The opening of the exhibition titled “Melody of the Great Steppe” dedicated to the popularization of Kazakh fine arts was held at the National Museum in Astana on October 20.

Renowned artists from around Kazakhstan participated in the event celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Academy of Arts. The artists’ work are presented as interwoven plot lines revealing a collective reflection of the past and the future and includes paintings, graphic designs, sculptures, and handicrafts. Overall, the exhibition displays 150 paintings and 30 graphic works.

QazMonitor reporters had the chance to attend the event and admire art styles and genres ranging from still life to close-up sceneries depicting the spiritual interpretation of life’s complexity.

NOTE: The exhibition takes place at the National Museum at Tauelsizdik Avenue 54 and will run until November 7. Tickets, priced at ₸‎900, can be bought online or at the museum.

Paintings

A distinguished Astana-based author who utilizes ethnic motifs in his paintings, Asgat Dinikeyev had a corner dedicated to seven of his most recent paintings.

“I work with Tatar and Kazakh ethnic motifs and try to reimagine the traditional way of living,” says the artist. His signature art style can be described as a deceptively simple illustration of complex mythological imagery, to which Dinikeyev commented: “The important thing is that I am recognizable.” For him, the way to understand a painting starts with knowing the artist behind it.

Victor Polikarpov is a well-known painter and graphic artist from Pavlodar who works with themes of spirituality and meditation. Just recently the artist launched a graphic design exhibition and traveled all across Kazakhstan to commemorate the poems of his fellow countryman Pavel Vassiliev whose works pay tribute to the beauty of Bayanaul in East Kazakhstan.

Echoing that sentiment, Polikarpov brought three of his own paintings of the same steppe that reflect a different mood.

“The thing is, I really love to just admire the earth, but, in the steppe, there’s often not much else except grass. Only grass and the sky talk to each other,” the artist explained while showing a painting with intricately colored branches in the snowy grass.

He also drew attention to another painting nearby. It depicts a boulder with a dark gray mottled surface and layers of moss and white grass, the combination of which creates an illusion of star clusters. According to the artist, that painting was the result of a single question.

“When you’re sitting near a ravine in total silence, you might ponder which is older: an ancient rock or a cosmic space?” Victor Polikarpov, an artist and a member of the Academy of Arts

As an assistant professor at Shabyt, an arts university in Astana, Gulnar Mahanbetzhanova is a commended artist who specializes in watercolor still life.

The artist is known for her bold experimentations with color that comes from her ambition to create a distinctive Kazakh genre of still life. “I’ve portrayed a harvest on a red background and intentionally introduced warm-colored fruits,” said Mahanbetzhanova, adding that the end result gives off a cozy ambiance.

She noted that her recent works went through a change of color palette because of personal loss. Mahanbetzhanova brought to the exhibition three of her recent works which are all brightly colored with a splash of red flavor.