A contemporary Kazakhstani artist and memory researcher. Her work spans painting, graphic art, animation, photography, and installation. Key methods in A. Kadyrkhanova’s work include symbolism, surrealism, deconstruction, and family ethnography. Key themes are memory, trauma, corporeality, identity, and collective memory.
A. Kadyrkhanova received her higher education at the National Academy of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Painting, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, 2001–2007), at Newcastle University (Fine Arts, Master’s degree, 2009–2011), and at the University of Leeds, UK (Art History and Cultural Studies, PhD, 2016–2021). Her PhD thesis examined post-Soviet Kazakh art as a tool for understanding Stalinist terror and overcoming trauma. In 2023, A. Kadyrkhanova became a research fellow at the ASCA Institute of Cultural Studies at the University of Amsterdam.
A. Kadyrkhanova raised the issue of identity and the problem of interpretation (video series “A Place to Sleep,” 2010, and “Journey on Water,” 2011) in her first solo exhibition, “Self-Portrait with Archetype” (Ular Gallery, Almaty, 2013). She explored the mechanisms of trauma and collective memory in her installations (“Machine,” 2013) and photo projects (“Windows of Tolerance,” Almaty, 2018), using red yarn as a symbol of political repression and the obsessive repetition of trauma. A. Kadyrkhanova continued her research during art residencies at the 56th Venice Biennale (Venice, 2015) and the California College of the Arts (USA, 2018).
A. Kadyrkhanova’s artworks have been featured in exhibitions such as “Internal Memory — Not Enough Space?” (the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 2017); “Suns and Neons above Kazakhstan” (the Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku, 2017); “The Beginning” (the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, Almaty, 2018); “Documenta 15” (Kassel, 2022); “Clouds, Power and Ornament: Roving Central Asia” (the C.H.A.T. Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile, Hong Kong, 2023); and the Calvert Journal Film Festival (London, 2021).
The artist addresses issues of post-trauma and cultural identity not only through her practice; these are also the subjects of her lectures, presentations at international conferences and symposiums in Europe and the US (2018–2023), and academic publications (“Stalinism in Kazakhstan: History, Memory, and Representation,” 2021).
Photo provided by Asel Kadyrkhanova