Vyacheslav Akhunov Australia; For Keeps: Sampling Recent Acqui - 2007 52st Venice Biennale, Central Asia Pavil - 2012 Mapping mobilities exhibition , curated Biennale, Central Exhibition Hall, Tashkent, Momentum Worldwide , KühlhausBerlin, Berlin, was born in 1948 in Och, Kyrgyzstan . He lives sitions 2006 – 2009 , Auckland Art Gallery, ion, Venice, Italy; T ime of Storytellers , curated by Christine Takengny, Open Systems , Wien, Uzbekistan 1998 Art from the province, Kargauldy, Germany; Alanica. The Experimental Method, and works in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. — Selected Auckland, New Zeland; Monument to Trans - by Viktor Misiano, Kiasma Museum, Helsinki, Austria; Migrasophia , curated by Sara Raza, Almaty/Museum of History, Shimkent, Kaza - 6th Moscow Biennale – special project ,Moscow, NEON PARADISE. shows since 200 7 — 2016 Quand fondra la formation 1989-2009 , City Gallery Prague, Finland; Live Cinema, The return of the Image , Sharjah Museum, Maraya Art Center, UAE; khstan; IV International , Kasteev State Museum Russia; Asia Contemporary Art Week, New York, niege où ira le blanc. Collezionismo Contempo - Czech Republic. 2008 Busan Biennale 2008 , Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Gwanju Biennial: Round Table , curated by of Arts and the Central State Museum, Almaty, USA; TV/Nam June Paik , Parallel program of IV Shamanism from raneo. Opere dalla collezione Enea Righi , Palazz o Busan, South Corea; I dream of the stans: videos USA; La Biennale de Montreal 2007, Montreal, Sunjung Kim, Mami Kataoka, Carol Yinghua Kazakhstan; Zone of art, Kasteev State Museum Odessa Biennale, Ukraine. 2014 2th Xinjiang Bi - Central Asia Fortuny, Venice, Italy — 2015 The fourth prose , actuales de Asia central , Museo de Arte de El Canada; Way to Rome , SCCA, Almaty, Kaza - Lu, Nancy Adajania, Wassan Al-Khudhairi, of Arts, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Action: Threshold , ennale , Xin jiang, China; Alanika 2014, North curated by Marco Scotini, Laura Bulian Gallery, Salvador, MARTE, San Salvador, Bahamas; khstan. 2006 10th Media Art Biennale Free Alia Swastika, Gwanju, Korea 2011 Between by Moldakul Narymbetov 1999 Self-Identifica - Caucasus Branch of National Centre for Con - Milan, Italy; Balagan . Contemporary Art from Traces du Sacré - Centre Pompidou - Musée waves, Los Angeles, USA; Contemporary Art heaven and earth. Contemporary Art from the tion- Futurological Prognosis , First Annual Exhi - temporary Art, Vladikavkaz, Russia; Busan Bien - opening the Former Soviet Union and Other Mythical National d´Art Moderne, Paris, France; Trac - from Central Asia, Ujasdovskii Castle, War - Center of Asia , curated by David Eliott, Calvert bition by Soros Center of Contemporary Art , nale 2014, Busan, South Korea; E-City, Strasbourg Places , curated by David Elliot, Kuhlhaus ing Roads through Central Asia , Yerba Buena saw, Poland. 2005 51st Venice Biennale, Cen - 22 Foundation, London, UK; 4. Photofestival Almaty, Kazakhstan; Artists from Shymkent, Kas - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Thursday 9 February 2017 Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Project 35: The Last Center for the Arts, San Francisco, USA. 2007 tral Asian Pavilion, Venice, Italy; 9th Istanbul Mannheim , Ludwigshafen – Heidelberg – teev State Museum of Arts, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Strasbourg, France; Project 35-Volume 2 -The at 18.30 Act , Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Live Cinema/The Return of the Image: Video Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey; In the shadows of Mannheim 2010 A New Silk Road : Algorithm Video-performance :Those who have rights, Kaza - DeVos Art Museum at Northern Michigan Uni - Moscow, Russia; Early Too Late. Middle East from Central Asia - Philadelphia Museum of heroes , Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; X Prague Qua - of Survival and Hope , Laura Bulian Gallery, khstan 2000 Comunication-Experience of Interac - versity, Marquette, MI 2013 At the Crossroads: and Modernity , curated by Marco Scotini, Pina - Art, Philadelphia, USA; Time of the Storytellers, drennial, Prague, Czech Republic. Milan, Italy; Winners of 2010 Prince Claus tion , Second Annual Exhibition of Soros Center Contemporary