Article Summary
The Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture opened this September in Kazakhstan as an intentional counterpoint to hierarchical Western arts institutions, centering decolonization in practice. Its inaugural programming included Barsakelmes, a 90-minute multidisciplinary performance that summoned the Aral Sea through music, dance, and visual installation: a monumental multi-colored yurt by Berlin-based Kazakh artist Gulnur Mukazhanova with visuals by Darya Temirkhan, throat singing, synthesizer, and dancers. Guided by a creative advisory board including cultural sociologist Diana T. Kudaibergen, the project reinterpreted Central Plains myths to address Soviet-era ecological and cultural trauma. The audience mixed local and international patrons, professionals, and journalists, and the center foregrounds regional memory and post‑Soviet artistic renewal.
Why It Matters
It exemplifies the Tselinny Center's mission to practice decolonization through collective, regionally rooted contemporary art.
Institution Context
The Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture opened in Kazakhstan this September as a deliberate counterpoint to hierarchical Western arts institutions, centering decolonization in practice. Its inaugural programming featured Barsakelmes, a 90‑minute multidisciplinary performance summoning the Aral Sea—Gulnur Mukazhanova’s monumental multicolored yurt with visuals by Darya Temirkhan, throat singing, synthesizer, and dance—guided by an advisory board including Diana T. Kudaibergen.
Publication Context
ARTnews.com has tracked the development of visual, contemporary, ancient, and international art since 1902, covering critical topics such as restitution of the Benin Bronzes and decolonization initiatives like Kazakhstan’s Tselinny Arts Center.
Event Details
Start: Not specified
End: Not specified
Time: opened this September; 90-minute running time
Location: Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, Kazakhstan