The opening of the Almaty Museum of Art’s marks not only a turning point for Kazakhstan, but for the entire Central Asian region. Rising beneath the snow-capped silhouette of the Tian Shan mountains, the museum stands as the first modern and contemporary art institution of its kind in the area—an architectural and cultural statement that Central Asia’s creative voices have entered the global conversation.

Three years in the making, the angular structure—designed by the British firm Chapman Taylor—mirrors the rugged peaks surrounding Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city and cultural capital. But beyond its striking façade, the museum represents something far more profound: a reclamation of cultural authorship.

We wanted to create a space that both honours the cultural heritage of our region and fosters dialogue about its future.

– Says founder and entrepreneur Nurlan Smagulov, whose private collection of more than 700 works forms the institution’s foundation.

Qonaqtar: Guests and Gateways

The inaugural exhibition, Qonaqtar—meaning “Guests”—is both a welcome and a statement. It presents a sweeping cross-section of Central Asian contemporary art, weaving together generations of artists who have shaped the region’s visual language.

The show pays homage to pioneers who challenged Soviet-era constraints, those who dared to question national identity when doing so risked persecution. Alongside them stand today’s innovators—artists redefining what it means to belong in a post-Soviet, globally connected landscape.

This inaugural programme brings together artists across generations, those who laid the foundations of modern art in the region and those redefining its future today.

-Notes Artistic Director Meruyert Kaliyeva.

In the galleries, myth meets modernity. The spirit of the steppe—its winds, legends, and silences—enters into dialogue with the global languages of conceptual art, installation, and performance.

Almagul Menlibayeva and the Memory of the Steppe

A central pillar of the museum’s launch is Almagul Menlibayeva’s solo retrospective, I Understand Everything, a haunting, cinematic journey through the geography and psyche of Eurasia.

Menlibayeva’s art moves between mediums—photography, video, performance—blending shamanic mythologies with post-Soviet realities. Her works traverse the Silk Road, Soviet industrial ruins, and nuclear test sites, mapping not just territory but trauma.

In Transoxiana Dreams, ghostly horse riders gallop through desolate desertscapes once vibrant with trade and storytelling. In Butterflies of Aisha Bibi, mythic female figures hover between the sacred and the spectral. Through these images, Menlibayeva captures what could be called the “archaeology of identity”—layers of belief, loss, and renewal that continue to shape the region’s soul.

Between Local Roots and Global Conversations

The museum’s ambition reaches well beyond national borders. Outdoor installations by Yinka Shonibare, Jaume Plensa, and Alicja Kwade bring internationally recognized voices into dialogue with local narratives. Inside, immersive Artist Rooms feature work by Richard Serra, Anselm Kiefer, Yayoi Kusama, and Bill Viola—figures whose monumental gestures have defined the language of global contemporary art.

This interplay between Kazakh and international artists is deliberate. It positions Almaty not as a satellite of Western art centers, but as an emerging hub with its own gravitational pull. Future collaborations with institutions like Tate Modern and New York University—from performances to research programs—underscore this outward-looking vision.

The museum’s emergence coincides with a surge of cultural activity across Central Asia: the launch of the Bukhara Biennial and the new Contemporary Art Centre in Tashkent signal a region ready to define its future on its own terms.

The Steppe Reimagined

The Almaty Museum of Art’s opens not just as a repository of objects, but as a living organism—a site where past and present converge, and where the myths of the steppe find their reflection in the glass walls of modernity.

Its arrival suggests a profound shift: that Central Asia, long seen as a crossroads, is now a destination. Here, art is not an echo of Western trends, but a mirror turned inward—reflecting histories both fragile and fierce, and a future luminous with possibility.