Wed. 22.01.2020
19:00 – 21:00
Artist Presentation and Video Screening by Shaarbek Amankul
Nomadic Art Camp, created in 2011 by Shaarbek Amankul, continuing his nomadic art practice begun in 2000, has no previous precedent. Unique for Central Asia, it opens the door to international artists and curators to communicate with nature, heritage, culture, diversity and art using the traditional nomadic way of life as a source of inspiration for contemporary art practices on the shores of alpine lakes in the Tien Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan each summer.
Nomadic Art Camp endeavors to address the issues surrounding bio-cultural diversity and heritage, ecology and sustainable development in mountain landscapes, and their impact on local and global culture to share the idea of building cooperation implicit in the concept of the nomadic art camp: the idea of solidarity as important platforms for contemporary artistic practice in order to exchange, develop new understanding of each other’s art worlds and explore the possibility of a longer term collaboration.
Creative thinkers stay in a nomadic Kyrgyz yurt and travel to well-known, local, natural attractions to research this multi-ethnic country with amazing nature, rich history, spirituality, culture and biological diversity, encompassing traditional nomadic culture, shamanism, holy places, fauna and flora in a post-soviet setting. The participating artists find themselves out of their element, helping them to open up new channels for creative thought and encouraging them to partake in various aspects of the local Kyrgyz ecology and culture as a source for pure foods, recreation, detoxification, mental awakening, and restorative health from the medicinal properties of plants, music and folklore. The setting itself is an inspiration for artistic production.
SHAARBEK AMANKUL (Kyrgyzstan) is on the leading edge of Central Asia’s contemporary art scene. Working with a diverse range of media including, video, performance, installation, sculpture and objects, his practice flows from his imagination, surroundings, and personal experiences, drawing on the nomadic heritage of Kyrgyz culture. Striving to build a dialogue by inviting international artists and to Kyrgyzstan, in addition to his own art and curatorial endeavors, Amankul is currently the director of the B’Art Center in Kyrgyzstan. Amankl’s work has been seen throughout Europe, Asia and in the United States.
Shaarbek Amankul is currently in Berlin to undertake an Artist Residency at MOMENTUM AiR [http://momentumworldwide.org/momentum-artist-residencies/cagol-amankul/], with the generous support of TMU, Trust for Mutual Understanding [www.tmuny.org].