Art from Central Asia and the 09.02.2017 – 17.03.2017 coteca Nazionale di Bologna, Bologna, Italy. curated by Viktor Misiano, Kiasma, Museum Award , Amsterdam, Netherlands; Nominees for Contemporary Art , Atakent Exhibition Hall, Caucasus, selling exhibition , Sotheby’s London, 2014 And the trees set forth to seek for a king , of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland; 52nd Saodat Ismailova Artes Mundi Prize 2010 , Cardiff, UK 2009 On Almaty, Kazakhstan; Transzendez , Kunsthalle 03.2013; Lost to the Future, Institute of Contem - curated by Raphie Etgar Museum On the Seam International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale , was born in 1981 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Se - shortlist for UK’s art prize Artes Mundi; An Wien, Vienna, Austria Performances: Memories porary Arts, Singapore; Project 35 Volume 2 - critical essay by (MOTS), Jerusalem, Israel; The Other & me , cu - Venice, Italy; La Biennale de Montréal 2007 , lected shows since 2005 — 2017 The Haunted, Evening with Gulnara Kasmalieva and Murat - of Matisse , Kazakhstan; Mythology of the South, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Germany; Project 35: Valentina Parisi rated by Jassim Alawadhi and Colin Reaney, Montreal, Canada. Tromsø Kunstforening, Norway - solo show bek Djumaliev, film screenings and events, series of performances, Kazakhstan 2001 Kyzyl Volume 2 - Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, Sharjha Art Museum, Sharjha, UAE; The empty 2015 - 2017 Artist at Le Fresnoy, National Cen - MoMA, New York, USA ; Praxis. Art in Time Traktor is Ten Years Old , SCCA-Almaty, Interna - Ontario; Time Diver, Thinking Now, Gwangju Art nd pedestal , curated by Marco Scotini, Museo Said Atabekov tre of Contemporary Art, France 2016 Artist of Uncertainty. 2 Thessaloniki Biennale of tiona Business Academy, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Forum, South Korea. 2012 The face of bride, Mu - Archeol ogico, Bologna, Italy 2013 The Red was born in 1965 in Terek, Uzbekistan. He in Residence, OCA, Office of Contemporary Contemporary Art, State Museum of Contem - Spirit Fest, SCCA, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Perfor - seum of Contemporary Art, Perm, Russia; Project Line , solo show curated by Marco Scotini, lives in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. — Selected Art, Oslo, Norway 2014 Celestial Circles – solo porary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece 2008 Eurasia. mance: Warning Land Mines , Kazakhstan 2002 35: volume2, Independent curators internationa l, Laura Bulian Gallery, Milan, Italy; Lost to the shows since 2005 — 2016 Look at me! Da show, Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augs - Geographic cross-overs in art. MART. Museo di Inventory, German Theatre, Almaty, Kazakhstan; New York, USA 2011 Sharjah Biennial 10, Shar - Future , Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singa - Nadar a Gursky: i ritratti della collezione d’Arte burg, Germany; Berlinale , International Film arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e No Mad’s Land , curated by Sabina Vogel and Va - jah, UAE; Between Heaven and Earth , Calvert 22, pore Biennale 2013, If the World Changed , Sin - Unicredit, curated by Walter Guadagnini, Uni - Festival, Nomination for the best debut film, Rovereto, Italy; Tracing Roads through Central leria Ibraeva, House of World Culture Berlin, London, UK; Asian Art Biennial 2011 , Taiwan gapore; More light, 5th Moscow Biennale 2013, Credit Pavilion, Milan, Italy. 2015 Life is a leg - Berlin Germany 2013 Winter, curated b y Ay - Asia: On Traders’ Dilemmas and Travelers’ Per - Germany; Trans Forma , curated by Daniela Museum of Contemporary Art, Taiwan; Between curated by Catherine de Zegher , Moscow, Rus - end , curated by Dimitri Konstantinidis, Daria atgali Tuleubek and Tiago Bom , Central Asian spectives . YBCA. San Francisco, USA 2007 Soft Gruneberg and Valeria Ibraeva, Centre d’Art Past and Present, archeology of topicality , Mu - sia; Winter, curated by Ayatgali Tuleubek and Evd okimova, Estelle Pietrzyk, Museum of Pavillion-55. Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy Power. Asian Attitude. Shanghai Zendai Mu - Contemporain Genève, Genèva, Swizerland; Per - seum of fine art, Almaty, Kazakhstan. 