ALMAGUL MENLIBAYEVA

Born in KazakhstanLives and works in Germany and Kazakhstan,

collaborates with the sound artist and composer OMFO (German Popov, Amsterdam)

Education1987 –1992 Academy of Art and Theatre, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Awards and Grants2013

Main Award, KINO DER KUNST in the International Film Competition, Munich, Germany;

2011 KfW Audience Award, Videonale 13, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany;Open Society Institute Budapest, Art and Culture Network Program Grant;

2010 Prize de la Nuit Award for Exodus at the 8th International Festival Signes de Nuit, Paris;

2009 Gold Tambourine Prize: Video Art, 1st Prize, Golden Drum International Video Festival, Hanti-Mansiisk,

Russia;

2003 Sacred Places of Kazakhstan, 3rd Prize, Center of Contemporary Art, Soros Foundation, Kazakhstan;

2002 First Video Festival, 2nd Prize, Center of Contemporary Art, Soros Foundation, Kazakhstan;

TARLAN, Клуб меценатов Казахстана, an independent prize of Kazakhstan;

1995 Asia Art, Grand Prix, Second Biennial of Central Asia, Tashkent, Uzbekistan;

DARIN, the state Grand Prix for artists, Kazakhstan;

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2015Solo show Fire Talks to me curated by Suad Garaeva, Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku Azerbajan (upco-

ming December 2015);

2014 Transoxiana Dreams, Videozone, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, Germany;

2013 Empire of the Memory, Ethnographic Museum, Warsaw, Polland;

An Odd tor the Wastelands and Gulags, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Austria;

2012 Daughters of Turan, Casal Solleric, La Palma De Mallorca, Spain;

2011 Exodus, Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany;

Les rêves perdus d’Aral, Galerie Albert Benamou, Paris, France;

Transoxiana Dreams, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, New York, NY;

My Silk Road to you, Tengri-Umai Gallery, Almaty, Kazakhstan;

2010 Lonely at the Top, Europe at large #6 (Refrains from the Wasteland), Museum van

Hedendaagse Kunst (M HKA), Antwerp, Belgium [http://ensembles.mhka.be/ensembles/europe-at-large];

Daughters of Turan, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, New York, NY;

2009 Exodus,Tengri-Umai Gallery, Almaty, Kazakhstan;

Kurban, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, New York, NY;

2008

Kissing Totems, Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, New York, NY;

2007 On the Road, Galerie Davide Gallo, Berlin, Germany;

Selected Group Exhibitions

2015

Union of the Fire and Water, curated by Suad Garaeva commissioned by Yarat Founadtion, 56 th Venice Biennale, Italy ( May 9- November 22);

Fairy Tales, Utopian Days, Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei, Taiwan, (April 25 -June 14);

LINE, curated by Basak Senova, Art Rooms, Cyprus, Turkeyhttp://basaksenova.com/ex_35.html

2014

Group show of Contemporary Art Kazakhstan, curated by Dimitry Konstantinidis, Daria Evdokimova, Estelle Pietzyk, Museum of Contemporary Art Strasbourg, France;

Prologue Exhibition of Honolulu Biennial, curated by Koan Jeff Baysa and IsabellaEllaheh Hughes, Hawaii, USA;

Color of Pomergranates, 90th year anniversary of the birth of S.Paradjanov, curated by Darya Khan, State gallery Solyanka, Moscow, Russia;

Threads, curated by Mirijam Westen, Museum of Contemporay Art Arnhem, Netherlands;

Changing Worlds: Contemporary Art from Central Asia, Singapore Art Stage 2014, curated by Charles Merewether, Singapore;

2013 Lost to the Future: Contemporary Art from Central Asia, curated by Charles Merewether, Lassale College of Arts, Singapore, Singapore;

Film Program Media Art Lab, 5th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Manege, Russia;

A Sense of Place, Wellin Museum, Hamilton, New York;

Screening of “Transoxiana Dreams” at MoMA PS1 as part of EXPO 1: New York;

Projects Art and Science focusing on the concept of IDENTITY lecture and exhibition with participation Vito Acconci, Ori Gersht, Almagul Menlibayeva, scientists Vittorio Gallese (neuroscientist specialist in mirror neurons and social brain)

Gustavo Pietropolli Charmet (psychiatrist specialist in adolescence) and Luc Montagnier (Nobel Prize Winner for the HIV Virus and on the run for asecond Nobel Prize for teletransportation of DNA), Madre Museum of Contemporary Art, Napoli,Italy;

KINO DER KUNST, International film festival, Munich, Germany;

Female Power. Matriarchy, Spirituality & Utopia, Museum of Modern Kunst, Arnhem, Holland (March 2 - May 19, 2013);

