Almaty artist Shakhiza Kuanyshbekova has complained about the fate of paintings that participants submitted to the republican competition Azharly Almaty. According to her, the authors' works were not returned to them. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Kursiv LifeStyle explains what questions the artists raised with the organizers.
Competition results
On September 16, Almaty hosted the award ceremony for the winners and the opening of the competition's final exhibition. In total, the organizers received 168 works, 109 of which advanced to the second stage. The winners shared a prize fund of 10.5 million tenge, and five more artists received incentive prizes.
The fate of the painting Neon Sunset
Kuanyshbekova took part in the competition with her painting Neon Sunset. She said she spent several weeks of work, materials and a lot of time on it. After the final selection, the artist did not get the painting back.
"What will happen to the dozens of works by artists who did not win prizes?" Kuanyshbekova asks in a video address.
According to the artist, the organizers cite a clause in the contract under which competition works are not returned. At the same time, she says, many artists were initially told that this condition applied only to the winning works. Now the authors want to understand what will happen to the paintings that did not receive prizes.
Kuanyshbekova believes that artists should be able to collect their works after the exhibition ends.
"A painting is the physical and intellectual property of the author. If no prize has been paid for the work and it has not become a winner, its uncompensated seizure effectively devalues the labor of a professional artist," she said.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle wrote that the ARYQ Fest contemporary art festival will be held in Almaty from September 18 to October 3, during which it will be possible to look into artists' studios.