2010 Tiago Bom , Central Asian Pavillion-55. Venice Modern and Contemporary Art, Strasburg, 2008 Berlinale Talent Campus, Berlin Ger - seum of Modern Art. Shanghai, China; Time formances: “Semurg” Bird 2003 The Heart of PQ Promises of the Past, Centre Pompidou, Paris, Biennial, Venice, Italy; The Collection As A France; Early Too Late. Middle East and Moder - many 2005 DAAD, Film program, residency. of Story Tellers, Kiasma Museum for Contem - (Especial project of the Prague Quadriennial) , France; Ground floor America, Den Frie Udstill - Said Atabekov, Prayer Rug , 1998 Character MuHKA museum, Antwerp, Bel - nity , c urated bt Marco Scotini, Pinacoteca Berlin, Germany; Fabrica goes East, Fabrica porary Art, Helsinki, Finland; Progressive Nos - Central Hall of Industrial Palace, Prague, Chzec ingsbygning / Centre of Contemporary Art, gium; At the Crossroads: Contemporary Art Nazionale di Bologna, Bologna, Italy. 2014 The works, Tashkent, Almaty, Kazakistan-Bishkek, talgia, Museum for Contemporary Art, Prato, Republic; Performance: Neon Paradise , by Said Copenhagen, Denmark; The Bearable Lightness from Central Asia and the Caucasus, selling ex - Other & me , curated by Jassim Alawadhi and Kyrgyzs tan. Italy Montreal biennial, Canada; Sharjah bien - Atabekov 2004 Videoidentity: The Sacred Places of Being - The Metaphor of the Space 2 , Architec - hibition , Sotheby’s London, 03.2013 2012 Doc - Colin Reaney, Sharjha Art Museum, Sharjha, nial: Still Life , United Arab Emirates; Focus: Kas - of Central Asia, Soros Center for Contemporary ture Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; Archive 10, umenta (13) , curated by Carolyn Christov- UAE; The empty pedestal , curated by Marco Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev malieva and Djumaliev. A New Silk Road: Art – Almaty Videoartfestival , curated by Valeria Chandong open studio, Seoul, South Korea; Yeosu Bakargiev, Kassel, Germany; Arsenale 2012, Scotini, Museo Archeologico, Bologna, Italy. G.Kasmalieva born in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Algorithm of Survival and Hope , The Art Insti - Ibraeva, German Theatre, Almaty, Kazakhstan; International Art Festival , Yeosu, South Korea; Ukrainian Biennale of Contemporary Art, cu - 2013 More light, 5th Moscow Biennale 2013, 1960. M. Djumaliev born in Bishkek, Kyrgyzs - tute of Chicago, Chicago, USA (solo show) 2006 Kyzyl Traktor, Bildsprache des 21. Jahrhunderts , Around the world in 80 hours, Suwonartcenter, rated by David Elliott, Kiev; Revolution vs Rev - curated by Catherine de Zegher, Moscow, Rus - tan, 1965. They live in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan . Naked Life , Museum of Contemporary Art, NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtshaft, Dussueldorf, Seoul, South Korea. 2009 Tajama / Translation, olution, Beirut Art Center, Beirut 2011 I´ve sia; At the Crossroads: Contemporary Art from Selected shows since 2005 2016 Fotografia Eu - Taipei, Taiwan; Singapore Biennial: Believe ; 3rd Germany; Zone of Risk – Transition, 3 rd Bishkek Queens Museum of Art, New York, USA; M’AR - Dreamt About , MUDAM-Musée d’Art Mod - Central Asia and the Caucasus, selling exhibi - ropea 2016. The Via Emilia. Roads, journeys, Bishkek International Exhibition of Contempo - Exhibition of Contemporary Art . Curated by TIAN FIELDS – COLLABORATION , M’ARS Centre erne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg; Atlas. tion , Sotheby’s London, 03.2013 2012 Migra - bor ders , curated by Diane Dufour, Elio Grazi - rary Art, Zone of risk – Transition , curated by Muratbek Djumaliev & Gulnara Kasmalieva, for Contemporary Arts, Moscow. Russia; Younger How to carry the world on one’s back?, De ich - sophia , curated by Sara Raza, Sharjah Museum, oli, Walter Guadagnini, Palazzo da Mosto, Edward Winkleman, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 2005 Underground Spaces in Ala Too Central Square, Then Jesus, New Museum, New York, USA; torhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; Be - Maraya Art Center, UAE. 2011 The Dream of Reggio Emila, Italy 2015 Pas de deux - kg.ch., 51st Venice Biennial , Central Asian Pavilion: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Festival Polyzentral : Kyzyl Changing Climate , Video Art from Central Asia, tween Heaven and Earth - Contemporary Art Gengis Khan, curated by Marco Scotini, Laura Centre d’Art Contemporain, Yverdon-Les- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Traktor Group and Almagul Menlibaeva, curated Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Austria. 