ყაზახეთის რესპუბლიკა

Republic of Kazakhstan

Country Presentation

Curated selection of five Kazakhstani artists for Silk Road – Imprints in Motion — works on paper, printmaking, and mixed media, presented by curators Olya Vesselova and Sanzhar Serikpayev.

Curatorial vision

Silk Road – Imprints in Motion

Georgia, Tbilisi · 2026

Zurab Tsereteli Modern Art Museum (MOMA Tbilisi)
State Museum of Silk
National Museum of Georgia

“Silk Road – Imprints in Motion” is a museum-based, curatorially led international platform that brings together contemporary artists from Silk Road countries, exploring works on paper and ancient handmade-printing practices within both historical and contemporary contexts.

The Silk Road — as a network of movement between civilizations, knowledge, materials, and technologies — is approached here not as a narrative of the past, but as a living cultural memory that continues to manifest itself in contemporary artistic practices. Paper, silk, and hand-printing are presented not merely as media, but as carriers of history — surfaces upon which time, labor, and cultural experience leave their imprint.

The project focuses on material-based practices, authorial voice, conceptual depth, and technical mastery. The presented works are conceived as exhibition and collectible objects that merge traditional techniques with contemporary artistic languages, research-based approaches, and individual narratives.

The platform encompasses curated exhibitions, an international conference, a Works on Paper Fair, multimedia projects, and site-specific installations. It is grounded in the decade-long experience of the BEYOND International Hand Printing Festival and aims to transform Tbilisi’s museum spaces into centers of international dialogue, research, and collecting interest — not as a commercial event, but as an institutional and educational platform.

Georgia has historically functioned as one of the key geo-cultural nodes of the Silk Road. Within this context, the project positions Georgia as a space where ancient materials and techniques intersect with contemporary artistic practices and technologies, generating new forms of international cultural dialogue.

Project curator: Nana Kirmelashvili
Country curators: Olya Vesselova · Sanzhar Serikpayev

Artist

Aizhan Bekkulova

Aizhan Bekkulova, b. 27.09.1954 in Almaty, is a craftswoman, tapestry artist, and expert on the intangible cultural heritage of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Since the 1990s, she has devoted herself to the revival of traditional crafts and the promotion of the region’s heritage.

Since 2012, she has served as Chair of the Union of Artisans of Kazakhstan and Vice President of the Asia-Pacific Division of the World Craft Council for Central Asia. She graduated from the Faculty of Decorative and Applied Art at the Kazakh State Art Academy named after Zhurgenov in 1989–1993.

In December 2019, she was awarded the Kurmet Order and the National Tourism Award for her unprecedented contribution to the development of handicrafts and the preservation of Kazakhstan’s intangible heritage.

Selected works

Aizhan Bekkulova

Aizhan Bekkulova — Against the Current — Against the Current
paper, mixed media · 64 × 50 cm · 1999

Aizhan Bekkulova — The constellation Gemini — The constellation Gemini
paper, mixed media · 64 × 50 cm · 1999

Aizhan Bekkulova — Traces of the pink sun — Traces of the pink sun
paper, mixed media · 64 × 50 cm · 1999

Artist

Shamil Guliev

Shamil Guliev is a Kazakh artist based in Almaty known for his detailed, multi-figure paintings that explore Turkic culture, mythology, and the history of the Great Silk Road. Working in a realistic style with careful attention to light, color, architecture, clothing, and gesture, he builds entire worlds that function like a visual encyclopedia of the East.

A contemporary Kazakhstani artist working across graphics, painting, sculpture, and small-scale sculpture. Each of his works is an attempt to explore the present through the sacred meanings of the past, to understand the phenomena of modern Kazakhstan through its history, transformation, and mythologies.

His works are held in the Kasteyev State Museum of Fine Arts (Almaty), the National Museum (Astana), the Museum of Fine Arts (Semey), and private collections internationally.

Selected works

Shamil Guliev

Shamil Guliev — Cross — Cross
ink, watercolor, paper · 48 × 36 cm · 1996

Shamil Guliev — From the series Süper hayvanat bahçesi — From the series Süper hayvanat bahçesi
ink, watercolor, paper · 37 × 24.5 cm · 1994

Artist

Bagdat Sarsen

Bagdat Sarsen is a Kazakh artist, sculptor, and ceramist, member of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan and the Union of Artists of Northern Cyprus.

In his practice, Bagdat works across graphics, sculpture, and painting, combining contemporary form with Kazakh cultural codes. Works such as 12 Months, Contradiction, Mother and Child, and The Story of Korkyt draw on Kazakh myths, legends, and history.

His signature approach is the “two horizons” of perception: large figures filled with intricate Kazakh ornamentation, creating a second, inner dimension within the artwork. He has actively participated in international ice, sculpture, and ceramics symposiums in Kyrgyzstan, China, Kazakhstan, and Northern Cyprus since 2012.

Selected works

Bagdat Sarsen

Bagdat Sarsen — Three images — Three images
acrylic marker, pen, pastel · 100 × 120 cm · 2024

Artist

Gulbaram Askarova

Gulbaram Askarova, a graduate of the Aktobe State University named after K. Zhubanov, currently lives in Astana.

Living in the context of modern Kazakhstani reality, Gulbaram reinterprets the most convex social experiences in artistic images. The author's reflection on the position of women in patriarchal society can be seen in a series of works on the female warrior.

Selected works

Gulbaram Askarova

Gulbaram Askarova — Untitled — Untitled
ink, paper, watercolor, collage · 61 × 86 cm · 2026

Artist

Bakhtiyar Smagul

Bakhtiyar Smagul is an Almaty-based artist of the 2020s generation. He works at the intersection of sculpture, installation, and the “archaeology of the present.” His method is “art on bones” — concrete fragments, rebar, and pieces of demolished buildings in Almaty, collected and reinterpreted as “remains of culture.”

Smagul’s theme is the memory of a city in a time of collapse. Almaty is rapidly being rebuilt, and the old is disappearing. In his objects, he records the trauma of loss and tries to preserve the DNA of the Soviet and post-Soviet space.

Smagul represents a new wave of Kazakhstani art: instead of national ornament, he focuses on the urban environment, trauma, and the memory of materials.

Selected works

Bakhtiyar Smagul

Curators

Olya Vesselova & Sanzhar Serikpayev

Olya Vesselova

An expert in the philosophy of art and curatorial practice with over 15 years of experience. She holds a Master’s in Philosophy from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, researching the philosophy of art of José Ortega y Gasset and the concepts of form and content in the works of Wassily Kandinsky. She has curated over 80 exhibition projects internationally, including in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the UAE, and Turkey.

Sanzhar Serikpayev

A gallerist and curator with over 20 years of experience collecting and promoting contemporary Kazakhstani art. Founder of Occupy Steppe gallery. He has curated exhibitions in Germany, Turkey, and across Kazakhstan — including Shamil Guliyev’s solo show “Republic of Turan” (2023), Kuzeu: Displaced Identity in Freiburg (2023), and contemporary Kazakh art in Istanbul (2025).