soviet era, as seen in his work “Mirages of Communism” (1995-2005). Jorobaev’s photographs, showing people praying with their backs turned to the communist leader, provide a sobering chronicle of the ways in which ideas of Soviet collectivism have been replaced by identity politics and an obsession with nationhood.

Alimjan Jorobaev, Mirages of the Communism #4, 1998, BW Print, 60 x 40 cm, Courtesy of Laura Bulian Gallery

Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev Based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev are cultural catalysts in the Central Asian region, which is in many respects a zone of silence. Trained both in film and the visual arts, they produce video installations that encapsulate everyday life in Central Asia. Their practice embodies the transition from a deeply rooted tradition of art-making towards the use of contemporary languages. Graduates of Kyrgyz State College of Fine Art, they accessed international ideas when studying in Russia during the period of perestroika.

Returning to Bishkek, they experimented with new technologies and developed documentary-style videos and photography that provide unprecedented representations of Kyrgyzstan’s passage to independence, as well as the impact of Soviet-era legacies on life and identity.Â

Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev, Untitled (Horse), 2005, Color Photoprint, 40 x 60 cm, Courtesy Laura Bulian Gallery

Natela Iankoshvili Natela Iankoshvili (1918-2007) exclusively created figurative works characterised by an extraordinary force of colour and brilliance. In her paintings, powerful forms—confidently outlined with only a few brush-strokes on a black background — combine into elegant, expressive portraits and vividly-coloured landscapes. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Iankoshvili was awarded distinctions including the Shota Rustaveli Prize, the highest honour awarded to artists by the State of Georgia.

Natela Iankoshvili, Green Mountain, 1958, Oil on Canvas, 100 x 85 cm, Courtesy of Popiashvili Gvaberidze Window Project

Lado Pochkhua Lado Pochkhua (b. 1970, Sukhumi, Georgia) lives and works in New York. He graduated from the Sukhumi College of Art in 1994 and the Tbilisi Academy of Art in 2001. He has had solo exhibitions in TMS Gallery and Old Gallery in Tbilisi and has participated in ten major group exhibitions, at institutions like the Georgian Embassy in London, UNESCO in Paris and the Tbilisi History Museum (Carvasla) and the National Gallery of Art. Pochkhua has also taken part in international projects in Russia and Azerbaijan, and has lived and worked in Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan and Hungary prior to moving to the US.

Lado Pochkhua, Landscape with Two Figures, 2011, Ink on Paper, 44 x 30 cm, Courtesy of artist and Popiashvili Gvaberidze Window Project

Yelena & Victor Vorobyev Yelena Vorobyeva (b. 1959, Nebit-Dag, Turkmenistan) and Victor Vorobyev (b.

1959, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan) live and work in Almaty, Kazakhstan, as artists, writers and curators. As a married couple, the Vorobyevs began working together on conceptual art projects in the early 1990s. They earnestly play with the world using painting, photography, humour, stone, video, vegetables from their garden, people’s reactions and more. The results are multilayered works that comment either on the simplicity or complexity of life in Central Asia. They have exhibited widely in Central Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe.

Yelena & Victor Vorobyev, Cellulare, 2009, Stone, 23 x 70 x 33 cm, Courtesy Laura Bulian Gallery

Sergey Maslov Sergey Maslov (1952-2002) Shortly before his death in 2002, Kazakhstani artist Sergey Maslov started to write a novel titled Astral Nomads, from which Yuliya Sorokina, Asia Art + founder, derived the name of the project, since it was dedicated to the lives of a large number of contemporary Central Asian artists.

Given that he had no heirs, these artists and other friends and colleagues became the keepers of his paintings, notebooks, sketchbooks, and self-published magazines, which are currently being stored in their apartments. This mode of preservation, however, obviously does not do justice to the significance of Maslov’s legacy, and these materials require cataloguing, organizing, and digitalization to offer insight into Maslov’s own practice and its importance to the artistic scene he helped create.

Segey Maslov, Meeting with Death, 1988, Oil on Canvas, 98.5 x 100 cm, Courtesy of Khalikov’s Collection

Murad Karabaev

Murad Karabaev (b. 1963, Tashkent, Uzbekistan) studied at the Republican College of Art and the AllRussian State University of Cinematography. He has participated in exhibitions at the Tokashimaya Gallery, Singapore (1995) and the Salon of Independent Artists, Paris (2002). He also participated in the Tashkent International Biennial of Contemporary Art in 2001 and 2013. In 2012, Karabaev exhibited a solo show, entitled ‘Qalandar. Mirror of Soul’ at the State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow, which was supported by the Mardjani Foundation. Interaction with creative types, literature and cinematography have all played a significant role in Karabaev’s artistic career. He began as a landscape artist, but later developed his own specific style, which has evolved throughout his life.

