Artists
Saodat Ismailova
Saodat Ismailova is a filmmaker and artist whose upbringing in post-Soviet Uzbekistan and engagement with the region continue to drive her practice. Ismailova’s video works encompass themes of memory, spirituality, immortality, and extinction.
Her work has been featured at Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023); Le Fresnoy in collaboration with Centre Pompidou, Lille (2023); Eye Museum, Amsterdam (2023); 59th and 55th Venice Biennale (2022, 2013); documenta fifteen, Kassel, (2022); Hong Kong and Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2019); Lunds konsthall (2018); the 2nd Yinchuan Biennale, MOCA (2018) and many others.
Her works are in the collections of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Centre Pompidou, Paris and Almaty Museum of Arts.
The2vvo (Lena Pozdnyakova&Eldar Tagi)
Eldar Tagi, specializing in sound, and Lena Pozdnyakova, focusing on visual art, merge their interest in rethinking the complexity of personal roots and traditions amidst the ongoing changes in our environment due to human activity. Their audio-visual work, music, and spatial installations delve into the intricate relationship between objects, spaces, and sound, encompassing recordings, acoustic sculptures, and live performances.
They have exhibited their work at numerous international festivals, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery (LAMAG); CHAT Hong Kong; the CICA Art Institute in Korea; Ars Electronica, Linz; and the Korkut Biennial of Sound Art and New Music, Almaty.
In 2024, artists have shown their sound installation as part of the Pavillion of Kazakhstan at the 60th Venice Art Biennale.
Alexander Ugay
Alexander Ugay is a Kazakh-Korean contemporary artist, whose practice is mostly lens-based. He comes from a Korean family deported to Aralsk during the 1930s. Through his work Ugay explores questions concerning memory and nostalgia.
Ugay has shown his work at the Busan Biennial of Contemporary Art (2022), Art Sonje Center in Seoul (2020); Sapar Contemporary in New York (2019); Lunds Konsthall in Sweden (2018); Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2016); Strasbourg Museum of Contemporary Art (2014); Museum of Contemporary Art (2011); Venice Architecture Biennale (2010); Centre Pompidou in Paris (2010); in the New Museum, New York (2009); Central Asian Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007); as well as various other biennials and international projects around the world.
His work is part of public collections, including Albertina, Vienna; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Galeria Labirynt, Lublin, Poland; National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana ; and Lunds Konsthall, Lund, Sweden.
Lilia Bakanova
Lilia Bakanova is an interdisciplinary artist with Russian/Kazakh/Uzbek roots, residing in the UK since 2023. Her work explores decay as a form of transformation, employing tactile and olfactory elements to engage people across a spectrum of sensory experiences and limitations.
Her work was shown at the State Polytechnic Museum, Moscow (2021); Museum of Non-conformist Art, St. Petersburg (2023, 2024); Thursday Foundation, St. Petersburg (2021); International Sound Art Festival Inversia, Murmansk (2022).
Winner of the international open call by Apexart that provides funding for the proposed exhibition.
