«There was some irrational force inside all of us, demanding a release»
The page from the catalog «…and Others»
Group “IRWIN”
IADA is opening a series of articles dedicated to the history of contemporary art in Central Asia. In this interview, we talk to the Bishkek curator Ulan Dzhaparov about the project "...and the Others", one of the first international contemporary art exhibitions in the region which was influential in creating the Central Asian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2005.
Link to the catalog
Art of the late 90s
In the second half of the 90s in Bishkek, Almaty, and Tashkent, besides the development of their art situations, interest towards what is being created nearby emerged and cooperative work (projects, exhibitions, informal communication) began. Like in ancient times when tribes of nomads united to move somewhere to the West. The general feeling was like before childbirth, waiting for some kind of breakthrough. Everything had to be resolved by some phenomenon, not by individual exhibitions or artists, but by some regional phenomenon. There was some irrational force inside all of us demanding a release. This process began in 1997 or so and continued until 2007. We were stewing in our own juice, and the challenge was to eventually find our form of collective expression.
Subsequently, the exhibition "...and the Others” influenced the Central Asian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Largely due to the personal efforts of Churek Dzhamgerchinova, director of the "Kurama Art” gallery, and her husband, businessman, patron, and public figure Nurbek Turdukulov. Several works from the exhibition later moved to other international art projects. Although the initiative to organize the pavilion came from Bishkek, we did not even think of independent variants and the creation of a separate Kyrgyz pavilion, for example. The original scope of the representation encompassed the entire region of Central Asia; this would have made the power of the statement more potent.
Opening of the Exhibition
Churek DJAMGERCHINOVA. The Director of “Kurama ART” Gallery
...and the Others
How it all began
The exhibition happened by some series of coincidences. We had no specific task or carte blanche for such a project. In the fall of 2003, young people who decided to open a new gallery called "Kurama Art" in Bishkek, came to our studio called "MUSEUM" - they were Churek Dzhamgerchinova and Nurbek Turdukulov. Nurbek was the first patron who was professionally interested in art, mostly "Soviet modernism," collecting works by film artists...and Churek wanted to expand that range.
At the same time, I visited Almaty, and in a friendly conversation Lena and Vitya (Elena and Viktor Vorobiev) told me that Maslov had a 50th anniversary (in 2002), but he never had a chance to hold his anniversary exhibition. At that moment they had a large collection of his works and they wanted to make a personal exhibition of Maslov in Almaty together with the "Voyager" gallery (director - Irina Yuferova). The gallery space was small and strangely nobody from museums and galleries wanted to do it, so Lena jokingly suggested organizing an exhibition in Bishkek. However, Maslov's solo exhibition would have been of little interest in Bishkek, as he is an unknown artist, a stranger to the local mentality.
They decided to broaden the line-up, and the name "Maslov and the Others” appeared. The idea was to exhibit Maslov's works and the "others” were his artist friends from Almaty. I did some thinking, had a conversation with an expert in the "Art and Culture" program from the Swiss bureau, where I tried to apply for conducting annual Central Asian contemporary art exhibitions, and somehow it became clear that this was not very relevant for us either.
The page from the catalog «…and Others»
My Whitney. Oil on canvas 70х60, 1999
Giaconda. Oil on canvas 80х60, 2000
After a while, when a real offer came from Kurama Art Gallery to organize a small exhibition, the puzzle came together. From several components, we managed to collect a common project. In the end, I came up with the title "... and the Others", indicating artists, who due to different circumstances remain aside from recognized art centers, international processes, art markets, and so on. When I was young, we only knew what was going on in the world of European art from books and scraps of information. The feeling of "exclusion" was akin to a certain misery, life apart from the mainline. Nevertheless, despite these circumstances, self-taught artists emerged. With their own theme, strategy, a form of the statement. Once this had been somehow understood and formulated, everything fell into place, and in just a few months we were able to jointly take the project from a local exhibition to an international event.
With Elena and Viktor Vorobiev we were co-curators of the exhibition, I worked on the overall solution and project "...and the Others” (which was international in composition), and Lena and Vitya on Maslov's solo exhibition, which became the basis for everything. Also, a joint effort with curators and artists, primarily from Almaty, resulted in the “Maslov&Co” project. Many friends and artist acquaintances contributed to the project one way or another - Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev, Erbossyn Meldibekov, Said Atabekov, Yulia, Sorokina Almagul Menlibayeva, Galym, Vyacheslav Akhunov... Now it is hard to remember all the nuances. Thanks to the openness of the organizers and their communication with artists (primarily Lena and Viktor Vorobiev) we were able to invite several Moscow curators: Viktor Misiano, Ekaterina Degot, Sergey Popov. Together with Gamal Bokonbaev we discussed many things and managed to make a good exhibition catalog. He also designed a stylish logo.
The page from the catalog «…and Others»
Said ATABEKOV
Performance at the opening exhibition
There was no resistance or censorship from the museum; the administration was accommodating, as we had already organized a series of exhibitions there. But there was one anecdotal moment. Maslov is known to have peculiar paintings, and one or two paintings with erotic motifs kind of embarrassed museum workers, because children come to the museum, and you can see nudity on the paintings. There was even an article in the local newspaper stating that we were showing pornography at the exhibition, but it resolved very calmly. On one of the pictures we just hung a tracing paper and adults could open and look at it, children could just pass by. There were, of course, other tragicomic moments - the epic story of carrying Maslov's and others’ paintings from Almaty to Bishkek through Kurdai for several days is the subject of many table talks when we occasionally manage to meet with Lena and Viktor Vorobiev.
On the institutionalization of art
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how the development of art in our countries is not directly connected to the whole gentlemanly set of things: the creation of the art market, institutions, galleries, museums, and the accompanying notions and rhetoric that appeared back in those times. The description of the art situation in the purely institutional language: gallery, curator, honorarium, project, contract, etc. is only one part of a complex process. For me, relationships between people involved in the process, human participation, charisma, personality have always been far more important than purely professional moments. Because even after the demise of SCCA (Soros Center for Contemporary Art in Almaty), which initiated and did a lot, you could assume that everything could have fallen apart, but it all continued and new groups, galleries, and initiatives emerged. If everything had been centered exclusively on professional relationships, grants, and institutions, it might have all gone away back then, but contemporary art in our region is a more delicate matter. Unlike already developed communities, in our conditions, it also fulfills its own, peculiar mission (affecting various spheres of life like yeast for leavening, for example).
The page from the catalog «…and Others»
Rustam KHALFIN 1995
Pattern
Installation, plywood
About relationships and their transformation in the age of the Internet
Previously, there were more get-togethers, casual meetings, we had to discuss everything in person. Now everything has become simpler, more technological, if there is an idea, you text and come to a decision, but back then, to get to something, you had to bang your head against the wall and collect information from small pieces. We spent a lot of time, some things just happened, namely, they weren’t made, but "happened", now most projects are "made" and there is some problem in it, like when a project is effectively made, but the feeling that something is missing, a little warmth or even salt, wouldn’t leave.
Oftentimes you constantly do something, one project replaces another, but the satisfaction from the process, some kind of discovery remains somewhere in the distance. It especially bothers me when curators come and select works like at a market - they chose something, pointed a finger once, I sent a file, and displayed the work somewhere. What I miss in this process is that there has to be some kind of discussion; I always want it to be meaningful, not just something to participate in. Now it’s like we are touching food and eating it with gloves, while in those "ancient times" there was a more heightened sense of smell and taste that's almost gone
Author: Anvar Musrepov