Alibay Bapanov’s contemporary tapestries and paintings are rooted in traditional techniques and symbols of Kazakhstan. Bapanov began studying at Almaty Art School in 1968 and graduated from the Moscow State Art Institute in the 1970s, developing a body of work that combines ancient weaving techniques such as tekemet, felt made by pressing together wool fibres; or painting on suzani, a type of needlepoint embroidery, with modern acrylic painting or mixed media. For the artist, his familiarity with felt, its tactile and affective warmth as a material that retains heat, is also a cultural symbol of protection. Bapanov’s work is characterized by an artistic language dense with symbolism, an imagery created through processes of abstraction achieved through bold colour contrasts and fluid gradations, often across several layers. In Musafiri: Of Travellers and Guests, Bapanov’s works feature symbols that refer to nomadic narratives and the Tengrian mythology of his ancestors as ornaments that inscribe the cosmovision and memory, evoking legends amidst animals, people, and nature deities wandering across the Kazakh steppe between Central Asia and Eastern Europe. The work Кочевники [Nomads] (2023), for example, alludes to travels on horses to distant lands, emphasizing a belief in mythical incarnations of these animals, while the work Әлем тауы [The world mountain] (2017), refers to the legend of a mountain that traverses the steppe, wandering to wherever the land is favourable.

Works in the exhibition: Разговор с небом [Conversation with the sky] (2020), mixed technique, alasha (carpet) painted with acrylic paints, 158 × 327 cm; Кочевники [Nomads] (2023), wool, hand weaving, 142 × 198 cm; Әлем тауы [The world mountain] (2017), wool, handmade felt,  250 × 140 cm. Courtesy of the artist