Almaty Museum of Arts Opens as Central Asia Embraces Contemporary Art

The Almaty Museum of Arts opened its doors on Friday, marking Kazakhstan’s first modern and contemporary art museum, as well as Central Asia’s first private museum of its kind.

Completed after a three-year construction project, the building was designed by British architects Chapman Taylor, with angular features reflecting the surrounding Tian Shan mountains and the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city and cultural and financial centre. 

The museum launches with Qonaqtar, meaning ‘guests’, a group exhibition showing a selection of the 700-strong permanent collection of Kazakh and Central Asian contemporary art. The collection belongs to the museum’s founder, entrepreneur Nurlan Smagulov, who hopes that the Almaty Museum of Arts will give the country a foothold in the global contemporary art scene.

‘The positive responses from our first visitors affirm the importance of creating a space that both honours the cultural heritage of our region and fosters dialogue about its future,’ said Smagulov. 

A solo retrospective show of artist Almagul Menlibayeva entitled I Understand Everything is also on display, exploring myth, memory and geography in Eurasia, from the Silk Road and the steppe to the Soviet Union and nuclear testing sites. 

‘This inaugural programme brings together artists across generations,’ said Artistic Director Meruyert Kaliyeva, ‘those who laid the foundations of modern art in the region and courageously began asking questions about national identity at a time when such inquiries could lead to persecution under the Soviet regime, and those who are redefining its future today.’

International visitors will also encounter familiar names, with outdoor commissions by Yinka Shonibare, Jaume Plensa and Alicja Kwade, as well as immersive Artist Rooms featuring work by Richard Serra, Anselm Kiefer, Yayoi Kusama and Bill Viola. 

Future programming includes performances co-organised with Tate Modern and a travelling research seminar in collaboration with New York University. 

The institution’s inauguration comes during an eventful autumn for the region’s burgeoning art scene, as neighbour Uzbekistan launched the first Bukhara Biennial and the Contemporary Art Centre in Tashkent earlier this month. —[O]

Main image: Jaume Plensa, NADES (2023). Polyester resin, fiberglass, stainless steel. Commissioned by the Almaty Museum of Arts. Courtesy Almaty Museum of Arts. Photo: Alexey Naroditsky.