Murad Karabaev, A Bedana, 2012, Mixed Technique, 100 x 200 cm, Courtesy of Mardjani Foundation

Vyacheslav (Yuri) Useinov Vyacheslav (Yuri) Useinov (b. 1962, Fergana, Uzbekistan) graduated from Belorussia’s Bobruisk College of Fine Arts in 1985, after which he returned to Fergana and began to embody his figurative ideas in picturesque cloths. In 1992, he opened an exhibition entitled ‘Gobelin tapestry sculpture’ at the Samarkand State Museum of Arts and, in 1993, he moved to Tashkent where he still lives and works. Useinov participated in the first Tashkent Biennial in 2001 and went on to win the first prize both in 2005 and 2013. He also participated at the 52nd Venice Biennale’s Central Asian Pavilion and Moscow Biennial in 2009 and 2011. In 2012, he took part in the the Aluminium Baku Biennial.

Useinov works in an array of media including paint, installation, video, photography and textiles.

Vyacheslav Useinov, Collection of Cocoons, 2005, Achnatherum Weaving, 190 x 120cm, Courtesy of Mardjani Foundation.

Resources & Further Reading

OrganisationS IN CENTRAL ASIA AND CAUCASUS

Armenia Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art 1/3 Pavstos Byuzand Blvd.

Yerevan, 0010, Armenia T: +37410 56.82.25 accea.info Contact: Arpa Hacopian E: info@accea.info Gyumri Center of Contemporary Art Ankakhutian Square 1 Gyumri, 3101, Armenia T: +37 49 432 816 E: suzyuno@yahoo.com Modern Art Museum of Yerevan 7, Mashtots Ave. Yerevan, 0002, Armenia T: +374-10-535359 E: yerevanmodernartmuseum@gmail.com mamy.am Suburb Cultural Center 42 Gyulbenkyan, 24 Apt. 0033 Yerevan Armenia T: +3741 0 269064 E: suburb.center@gmail.com suburb.am Cafesjian Center for the Arts 10 Tamanyan Street Yerevan 0009 Armenia T: +374-10-54-19-32 E: info@cmf.am cmf.am

Utopiana.am 19 Baghramyan 2nd deadlock 0019 Yerevan Armenia T: +374 (0) 10 261 035 E: namak@utopiana.am utopiana.am

AJZ space Sayat Nova Str. between #9 and #11, 0001 Yerevan, Armenia T: +3745 5 352717 ajzspace.org Contact: Taguhi Torosyan E: ajz.space@gmail.com | tag.torosyan@gmail.com

Art-Laboratory Vagharsh Vagharshyan 24/3 Apt. 24, Yerevan, Armenia T: + 37410 27 29 19 artlabyerevan.com Contact: Hovhannes Margaryan E: hovhannesmargaryan@yahoo.com

Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts Isahakyan 36, Yerevan 0009, Armenia T: +37410) 56-07-26 E: yafa@yafa.am | info@yafa.am yafa.am

Art and Cultural Studies Laboratory ACSL, 8 A. Hovhannisyan Str. 28 Apt., Yerevan, 0076, Armenia T: +374 10 64 20 47 acsl.am Contact: Susanna Gyulamiryan E: s_gulamiryan@yahoo.com | info@acsl.am Institute for Contemporary Art 8 Shara Talyan, Aygestan 0070 Yerevan Armenia T: +374 91 362 915 ica.am Contact: Nazareth Karoyan E: n-karoyan@ica.am

Azerbaijan Baku Museum of Modern Art 5 Yusuph Safarov Baku, AZ1025 Azerbaijan T: +994 12 490-84-04 E: office@mim.az mim.az

Georgian Museum of Arts #1 Gudiashvili St. Tbilisi, Georgia T: + (995 32) 299 99 09 E: info@museum.ge museum.ge

Yeni Gallery 4/6 Aziz Aliyev Street Baku, AZ1005 Azerbaijan T: +994 12 598 45 48 E: yenigallery@gmail.com yenigallery.com

Sighnaghi Museum #8 Rustaveli Cul-de-sac, Sighnaghi, Georgia T: + (995 32) 223 24 48 E: info@museum.ge museum.ge

YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation 31-33 Asaf Zeynalli Str. Icheri Shexer, AZ 1000, Baku, Azerbaijan T: +99 412 437 3970 yarat.az Contact: Sadagat Isayeva E: sadagat.i@yarat.az