2008 from the Centre of Asia, Calvert22, London, UK; Bulian Gallery, Milan, Italy; 54th Venice Bien - Bains, Switzerland; 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of by Florent Le Duc, Central Asian cultural events Tracing roads though Central Asia, Yerba Buena Ostalgia, curated by Massimiliano Gioni , New nale, Central Asia Pavilion, Venice, Italy; Os - Contemporary Art , Gallery of Modern Art | Kyzyl Traktor and shamanic performances organized by Central Center for the arts, San Francisco, USA. 2007 Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City, talgia , curated by Massimiliano Gioni, New Queensland, Australia; Worlds in contradiction in Shimkent (Kaz akhstan) 1991 the artists Said Asian Initiatives Association(CAI), Kampnagel, Central Asian Project, Joint Project of Central NY, USA; Atlas. How to ca rry the world on one’s Museum, New York, U.S.A.; 4. Fotofest ival The – Areas of globalization, curated by Julia Bren - Atabekov, Smail Bayaliev, Moldakul Narymbe - Hamburg, Germany. 2007 Said Atabekov: Road to Asian and Great Britain Contemporary Artists, back? , ZKM - Zentrum für Kunst und Medien - Eye is a Lonely hunter: images of humankind , nacher, Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck, Aus - tov, Arystanbek Shalbayev and Vitaliy Simakov Rome , curated by D.Kozhakhmetov, Soros Center exhibitions at: Cornerhouse, Manchester and technologie Karlsruhe, Germany 2010 Watch - Mannheim – Ludwigshafen- Heidelberg, Ger - tria 2014 Central Asia and the Caucasus, founded the group Kyzyl Traktor ; 1992 CaA , Vi - for Contemporary Art-Almaty, Kazakhstan. SPACE/London, UK; Muzykstan , Media-gener - men, L iars, Dreamers (Erudition concrete 3) , many; Winner of the Prince Claus Fund, Am - curated by Slavs and Tatars, Organized by taliy Simakov, Smail Bayaliev, Moldakul Narym - ation of Contemporary Artists from Central FRAC - Ile-de-France Le Plateau, Paris, France; sterdam, Netherland. 2010 Rites without myths , Marker Foundation in occasion of Art Dubai betov, Said Atabekov, Central House of Artists, Alexander Ugay Asia, Central Asia Pavillion, 52 Venice Biennale, Ground Floor America , Den Frie Centre of Laura Bulian Galle ry, Milan, Italy. 2009 Lonely 2014, Dubai, UAE; Art Stage Singapore 2014 , Moscow, Russia 1993 CaA, Central House of was born in 1978 in Kyzilorda, Kazakhstan. He Italy. 2006 Plug In. The exhibition of new mu - Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark; at the Top , curated by Viktor Misiano, Muhka curated by Charles Merewether, Central Asia Artists, Museum of History, Shymkent and Al - lives in in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Selected shows seum’s collection, VanabbeMuseum, Eindhoven, Lonely at the Top #5 , curated by Viktor Museum, Antwerp, Belgium; Son of the East , Platform, Singapore; At the Crossroads: Con - maty, Kazakhstan 1995 Artists from Shymkent: since 2005 2016 Cartography of the real , Al - The Netherlands; 52th Oberhausen Film Festival , Misiano, MuHKA, Antwerp, Belgium. 2009 Laura Bulian Gallery, Milan, Italy – solo show; temporary Art from Istanbul to Kabul, selling Kyzyl Traktor Group , Kasteev State Museum of maty, Kazakhstan; Dispossessed? A question of Oberhausen, Germany; E-flux , video-collection Changing C limate, WUK Kunsthalle Exner - Photoquai 2009, Biennale des Images du exhibition , Sotheby’s London 2013 In spite of Arts, Almaty, Kazakhstan; Action: Journey to the spirit and money, Zurich, Switzerland; 1th Riga project, New-York, USA. 2005 La sindrome di gasse, Vienna, Austria; 11th International İs- monde, Paris, France; Changing Climate , Kun - it all , Curated by Hoor Al-Qasimi, Sharjah Oriental Country , Mount Kazgurt, Kyryk Shilter, Photo biennale, Riga, Latvia; Project 35 last act , Tamerlano: Arte e conflitti in Asia centrale/The Monday — Friday , 15 — 19 pm tanbul Biennial , curated by WHW/What, How sthalle Wien, Austria; Scènes Centrales , Lille- Art Foundation, Collections Building, Shar - Kazakhstan; Action: Teslim-Tash , Khodzh a Independent curators international, Garage, Tamerlane Syndrome: Art and Conflicts in Cen - via Piranesi 10, 20137 Milano Morning by appointment & for Whom collective, Istanbul, Turkey; The 3000, Lille, France. 