Talk and screening with conversation with Susanne M. Winterling at the Conference Winter-Central Asian Pavilion 55th Venice Biennale, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo,Norway;

The Art Gallery of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada;

2012

The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT7) Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) & Queensland Art Gallery (QAG);

One Sixth of the Earth, Ecologies of Image, ZKM- Zentrum fuer Kunst und Medien Technologie, Karlsruhe, Germany;

ContemporaryArt from Kazakhstan, project of Marat Guelman,curator Nailya Allachverdieva, gallery Cultural Allianz, Center of Contemporary Art in Vinzavod, Moscow, Russia;

III International Biennale of Contemporary Art „Moya Yurga“, Khanty Mansiysk Biennale,Russia;

Contemporary Video Art, Videonale-Donetsk, Donetsk, Ukraine;

Nomadic Art Camp, Center of ContemporaryArt Bishkek, Bishkek State Museum, Kyrgyzstan;

18th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;

Lightness & Gravity: Contemporary Works from the Collection, Queensland Art Gallery FoundationGrant Collection: Queensland ArtGallery, Brisbane, Australia;

2011 The 6thTashkent Biennial, Tashkent, Uzbekistan;

Off the Beaten Path: Women, Art and Violence, New Orleans Center for Creative Arts; Newcomb Gallery, Tulane University; and Prospect.2 Biennial, New Orleans, USA;

4th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia; Between Heaven and Earth: Contemporary Art from the Centre of Asia, Calvert22, London, UK;

Expanded Cinema, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russia;

Off the Beaten Path: Women, Art and Violence, the Global Health Odyssey Museum, Atlanta, GA;

Video Re: View Festival as part of Videonale 13, BWA Contemporary Art Gallery, Katowice, Poland;

COLLECTION XXVII: East from 4° 24’, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst (MHKA), Antwerp, Belgium;

Videonale 13, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany;Plot for a Biennial, Sharjah Biennial 10, Sharjah, UAE;

Off the Beaten Path: Women, Art and Violence, the Chicago Cultural Center, IL, USA;

2010

21st Century: Art in the First Decade, Queensland Art Gallery,Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, AustraliaMother, Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten, Graz, Austria;

Tarjama/Translation, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY;Off the Beaten Path: Women, Art and Violence, El Cubo-Tijuana Cultural Center,Tijuana, Mexico; the Museo

Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico;

2009 Off the Beaten Path: Women, Art and Violence, the Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway;

University of California, San Diego, CA;

Re-imagining, Calvert 22, London, UK;

Unconditional Love, 53rd Venice Biennale, Arsenale Novissimo 89, Venice, Italy;East from Nowhere, Arsenale II, Turin, Italy;

Tarjarma/Translation, Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY,USA;

2008 World on Video – International Video Art, Centro di Cultura Contemporanea Strozzina,

Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy;

Love Love Love, Martos Gallery, New York, NY;

The Peekskill Project, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill, NY;

The Distance to the Sun, Galerie Davide Gallo, Berlin, Germany; Asia, College of New Jersey Art Gallery, Ewing, NJ;

Time Code, Mambo Museum of Contemporary Art, Bologna, Italy; I Dream of the Stans, curated by Leeza Ahmadi, Winkleman Gallery, New York, NY;

2007 Live Cinema/The Return of the Image: Video from Central Asia, curated by Viktor Misiano, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA;

Destination Asia, Galerie 88, curated Valeria Ibraeva, Mumbai, India;

Central Asian Project, in collaboration with Asia Art + Cornerhouse, curated by Yuliya Sorokina, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Tashkent, Uzbekistan;

Peristan, performance and screening for the opening of the 52nd Venice Biennale, Central Asian Pavillion, curated by Uyliya Sorokina, Venice, Italy;

Time of the Storytellers, curated by Viktor Misiano, Museum of Contemporary Art - Kiasma, curated by Viktor Misiano, Helsinki, Finland;

Thermocline of Art - New Asian Waves, curated by Wonil Rhee, ZKM Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, Germany;

The Paradox of Polarity: Contemporary Art from Central Asia, curated by Leeza Ahmady, Bose Pacia Gallery, New York, NY; Central Asian Pro-ject, Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK;

2006 CATODICA, CURATED BY MARIA CAMPITELLI, TRIESTE, ITALY;

Actual Archives: Central Asian Contemporary Art, Rosamira Festival, curated by Viktor Misiano, organised by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Moscow, Russia;

16th Sydney Biennale, performance Caravan Seray, Zones of Contact, curated by Dr. Charles Merewether, at Pier 2/3 at Walsh Bay, Sydney, Australia;