The National Gallery #11 Rustaveli Ave. Tbilisi, Georgia T: + (995 32) 2 15 73 00 E: info@museum.ge museum.ge

Georgia Center of Contemporary Art 10 D Abashidze Str. 0102, Tbilisi, Georgia T: +995 577 468 446 E: wato@cca.ge cca.ge

GeoAIR Team Brother Zubalashvili 56A 0108 Tbilisi, Georgia geoair.blogspot.de Contact: Sophia Tabatadze E: infogeoair@gmail.com Popiashvili Gvaberidze Window Project Rustaveli Avenue #37 Tbilisi, Georgia T: +1 917 690 8886 facebook.com/680290771999363 Contact: Irena Popiashvili E: irena@npgallery.com

Kazakhstan The A. Kasteev State Museum of Arts 30a Satpaev Street Almaty, 480090, Kazakhstan T: + 7 (727) 247 86 69 E: yelizaveta_kim@mail.ru gmirk.kz Tengri-Umai Contemporary Art Gallery 103 Panfilov Str. Almaty, 050004, Kazakhstan T: +7 (727) 273 57 66 tu.kz Contact: Vladimir Filatov E: vfilatov@tu.kz Bon Art Auction House 30a Satpaev Street Almaty, 480090, Kazakhstan T: +7 727 394 57 16 E: bonart.kz@gmail.com bonart.kz Ular Gallery 92 Panfilova Str. Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan T: +7 727 273-10-13 E: ulargallery@mail.ru artular.kz Alma-Ata Art Centre Ave Suyunbai, 151 (inside the Toyota Center Almaty) 050018, Almaty, Kazakhstan T: +7 (727) 383 17 63 E: art@astana-motors.kz astana-motors.kz/eng/artcenter Almadeniet Public Foundation 15 Respublica Square, 209 Almaty, Kazakhstan T: +7 727 2672593 E: g.koretskaya@almatymadeniet.kz

PA «Eurasian Cultural Alliance» 79, Nurmakov Str., Almaty, Kazakhstan T: +7 727 2778585 E: axe@tadia.kz Asia Art+ Aiteke bi 132, Apt. 7 050000 Almaty, Kazakhstan T: +7 727 233 4669 astralnomads.net Contact: Yuliya Sorokina E: yula.sorokina65@mail.ru

Kyrgyzstan

Russia

School of Theory and Activism Bishkek Moskovskaya, 147, Apt. 5 720017, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan T: +996(312)976803 E: art.initiatives.bishkek@gmail.com en.art-initiatives.org

North Caucasus Branch of the National Centre for Contemporary Art 17, Mayakovsky Street 362000, Vladikavkaz North Ossetia-Alania, Russia T: +7 8672 700 708 ncca.ru Contact: Gala Tebieva E: tebieva@list.ru

B›Art Contemporary 1 Karasaeva Street 720031, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan T: +996 (312) 53 17 85 E: artex.kg@mail.ru bishkekartcenter.kloop.kg The G. Aitiev Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts 196, Abdrakhmanov Str. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan T: +996 312 66 16 2 E: knmii@mail.ru knmii.kg Tolon Museum of Modern Art 3, Litovskaya Str. Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan T: +996 312 979 202 E: tolonmuseum@gmail.com facebook.com/pages/Tolon-Museum-of-Modern-Art/244103839013504 ArtEast 32, Mira Prospect Apt.3 720044 Bishkek Kyrgyzstan T: +996 312 210 115 arteast.ktnet.kg Contact: Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev E: mjumali@yahoo.com

Mardjani Foundation 69, Vavilova Street Moscow 117997 Russia T: + 7 495 956 0478 E: fond@mardjani.ru mardjani.ru Pechersky Gallery 4th Syromyatnichesky Lane 1/6 CCA Winzavod, 105120 Moscow, Russia T: +7 495 280 07 72 E: info@pecherskygallery.com pecherskygallery.com Guelman Gallery Winzavod, 4-th Syromyatnicheskiy pereulok, 1. str. 6 Moscow 105120, Russia T: +7495 2281159 | +7495 2281339 E: info.culturalalliance@gmail.com guelman.ru

Tajikistan Bactria Cultural Centre M. Tursunzoda-12 Str. 734000, Dushanbe, Tajikistan T: +(992 37) 227-05-54 E: bactria.culture@acted.org bactriacc.com

