Traditional painting for Kyrgyzstan was opened relatively recently, at the same time with the development of fine art in Kazakhstan. At the first stages of its formation (1917-1934), Kyrgyz art, as a result of the perception of the traditions of Russian realistic art, had an imitative character, but already in the 2nd half of the 30s it began to acquire distinctive features.
Vladimir Obraztsov, Semyon Chuikov, Gapar Aitiev, Jumabai Umetov, Fedor Stukoshin, etc. — all these are well-known names for the Kyrgyz art community.
The editorial office of Art of Her has prepared a GUIDE to the most interesting museums and galleries of Bishkek, which are mandatory to visit.
Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts named after Gapar Aitiev
The museum is the main art treasury of Kyrgyzstan. The art gallery, later renamed the Kyrgyz State Museum of Fine Arts, was opened on January 1, 1935. The basis of the museum collection were 72 works by Russian artists, received from the State Tretyakov Gallery and the People's Commissariat of the RSFSR, personally selected by the founder of the museum, the founder of Kyrgyz painting S. A. Chuikov. Since the first Republican exhibition in 1934, the museum's funds have been systematically replenished with works by artists of Kyrgyzstan.
To date, the museum collection has about 18 thousand items. The structural division of the collection is carried out by types of fine art – funds of painting (about 4 thousand exhibits), graphics (about 9600), sculpture (about 1 thousand), decorative and applied art (more than 3 thousand).
Address: Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Yusup Abdrakhmanov Street 196.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday from 11:00 to 17:30.
Entrance is paid: 40 soms (240 tenge).
Museum-workshop of Suimonkul Chokmorov
Suimonkul Chokmorov is a famous Kyrgyz artist, actor and stuntman. He starred both in historical and adventure films ("The Seventh Bullet", "Dersu Uzala", "Scarlet Poppies of Issyk-Kul"), and in dramas ("Red Apple"), in many film adaptations of the works of Chingiz Aitmatov.
As a painter, he painted landscapes, still lifes, portraits (about 400 works). His main paintings are kept in the Kyrgyz State Museum of Fine Arts.
Visitors will be able to get acquainted with the diverse works of Suimonkul Chokmorov.
Address: Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Toktogul street, 170.
Opening hours: Monday-Friday from 09:00 to 17:00.
Museum of the Great Void
The Museum of the Great Void is a unique place not only for the capital of the country, but also for the whole of Central Asia, where people think outside the box. Located in the very south of the city, the village of Ortho-Sai. The museum is private, it is in fact the house and workshop of the artist Alexey Skreplev. Instead of buying a ticket, you can bring goodies for tea and cat food.
This is an unusual place, once you get here, you will want to come back again. Alexey's house seems to be timeless — moving from room to room, you seem to be traveling in space. Here, even time feels different, you can come in the morning: wander around the house, study artifacts, find new things in the old and ancient in the modern, and looking back with surprise to find that evening has already come.
Address: Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Ormokoeva Street, 31.
Work schedule: to clarify by phone +996312550311.
Entrance is paid.
Oak Park Gallery
The gallery is located in the oak park Bishkek — the central and oldest park of the capital of Kyrgyzstan with more than a century of history. Exhibitions of members of the Union of Artists of Kyrgyzstan are mainly held in the exhibition space of the gallery.
Address: Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Pushkin Street, 78/1.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday from 11:00 to 17:00.
Admission is free.
ART and NFT: how to create commercially successful projects
A new chapter in the history of Sergei Kalmykov: the lost grave of the artist has been found