Acell Shaldibayeva is an artist and DJ from Almaty, Kazakhstan. She is also the co-founder of the techno club bULt, which comprehends topics such as traditions and rituals, decolonial optics, queer feminism, and its place and role in the reality of Kazakhstan and Central Asia by regularly holding techno parties, film screenings of non-mainstream art films, supporting research and art projects, and conducting master classes, lectures, poetry readings and exhibitions. As a sound artist, Shaldibayeva was part of the ORTA […]
Aigerim Kapar is a Kazakh interdependent curator, interdisciplinary researcher and decolonial activist. She founded Artcom Platform, a Central Asian community-based contemporary art and public engagement organisation in 2015. Grassroots-driven agenda in Central Asia matters to her curatorial practice. With her team at Artcom Platform, Kapar curates and organises collaborative knowledge production, public art and science education, art interventions and research-based exhibitions. In 2017, Kapar initiated Art Collider, a school where art meets science bringing communities together around practices of care […]
Ulan Dzhaparov is an architect, independent contemporary art curator and artist from Bishkek. He graduated from the faculty of architecture, Frunze Polytechnic Institute in 1983. Currently, he works as the general director at the architectural studio ‘MUSEUM’ in Bishkek. As an artist, he uses various mediums including performance, video and graphics and participated in a number of international contemporary art exhibitions. As a curator, he has curated the annual Bishkek April Fools’ competitions since 2003, as well as the annual […]
Chong Chin-Yin is a Hong Kong- and Taiwan-based curator and co-founder of Arts Collective, a creative entity based in Hong Kong. Chong’s interests reside in the intersection of cultural influence, experience, artistic practice and community. Working collectively and independently, her recent research explores contemporary arts in geocultural contexts and transdisciplinary exchange and collaboration.
Chen King Yuen Joseph is an art and cultural organiser and artist based in Hong Kong, currently the Director of Culture at Eaton HK, a purpose-driven hospitality brand where he builds community for artists, changemakers and marginalised groups and creates cultural and creative initiatives to support locals and serve travellers. He is the co-founder of Virtue Village, an art initiative creating and curating art that connects humans to spirituality and intimacy, and navigates the planes of queer subculture, fetish and […]
Meder Akhmetov is an artist, architect, curator and member of the MUSEUM art group based in Central Asia. His artwork ranges from hand drawings and photo collages to outdoor public art. Akhmetov curates and organises workshops and public art events. Much of his work is based on working in a participatory workshop genre. During the pandemic in 2020, he initiated the self-organised online platform ‘art bazaar’ on Facebook.
Anvar Musrepov is a curator, artist, editor-in-chief and art publicist who lives and works in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He graduated from the Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and New Media and is currently studying for a master’s degree at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. Musrepov works in different directions and uses new media to develop the decolonisation of future narratives. As a curator, he works sustainably on educational projects focusing on the evolution of the emerging contemporary art scene and […]
Photo: Anindam Choudhury
Born and based in Bangkok, Siributr employs weaving and embroidery in his artworks to weave and stitch unofficial individual stories about conflict between religious and political beliefs which are often overshadowed by a grand narratives. Recently, he has conducted workshops and realised collaborative works with communities of stateless people in South Thailand so that their voices can be heard. Siributr participated in important international exhibitions including Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, U.S.A […]
Enoch Cheng is an artist whose practice spans moving image, installation, curating, dance, events, theatre, writing, fashion, performance, and pedagogy. His works explore the boundaries and connections between various disciplines and traditions, with recurrent themes of belonging, travel, care, cross-cultural history, fiction, memory, time, migration, and extinction. His most recent works include TO ARRIVE (2022, Hong Kong City Hall 60th Anniversary Performance), Handle with Care (2022, Museum of Arts and Design, New York) combine elements of Chinese opera, fashion and […]
Ayrat and Zafar Nalibayev are the duo behind the cryptographic art of NoolOdin. They were born in Uzbekistan and currently reside in the European Union. Using the jester persona as a means to express their ideas, they believe that art is the most effective way to address sensitive topics without being intrusive. They create their art by coding messages and embedding them in interactive environments. NoolOdin’s art encourages the spectator to think critically, leaving the final interpretation up to the […]