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Abstract

Sergei Bodrov’s Nomad (2005) and Vladimir Khotinenko’s 1612 (2007), were created as historical nation-building projects for Kazakhstan and Russia, respectively. Both had enormous budgets (34 and 12 million dollars, respectively), and both failed at the box office. While the former is an outward-facing film, positioned to rehabilitate the image of the Kazakh nation both at home and abroad and dedicated to the appearance of Ablai Khan and the defeat of the Dzhungars, the latter is aimed at a domestic audience, created to popularize the Day of National Unity, a holiday introduced in 2005 to celebrate the end of the interregnum known as the Time of Troubles, the expulsion of Polish-Lithuanian forces, and the election of the first Romanov tsar, which followed soon after. Despite these and other significant differences, I will draw upon Anthony Smith’s (1999) concepts of “Gastronomic Nationalism” (163-171) and “Ethnic Myths” of the “Heroic Age” and of “Regeneration” (65-68) to argue that these films are surprisingly similar, from their presentation of the “natural” hero and the oddly similar military victory over the villainized enemy, to their use of magical realism and self-orientalizing, to the image of the beloved, which serves as a metaphor for the nation itself. As I will argue, it is precisely the film’s “fictional mechanisms” (or how the narratives are constructed) and the “social mechanisms” behind them (or the intended audience reaction), as defined by Pierre Sorlin (2001), that made these films “epic failures” at the box offices, despite their high production values. For both Kazakhstan and Russia, the failure of these films represents not only the danger of alienating audiences, by attempting to manufacture identity through film, but also a powerful, early lesson for their production of future memory projects.

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The image of women was one of the most prominent in early Soviet mythology and was designed to eradicate pre-revolutionary conceptions of femininity. In Central Asian cinema, the figure of the “liberated woman of the East” emerged as a symbolic opposition to traditional ways of life. Early Soviet films frequently centered on a woman’s transformation from a victim of the old (traditional) life into a “new woman.” Through mise-en-scène, costume, and narrative resolution, these films constructed new models of female behavior and introduced new moral norms, modes of thinking and speaking, and everyday practices, as exemplified in Muslim Woman (1925), Second Wife (1926), Jackals of Ravat (1927), The Veil (1927), The Leper Girl (1928), Without Fear (1972), and Fiery Roads (1977–1984).

After independence, post-Soviet rhetoric permeated Central Asian cinema, as filmmakers turned to the reassessment of Soviet history and collective memory. Films revisiting the Soviet past sought to offer alternative perspectives on pivotal historical moments and the social movements that shaped women’s status. In this context, cinema critically engaged with the legacy of Soviet modernization, highlighting tensions between ideological reform and cultural tradition (The Speaker (1999), Her Right (2020), 2000 Songs of Farida (2020), etc.).

This paper examines Soviet and post-Soviet representations and interpretations of the “new woman” in films, short videos, and documentaries. It argues that women’s bodies function as key cinematic sites where ideology, historical memory, and competing models of femininity are visually negotiated across different political epochs.

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This paper explores the phenomenon of cultural synthesis in the decorative arts of the Timurid period (14th–15th centuries), focusing on how artistic traditions of Transoxiana (Mawarannahr) and the broader Islamic world interacted and transformed within a unified visual system.

The Timurid era represents a key moment in the development of Central Asian art, characterized by the convergence of diverse cultural influences and the formation of a new artistic language. This study examines how elements of earlier local traditions were reinterpreted and combined with wider artistic practices, resulting in a coherent yet complex visual culture.

Particular attention is given to ornament as one of the most expressive mediums through which this synthesis becomes visible. Through the analysis of ornamental structures, compositional principles, and stylistic features, the paper demonstrates how decorative forms reflect processes of continuity, adaptation, and innovation.

The research is based on formal and stylistic analysis, supported by historical context. Rather than treating decorative arts as secondary, the study positions them as central to understanding broader cultural transformations in the Timurid period.

By focusing on synthesis as a dynamic and multi-layered process, this paper contributes to discussions on cultural interaction, artistic identity, and the development of visual language in Central Eurasia.

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Representations of Water in Modern and Contemporary Art from Kazakhstan

Inga Lāce, curator, Almaty Museum of Arts

This talk looks at paintings from natural landscapes to industrial scenes, exploring  how water has been represented in modern and contemporary art from Kazakhstan. Meaning of water has shifted across different historical and artistic contexts and depending on the artists. From depictions of rivers, lakes, and the steppe’s scarce water sources in Soviet-era painting to works celebrating industry on rivers and lakes, to more conceptual and critical approaches in contemporary practices, water emerges as both material and metaphor.

The talk considers water as a site of memory, ecological concern, and political imagination, reflecting on issues such as environmental transformation, resource extraction, and the legacy of dedication of the Aral Sea and industrialisation of Lake Balkhash. At the same time, it examines how artists engage with water in relation to nomadic cosmologies, ritual practices, and everyday life.

Bringing together works from the collections of Almaty Museum of Arts, alongside broader regional practices, the presentation proposes water as a lens through which to understand the entanglement of landscape, identity, and history in Kazakhstan.