2008 Old/New Routes -A jah, UAE, At the Crossroads: Contemporary Akhmed Yasavi Mausoleum, Turkestan, Kaza - Moscow, Russia. 2015 61th Oberhausen Film tral Asia, Palazzo dei Sette, Orvieto, Italy; 9 In - view from elsewhere. Small Acts , Queensland Selection of video Art from Central Asia, Art from Central Asia and the Caucasus, sell - khstan 1996 Blu e Pepper , Tengri Umai Gallery, Festival , Oberhausen, Germany; Dissemi nation , ternational Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey. www.laurabuliangallery.com Free entrance Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, BizArt, Shanghai, China. ing exhibition , Sotheby’s London, 03.2013 Almaty, Kazakhstan 1997 Kyzyl Traktor, Asia Art Stadt Galerie, Brixen, South Tirol, Italy; Balagan, The Laura Bulian Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Neon The Shaman Reenacted This ironic deconstructive stance is rooted in the performances Atabekov created with the Kyzyl Paradise. Shamanism from Central Asia a group exhibition devoted to by Valentina Parisi Traktor collective (Said Atabekov, Smail Bayaliev, Moldakul Narymbetov, Arystanbek Shalbayev and Vitaliy post-Soviet shamanic practices in contemporary central Asian art. The Simakov.) towards the second half of the 90s. In the past interpreted as an almost ethnographic attempt exhibition consists of installations and photographs by Vyacheslav to rediscover their roots, the work of Kyzyl Traktor instead seems to poke fun at the orientalist stereotypes Akhunov (Uzbekistan, 1948), Said Atabekov (Kazakistan, 1965) , through which westerners often view Central Asia. By flaunting this image of shaman-impostors, Atabekov Saodat Ismalieva (Uzbekistan, 1981), G.Kasmalieva & M.Djumaliev and his companions take their distance from new age fads and the post-Soviet commercialization of the (Kirghizistan, 1960 and 1965) and Alexander Ugay (Kazakistan, 1978). shamanic heritage (very often exploited by healers who are equally false). A similar, playful tendency to In his study Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy Mircea Eliade dwells on a condition he disregard the spectators’ expectations can be seen in Tea Ceremony (2001), a super 8 film by Alexander Furthermore, documentary records will be exhibited giving a pre - calls “nostalgia for paradise”, defining it as the desire “to find oneself always and without effort at the centre Ugay , where the traditional Japanese tea ceremony (the artist’s family comes from the Far East) is trans - view of performances by the Kazakh group Kyzyl Traktor , founded of the world, at the heart of reality” transcending the limitations of human nature; being born again at a formed into an ecstatic ritual of uncertain outcome, estranged even further by the obsolete technology in Shymkent in 1991 by the artists Said Atabekov, Smail Bayaliev, new level of awareness. That “nostalgia for paradise” is also a powerful metaphor for artists from Central employed to record it. Moldakul Narymbetov, Arystanbek Shalbayev and Vitaliy Simakov. Asia, who have recreated or mimicked shamanic rituals in the post-Soviet era, reinterpreting them under a broad range of conceptual solutions. Following the historical fracture generated by 70 years under the In the cases of Kyzyl Traktor and Ugay, the interpretative framework proposed by Viktor Misiano USSR, it is almost inevitable that the image of the shaman tends to be both fluid and unstable. The shaman seems to hold, whereby recuperating ethno-national archetypes such as the nomadic lifestyle, the Steppe, is now no longer the “grand master of ecstasy”, the lord of fire or the exclusive medium between man and Sufism or Shamanism, the artists of Central Asia create mythopoetic works – in other words, narratives the spirits; his elusive shadow seems more an incarnation of that tribal substrate with which Russian cul - that are not necessarily aimed at authenticity. A different inspiration, however, can be seen in the video ture, throughout its history, has always had to converse. Sham (2004), filmed by Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev