Art of Her

The Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan hosts an exhibition "Behind the Door" dedicated to domestic violence, Art of Her reports.

The group exhibition "Behind the Door" tells the real stories of victims of domestic violence through contemporary art: paintings, installations and digital art. The artists urge the audience not to show indifference to the topic of domestic violence.

The heroines of the exhibition were five girls who became victims of domestic violence. Artists Bakhyt Bubikanova, Aruzhan Zhumabek, Zoya Falkova, Moldir Sagyndykova and Daria Temirkhan turned the girls' stories into paintings, collages and installations, and the QARA Studios team created video cards based on their stories.

"The five stories of the project "Behind the Door" are only a small part of the volume of violence that occurs in Kazakhstan. In place of the heroines could be any of those women who, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, have written more than 68,000 reports of domestic violence since the beginning of 2022. At the same time, 63% of victims refuse to write statements," the organizers of the exhibition said.

In addition, the works of the artists were digitized and presented on the Binance NFT marketplace in the form of an exclusive NFT collection "Behind The Door". They can be purchased and thus support the project – all the money received from the sale of works will be transferred to help victims of domestic violence.

"This is a complex project, this is a complex topic. It's uncomfortable and painful. But these conversations are important. Art is such a sensual moment that appeals to our emotions. Through these emotions, we would like to raise this difficult topic. The exhibition itself is aimed at ensuring that zero tolerance to any kind of violence is formed in Kazakhstan," said Olga Veselova, curator of the exhibition.

The immersive theatrical performance "I am five thousand years old" made a great impression during the opening of the exhibition. A collective choir of 21 girls of different ages took part in it – they joined together specifically for the event.

"We tell the story of women who are five thousand years old, and there is nothing stronger than them – us. We are able to dictate our history and guide our destiny along the path that we choose ourselves. A lot of messages were encoded in the production, which, I hope, the audience felt and heard," shared Tatiana Kim, the director of the production.

The exhibition "Behind the Door" will last until October 9, 2022.

Address: Almaty, mk-n Samal-1, 44 (Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

Opening hours: Monday-Sunday from 09:00 to 18:00.