International Biennial of Photography-Brescia, curated by Sarenco, Brescia, Italy;

Art and Conflict in Central Asia, curated by Valeria Ibraeva, Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI;

Polyzentral, art festival of Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany; Art from Central Asia, curated by Viktor Miziano, Center of Contemporary Art, Zamok Ujazdowskie, Warsaw, Poland;

The Syndrome of Tamerlan: Art and Conflicts in Central Asia, Haggerty Museum, curated by Valeria Ibraeva, Enrico Mascelloni and Sarenco, Milwaukee, WI;

2005

On the Road, 51st Venice Biennale, Central Asian Pavilion, Venice, Italy;

26th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Lublyana, Slovenia; Vom roten Stern zur blauen Kuppel, Islamic World Art and Architecture from Central Asia, Ifa Gallery, Stuttgart, Germany;

The Syndrome of Tamerlan: Art and Conflict in Central Asia, Palazzo dei Sette, curated by Valeria Ibraeva, Enrico Mascelloni and Sarenco, Orvieto, Italy;

2004 Sacred Places of Kazakhstan, video festival organized by The Center for Contemporary Art, Almaty, Kazakhstan; M and Others, 1st Bishkek

International Exhibition of Contemporary Art-Bishkek, State Museum, Kyrgyzstan; Art-Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk, Russia; International Visions, The Gallery, Washington, D.C. USA;

Vom roten Stern zur blauen Kuppel, Islamic World Art and Architecture from Central Asia,Ifa Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Pueblos y Sombras, Canaja Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico;

Natural Women, Visible Voice, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;

2003

Art-Novosibirsk, Novosibirik, Russia and Almaty Art, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Caravan Café, Rocca di Umbertide - Centro per l’Arte Contempo-ranea, Perugia, Italy;

2002 Catmania,Illuzeum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; State Museum of Modern Art, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Nomad Land, Art and Culture from Cen-tral Asia, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany; First Festival of Video Art, Soros Foundation, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Re-orientation: Art

on Central Asia, ACC Gallery, Weimar, Germany; Fourth Biennial of Graphics, Novosibirsk, Russia;

2001 Inner Asia, traveling exhibition of Graphics of Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Siberia, Tashkent,Uzbekistan; Bishkek,

Kyrgyzstan; Novosibirsk, Russia (2001 – 2003); The Days of the Culture of Kazakhstan in Moscow, Moscow Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia;

Originaire du Kazakhstan, cette jeune femme vit et tra-vaille entre Berlin et Almati. Son esthétique où se mêlent photographies et vidéos se réclame d’une forme nomade post-soviet, celle du Kazakhstan contemporain, après sa formation initiale à l’école du futurisme de l’avant-garde so-viétique. Elle explore dans ce qu’elle appelle «son atavisme archaïque», dans un anthropomorphisme quasi mystique, l’inconscient collectif de populations des steppes d’Asie Centrale entre la mer caspienne Baïkonour et l’Altaï.

Après les 80 années marquées par la domination soviétique et les ravages du génocide culturel, elle devient la voix an-tique réanimée après un long oubli, le chant éternel des tri-bus ressuscitant les dieux célestes et les mythes de la Mon-golie.Dans cette récente série de photographies, Almagul révèle un terrible constat qui dénonce les conséquences morales et environnementales de l’assèchement de la mer d’Aral. Ses images bouleversantes et à portée quasi mytho-logique en constituent un accablant témoignage. En effet, la mer d Aral, lac d’eau salée entre le Kazakhstan et l’Ouzbékistan qui fut jadis le 4ème lac du monde, a été méthodiquement asséchée provoquant une des plus im-portantes catastrophes environnementales du XXème siècle. Les détournements d’eau des rivières ont alimenté l’intensive culture du coton en Ouzbékistan et les rizières en plein désert du Kazakhstan. Ces ponctions progressives ont d’abord provoqué la salinisation, l’évaporation puis l’as-sèchement progressif du lac, entrainant la disparition des espèces et la pollution progressive des sols avec les engrais, les pesticides et les insecticides. Cet empoisonnement a fait exploser les taux de cancers, d’anémies et de tuberculoses dans la région, sans compter le taux effroyable de morta-lité infantile auquel s’ajoutent les expérimentations et le stoquage d’armes biologiques effectués par les russes, dont on ignore encore les conséquences et les ravages futurs. Al-magul utilise les décors désolés de ces rivages désertiques et stériles pour ranimer dieux et déesses d’un passé perdu, derniers espoirs d’un peuple et d’une nature bafoués et pro-fanés.

