Why is it important for artists to participate in the Venice Biennale? — panel discussion at Esentai Gallery

From June 23 to June 25, Art Days were held in Almaty, organized jointly with Esentai Gallery and Esentai Mall. For three days, the entire space of the mall immersed visitors in an interesting cultural journey, the correspondent of Art of Her reports.

The opening of the Art Days project began with a group exhibition "SCULPO" and a performance performance of the plastic theater Jolda.

"The main concept was in the dialogue of different authors of sculptures, which are connected with each other, but each is looking for its own form. As well as painting, which stands in some kind of opposition in the sculpture exposition, and this exhibition very harmoniously gathers them into a common, unified ensemble," said the curator of the exhibition Togzhan Sakbayeva.

On June 25, a panel discussion "The Art of Central Asia at the Venice Biennale" organized by the Center for Contemporary Art "Tselinny" took place. 

The spouses Elena and Viktor Vorobyov, the first Kazakh artists invited to participate in the main exhibition of the 57th Biennale, told about the subtleties of the work, the importance for the development of the art of Kazakhstan and their experience of participating in the Venice Biennale. Also among the speakers were art critic Valeria Ibraeva, curator of the pavilion of the 59th Biennale and founder of the Aspan Gallery - Meruert Kalieva, one of the founders of the International Association for the Development of Art IADA in Paris and the TSE Art Destination gallery Dina Baytasova.

Recall that at the 59th Venice Biennale, Kazakhstan opened its pavilion for the first time, where the exhibition was presented by the transdisciplinary team "ORTA" (Alexandra Morozova, Rustem Begenov, Daria Dzhumelya, Alexander Bakanov and Sabina Kuangalieva). Financial and organizational support this year was provided by private foundations, the cultural mission was also supported by the GMI RK named after A. Kasteev and the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

"This year, the preparation for participation was compressed in terms of deadlines, because we learned about it only in the fall of 2021. Our exposition was divided into 2 stages, as there were problems with logistics in the world and the real installation did not have time to come to the deadline. Then the artists decided to assemble a temporary collection of materials that can be taken in Venice. So all the cardboard and foil were bought up," commented the curator of the pavilion Meruert Kalieva. 

The importance of participation for artists in the Venice Biennale is not only in the opportunity to become part of the world of art, but also in the opportunity to draw the attention of the public and the state to the rich and impressive culture of our country, the originality of which is able to impress even the most sophisticated viewer. The organizers of the Kazakhstan pavilion hope that the next preparation of Kazakhstan for the Venice Biennale will take place and will take place on a larger scale.

The final day of Art Days ended with a public talk with Saken Narynov, the author of the sculpture on Esentai Square "Six Moods of the Cube", Italian artist Alessandro Sharaffa and architect Ricardo Andrea Marini also shared details of their projects. In addition, the evening was decorated with the performance of the young virtuoso pianist Ratovich. 

We remind you that you can visit the group exhibition "SCULPO" until July 1.

Esentai Mall, 77/8 Al-Farabi Ave., Esentai Gallery.

Daily, 10:00-22:00. Admission is free.

The author of the material: Angelina Sumarokova.