Kazakhstan’s New Alamati Art Museum focuses on Central Asian art

In a highly anticipated moment in the cultural circle of Kazakhstan, the Alma Museum of Art (ALMA) opened to the public on September 12, anchoring the country’s vibrant artistic heritage.

As the country’s first private museum dedicated to modern and modern art, the Smooth New Museum will showcase the collection of its founder’s automobile and real estate tycoon Nurlan Smagulov, who holds over 700 works of art by Kazakh and Central Asian artists as well as international artists and Central Asian artists.

Located in the country’s largest city and former capital, Alma is a minimalist monument that blends modern urbanism with natural beauty. The building is made of two interlocking L-shaped structures, one of which is warm limestone and the other is aluminum, the building is filled with light colors, full of sharp angles and loft ceilings, echoing the Tian Shan Mountains behind the museum.

Led by Art Director Meruyert Kaliyeva and Chief Curator Inga Lāce, the museum’s permanent collection will be exhibited through group exhibitions, solo exhibitions, collaborations and research projects. The museum’s main goal is to provide a platform for underrepresented art creators in the region to explore cultural exchanges with global audiences and institutions, both past and present.

Kalieva told Artnews. “The opening plan for exhibitions and performances brought generations to bring together artists: those who laid the foundation of modern art in the region and bravely began to ask questions about national identity when such inquiries could lead to persecution under the Soviet regime, and those who were redefining their future.”

The museum is rooted in “local history while simultaneously exposed to global perspectives” as “a way to build a space that can be both reflective and a catalyst for change”, she said.

The opening lineup of the exhibition and activation provides in-depth research for the local art community while still providing background to those who encounter Kazakh art for the first time. Among them is the first review of Almaty-born artist Almagul Menlibayeva, whose work Smagulov was first acquired 30 years ago. The survey, called “I Know Everything,” introduces her four decades of career since the 1980s.

Her photos were taken as a medium after exploring women, ecology, identity politics and Central Asian mythology in 2010. Menlibayeva’s work draws on shamanic symbols, Tegrismic cosmology and imagery from the grassland, trying to restore local culture in modern reality and find places for Kazakh traditions and myths. Her recent series, in exhibitions, incorporated regional historic sites with women into fabulous protectors, wearing traditional costumes such as Yassawi I and II’s bodyguards (2025). These scenes are almost futuristic, with women exuding a robotic stillness that spreads tradition to incredible things.

Alma’s inaugural group program “Qonaqtar” shows the growth years and major movements of the Kazakh art world. Qonaqtar “Guest” in Kazakhstan means that Ras, who curated the exhibition in the museum’s collection, said that this sentence guided her curatorial thought.

“It started with me, yes, I’m a curator, but I’m also a guest who’s watching this series for the first time, and one of the things I resurfaced is these celebrations, gathering together, food and this idea of ​​hospitality.” Artnews. “As a new museum, not only are there many guests not only visiting this institution, but also visiting the country for the first time, and I think we should start with the festival as well.”

“Qonaqtar” delves into the themes of Central Asian hospitality, immigration and political tensions over the past century, spanning the Soviet era until the golden age of Kazakh art from the 1960s to the 1970s, and to the recent post-colonial prosperity. It also involves the nuances of finding a foothold in the art world, responding to the multiple social and political stimuli that reshape the nation.

But Ras said the goal of the exhibition is not only “hospitable in the nomadic tradition, where people travel far away, strangers provide you with food or shelter as a way to survive, or how Kazakh families today are like a big feast. If you look at the country more deeply, the country has “historical guests,” “guests,” voluntarily and voluntarily, voluntarily, closely, things encountered in the field.

When the Soviets settled in Kazakhstan in the 19th century, it was once a nomadic way of life that changed rapidly, trying to eliminate this tradition and instead supported the controlled center of economic and social production.

In the 1930s, the Kazakhs endured an artificially induced famine caused by the Soviet Union, which took away cattle and grains in an attempt to force locals away from nomadicism, resulting in more than one-third of the Kazakhs’ deaths. This idea of ​​hospitality changed dramatically, and it was reflected in the art of the time. toqbolat togyzbayev Still life with bread (1989), for example, shows a table for hosting guests, but only a few rounds of bread and cucumbers can be shared.

Ras explained that the Soviets began to move to Central Asia, and Ras explained, “It was a huge social engineering project trying to “change” society. Generations later began to question what Kazakhstan was.”

One of the earliest paintings in the exhibition is The feast of the shepherd (1965) by Aisha Galymbayeva, the first professionally trained female artist in Kazakhstan. Galymbayeva’s pastoral scenes are presented in bright, expressive colors and loose brush works, which are commentary on how the Soviets organized festivals related to local culture, such as those depicted, providing prizes for the shepherds, despite active efforts to eliminate nomadicism. She used this pulse to create many paintings, such as bride (1957) and White teapot (1990), showing the moment of traditional rural celebrations.

“The Soviet Union was tricky at the time, and they didn’t want any political nationalism, but were happy that everyone had their own national culture at the same time. So, some traditions were reshaped and you could have a little bit of folk culture, but only in a non-political way,” Ras said.

Salikhitdin aitbayev On Virgin Land. Lunch time (1960s) caused a similar chord, depicting an event in which Soviets were displaced, causing Kazakh steppe farming to Jacob-style farming, but ultimately in vain. “It’s really a window into a history of forced migration,” Russ said.

To complement the artwork of ideas, Lāce also attempts to add historical context through archival videos, such as the Utopic placing Galymbayeva’s stake friendship (1978) is tied with a film, recording the 1973 Almatia African Asian Writers Conference. “Writers from both continents are here, and at this moment, there is a certain non-ruling idea.” To sum up, the artwork and the background make the exhibition so worthwhile.

The new museum also houses several specially commissioned outdoor sculpture works by Yinka Shonibare, Alicja Kwade and Jaume Plensa, and invites people to the museum. The second floor features a series of artist rooms, currently displaying large-scale works by Anselm Kiefer, an immersive room at Yayoi Kusama, a multi-channel audiovisual installation by Bill Viola, and a maze-like Cor-Ten steel engraving by Richard Serra.

In addition to what you see in the gallery, Alma will soon start its powerful international programming suite. Next month, it will host a two-day performance and negotiation program and organize it at the Modern Tate Research Center. Likewise, Alma will serve as a venue for further research on Kazakh artists. The Getty Foundation and New York University will provide grants to scholars studying art history in Central Asia, while the Paris-based nonprofit awareness will work with Alma to study Kazakh female artists.

“We start with this idea, even if people are not art connoisseurs or are not familiar with the idea of ​​contemporary art, they will still speak to them immediately,” Lass said. “It is a wonderful moment for Central Asia to bring this space into the art world because it’s all so quickly and we hope Alma also offers something new that gives people some focus and a better creative economy.”