Dans des images d’une profonde simplicité, elle incarne les ruines désolées d’un empire des steppes déchu, où l’herbe ne repousse plus et rappelle l’abandon de ses populations nomades sacrifiées à l’oppression du communisme, au dé-racinement de ses valeurs, aux guerres civiles, à l’avidité des hommes et aux catastrophes naturelles.Pour raviver ces terres d’exil, elle s’incarne sous la forme de faunesses mutantes venues de nulle part, créatures hybrides cen-tauresses à quatre jambes, filles des louves ou des renardes rousses, bêtes cornues berçant des agneaux. Des sirènes sèches gardent en vain des épaves échouées sur des rivages empoisonnés, dérisoires Titanic, rongés par la rouille et le sel, privés désormais d’avenir, de pêche et de salut, immo-bilisés sous un soleil brulant. Une armée de vierges soldates fictive et immobile attend un ennemi invisible et volatile, qui pourrait se nommer gaz ou radiation, et veille des jeunes morts comme endormis sans linceul, militaires ou pécheurs terrassés. Dans cet univers sans vie, une ironie

cependant pointe et une dérision s’affiche, avec des mises en scènes qui évoquent celles des pages de catalogues de tourisme ou l’imagerie kitch érotico-chic des salons pour vendeurs d’armes.

Mais surtout Almagul renoue, de manière poétique et sen-suelle, avec le chamanisme qui a survécu au communisme et à l’islam. Elle en appelle au dieu suprême de l’Asie Cen-trale et du panthéon turc, Tengri qui contrôle la sphère cé-leste, toutes les créations et les renaissances. Elle l’incarne sous les traits d’un innocent jeune homme contemporain qui porte un agneau dans une steppe sans frontières et à l’horizon clair. Pour lui donner voix, elle devient une chamane, de ces passeuses dont l’âme quitte le corps en état d’extase, servent les esprits, protègent du malheur les membres de leur tribu, retrouvent les disparus, devinent les causes des maladies et les guérissent, lisent l’avenir dans les osselets de mouton, lèchent jusqu’au sang des objets de métal pour chasser les mauvais esprits.

Son statut d’artiste l’autorise implicitement à endosser ce rôle de guérisseuse et à prendre les formes nécessaires à ce renouveau. Elle devient le miroir régénérant du monde de ces animaux sacrifiés, l’architecte de temples à recons-truire, ouverts aux vents, entre les mondes musulmans, les grandes réalisations anciennes, les yourtes traditionnelles et les rubans de couleurs qui rappellent dans leurs volutes les anciennes routes de la soie. Elle recrée la cohésion de ces peuples nomades et montre le chemin tissé d’un futur possible. Elle a passé un contrat plastique et poétique avec l’esprit de la Taïga, des rivières auxquelles elle entend rendre les flots, et du grand ciel bleu afin d’apaiser la colère de la nature, après que l’homme l’ait odieusement profanée. Elle est le lien entre le monde du visible et de l’invisible, du présent, du passé et du futur qui sont en pleine communi-cation.

Véronique Maxé

ARTIST STATEMENT

My educational background is in the Soviet Russian avant-garde school of Futurism,which I combine with a nomadic aesthetic of post-Soviet, contemporary Kazakhstan –

something that I have been exploring in recent years through my photographic andvideo work.

I use specific ways of expression in modern and contemporary art as a vehicle toinvestigate my personal archaic atavism as a certain mystical anthropomorphism.

In other words, I explore the nature of a specific Egregore, a shared cultural psychicexperience, which manifests itself as a specific thought-form among the people(s) ofthe ancient, arid and dusty Steppes between the Caspian Sea, Baikonur and Altai intoday’s Kazakhstan. In the Russian language, Archaic Atavism is personalized as a

being, which points to and creates a different meaning. We are not just speaking aboutan idea or archaic element in the collective subconscious of a people, but about the

embodiment of our archaic atavism which becomes an active entity, just like a creatureitself. Our archaic atavism is not just internalized, but also externalized. It is as if hehas been awakened by the post-Soviet experience of the indigenous Kazakh people,

who are becoming their own after 80 years of Soviet domination and cultural genocide.Suddenly he (Archaic Atavism) became interested in enculturation and in behavioral

modernity. He also began to have entertaining dialogues with the transnationalcirculation of ideas in contemporary art. For this dialogue, I have chosen the mediumof video and photography and like to work with the notion of memory and reality. My

archaic atavism is interested in my video explorations in the Steppes and in post-Soviet Asia. By editing raw data and combining documentary and staged footage, I

become his voice, enabling a cultural exodus from long oblivion. My work raisesmetaphysical questions such as Who am I? and Where shall I go?; this (psychic)

experience and perspective marks my artistic language.