on Kochkor Ata in Kirghizistan, an extinct volcano, a sacred site and place of pilgrimage since ancient times. Sham is an intensely lyrical On the one hand, a rereading of shamanism implies confrontation with the avant-garde legacy, documentary testimony of the ritual fires that are lit there every Thursday and illuminate the slopes of in other words its conceptualization of the primitive cannot be ignored nor can its utopian perspective of the mountain for the whole night. As long as anyone can remember the black and red volcanic rocks of man in the natural state. On the other hand, the contemporary artist, living within the dynamics of the Kochkor Ata have been believed to possess a special energy. It is here that Kyrgyz shamans, called baqshï, art world, can no longer partake innocently of this idealized momentum. used to bring their patients in search of healing. The main character of Sham is a sick pilgrim who climbs laboriously towards the summit, in the hope that her life may change. The “shaman reenacted” after the fall of the USSR becomes, therefore, the object of a tension that is destined to disappoint, the symbol of a primitive spirituality that may charm or arouse feelings of The theme of an initiatory ascent (whether literal or metaphorical) is found again in the videos regret – yet it remains unattainable. It is no surprise that focus on shamanism tends to crystallize around Ascent and Corner by Vyacheslav Akhunov in collaboration with Sergey Tichina (2004). Here the artist, the concept of otherness: alongside the ghost-like figure of the shaman the theme of the city also emerges, known for his “archeological” approach to Soviet symbology, rereads the motif of ecstasy within the con - the urban dimension (as opposed to the village) where the contemporary artist usually interacts and cre - ceptual framework of Sufism, the mystical trend in Islam that is rooted in Central Asian shamanism. The ates. Hence, the issue of appropriating a shamanic otherness – which coincides with an ancestral identity creation of a space for meditation where direct contact can be made with the divine is pitted against the for artists from Central Asia – remains open. To what extent can contemporary artists transform the needs urban dimensions of Tashkent and the use of new technologies. In both works the manner in which the of shamanic practice and re-elaborate them within their own artistic strategy? action proceeds, either by a backward tracking shots or oscillating loops, prevails over the attainment of the goal, which, according to the Sufi mystics, is always partial and temporary. For Said Atabekov the encounter with the myth of the shaman takes on the features of personal experience with alienating consequences. In his performances – whether alone or with other members However, shamanism is also about communion with nature and Panic identification with the of the group Kyzyl Traktor (Red Tractor) – the artist, born in Bes Terek (today’s Uzbekistan) in 1965, spirit world that surrounds us. In the installation entitled Stains of Oxus (2016), Saodat Ismailova develops takes on the appearance of a shaman by dressing in a shamanic costume – or rather a philologically inaccurate a heart wrenching image of the river Amu Darya or Oxus, through scenes of daily life along its banks, variation of one. Atabekov’s reenacted shaman is first and foremost a čudak, an “eccentric” uprooted from and especially thanks to the dreams that haunt the inhabitants. Dreams that act as a go-between with an - his village community context, where he performs bizarre rites that have been inevitably contaminated by cestral spirits and a defence, however ephemeral, against the ecological catastrophe that is playing out in the penetrating force of Western culture. Thus, he wanders the Steppe with a double-bass hoisted on his lake Aral: in just a few decades the basin into which the Oxus flowed has almost completely dried up. It shoulders to the sound of Albinoni’s Adagio (as in the video-performance Walkman , 2005); or meditates is as if the “nostalgia for paradise” were ever more topical. on his knees before the sliding doors of a department store ( Neon Paradise , 2003), interacting, alas, no longer with the spirits, but rather with a humble photocell. Valentina Parisi, 2017