Uzbekistan The Tashkent House of Photography 4 Istikbol Street, Tashkent 100047, Uzbekistan T: (+998 71) 233 51 68 E: fotouz@inbox.ru newmuseum.org/artspaces/view/the-tashkent-house-of-photography The Karakalpakstan State Museum of Art named after I.V. Savitsky K. Rzaev Street, Nukus 230100, Uzbekistan T: +998 61 222 2556 E: museum_savitsky@mail.ru savitskycollection.org Museum of Fine Arts 16, Amir Temur Street Tashkent, Uzbekistan T: + 998 71 2367436 E: info@fineartmuzeum.uz fineartmuzeum.uz

Art and Fact Gallery 20, Sakyk Azimov Str. Tashkent, Uzbekistan T: +998 232-03-60 E: vkartfact@gmail.com art-and-fact.com Academy of Arts Exhibition Hall 40, Sh.Rashidov Avenue Tashkent, Uzbekistan T: +998 71 156-3196 E: info@artacademy.uz artacademy.uz Art Gallery of Uzbekistan Buyuk Turon 2, 700078 Tashkent, Uzbekistan T: +998 71 233-56-74

OrganisationS AROUND THE WORLD Project Universes in Universe Heilbronner Str. 3 D-10779 Berlin Germany T: [+49 30] 445 78 23 universes-in-universe.org Contact: Dr. Gerhard Haupt and Pat Binder E: info@universes-in-universe.org

Laura Bulian Gallery 20144, Milan, Italy T: +390248008983 laurabuliangallery.com Contact: Laura Bulian E: laura@laurabuliangallery.com Utopiana Av. des Eidguenots 21 1203 Genève, Switzerland T: 022 344 14 70 E: utopiana@utopiana.ch utopiana.ch Calvert 22 Foundation 22 Calvert Avenue London E2 7JP, UK T: +44 20 7613 2141 calvert22foundation.org Contact: Sophie Schneider E: sophie@calvert22.org Rossi&Rossi 16 Clifford Street, London W1S 3RG, UK T: +44 (0)20 7734 6487 E: info@rossirossi.com rossirossi.com

Caspian Arts Foundation 1 Gough Square, London EC4A 3DE, UK T:+44 (0) 20 7832 1359 E: info@caspianartsfoundation.com caspianartsfoundation.com

MORE USEFUL LINKS artasiapacific.com cap2011.net cap2013.net sararaza.com beralmadra.net ahmadyarts.com artradarjournal.com newmuseum.org/artspaces/map flytobaku.com neweurasia.net caconart.wordpress.com baibakovartprojects.wordpress.com buro247.kz buro247.ru

ABOUT Over the last seven years, Art Dubai, the leading international art fair in the Middle East and South Asia, has become a cornerstone of the region’s booming contemporary art community. Recognised as one of the most globalised meeting points in the art world today, Art Dubai places an emphasis on maintaining its intimate, human scale while foregrounding quality and diversity.

Alongside the gallery halls, comprising Contemporary, Modern and Marker, the fair’s extensive not-for-profit programme includes sitespecific works for Art Dubai Projects, radio and film; an exhibition of works by winners of the annual The Abraaj Group Art Prize; the criticallyacclaimed Global Art Forum and Campus Art Dubai—the free Saturday School for curators, artists and cultural workers living in the UAE. Art Dubai is held in partnership with The Abraaj Group and is sponsored

by Cartier and Emaar. Madinat Jumeirah is home to the event.

The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority is a strategic partner of Art Dubai and supports the fair’s year-round education programme. artdubai.ae

We would like to thank ArtAsiaPacific for their assistance with the Art Dubai Marker 2014 Education Guide.

Established in 1993, ArtAsiaPacific magazine is the leading English-language periodical covering contemporary art and culture from Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East.

Published six times a year, AAP includes features, profiles, essays and reviews by experts from all over the world. AAP’s website offers up-to-the minute news reports, extracts from current and past issues of the magazine, as well as supplementary and exclusive multimedia content.

Since 2005, AAP has produced an annual Almanac edition, published in January, which surveys the past year in the 67 countries and territories covered in the magazine. In addition to news, exhibition, festival and country reports, the Almanac features special sections such as Five Plus One, which spotlights five outstanding artists from the previous year and one promising artist for the next year, and Reflections, a set of essays written by prominent curators and cultural figures.

AAP also publishes exhibition catalogs and artist monographs, more details of which can be found in the shop on this website.

For more details and statistics on the art scene of the countries of Asia Pacific please visit http://artasiapacific.com/

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Educational Guide Designer: Moylin Yuan Editors: Bettina Klein, Katya Serebryanaya Š Art Dubai. All rights reserved.

No part of this educational guide may be reproduced without prior permission from Art Dubai.