On June 17, the exhibition 'Medium — Book' opened in Almaty, featuring drawings and linocuts by famous Kazakh artists. Many of them once adorned book illustrations. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The exhibition opened at Aspan Gallery in the famous Villa Boutiques & Restaurants on the upper side of Al-Farabi Avenue. It covers the period of Kazakh graphics from 1965 to 1991. Young curator Alen Li believes this was a period of special flourishing for Kazakh book publishing, as well as art forms related to graphics and books.
'Everything here is collected from ten private collections. These are books and prints, including my books, and items provided by the daughter of Isatai Isabayev and other descendants of authors and collectors. They trusted us with these unique artifacts, and you can interact with them, take them, read them. They seemed to be waiting to be studied again,' said Alen Li.
Many drawings, prints, and linocuts are familiar to Kazakhs from childhood. During that period, special attention was paid to book design, and talented artists were involved. These are works by Makum Kisamedinov, Boris Pak, Salikhitdin Aitbayev, Kadyrbek Kametov, and Yevgeny Sidorkin, whose sgraffito adorns many buildings in Almaty, including the foyer of the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture.
Some works are presented in an exhibition format for the first time: prints by Tabyldy Mukatov, sketches by Isatai Isabayev, illustrations by Alimkhan Smagulov. They can be viewed at Aspan Gallery, whose visual design, or scenography, was handled by decorator Cornelia Favorskaya. She chose terracotta tones for the walls to create a cozy feel, and Soviet-era armchairs that could be seen in Almaty homes in the 1960s and 1970s were also purchased.
'We immediately decided that the walls should be warm-colored. I found the chairs and armchairs at relatively ridiculous prices. Alen developed the concept for quite a long time, and we spent about a month setting up the space,' Cornelia told Kursiv LifeStyle.
Among those present at the opening was popular blogger and actor Bekzat Eleusizov (@bekaeasy), who portrays characters familiar to everyone from Kazakh life. He refuted the myth that bloggers are only interested in hype, trash content, and advertising. Bekzat said he loves and is interested in art, and although this is his first time at Aspan Gallery, it is definitely not his last.
'This exhibition should be seen by as many people as possible. The topic is very interesting, and a large collection is presented here. At such events, you broaden your horizons and learn more about history and art. This should be talked about to Kazakhs as often and as much as possible.'
To delve deeper into the history of Kazakh graphics, the organizers have created a public program with guided tours. They will be conducted by curator Alen Li on June 20 at 3:30 PM and June 27 at 3:30 PM. On July 5 at 4:00 PM, there will be a talk about graphics and printing with contemporary artist and illustrator Assol Sas at Aspan Gallery. The exhibition itself is open all summer until August 30.
Aspan Gallery is located at 140A Al-Farabi Avenue. Gallery hours: Tuesday — Saturday from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Sunday from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM.