On 29 and 30 April 2023, CHAT will host Asar! Together We Build: Central Asian Cultural Festival  in response to the current exhibition Clouds, Power and Ornament – Roving Central Asia  with guest curator Anvar Musrepov from Almaty and a line-up of curators and artists from Central Asia to engage in a series of film screening, sharing and performance. Borrowing from the concept of asar , which means ‘collective power’ in the Kazakh language, this festival focuses on the power of community in contemporary Central Asian culture. Arts and cultural practitioners from the region will explore the development and potential of Central Asian arts and culture through the diverse lenses of urban cultural studies, art residency, interdisciplinary collaboration, art market, collective filmmaking and techno queer community. They will also have conversations with local arts and cultural talents, and in so doing, build a stronger social network.

29 April 2023 – The History and Practice of Central Asian Arts and Cultural Communities

Session 1: Mahalla: Object, Space, Process

Time: 2:00-3:15pm
Venue: Kino (Level 1, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong)
Speaker: Alexey Ulko
Language: Russian and English with simultaneous interpretation into English and Cantonese
Deposit $50｜RSVP

Mahalla  is a traditional form of urban space organisation in Central Asian cities and a platform for social interaction. Alexey Ulko, an independent art and culture consultant from Uzbekistan, will discuss its different types and social functions to show how mahalla  is adapted to various contemporary contexts.

Session 2: Self-Organised Communities

Time: 3:30-5:30pm
Venue: Kino (Level 1, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong)
Speakers: Arystanbek Shalbayev, Ulan Dzhaparov
Language: Russian and English with simultaneous interpretation into English and Cantonese
Deposit $50｜RSVP

As one of the main driving forces of the art collective Kyzyl Tractor, artist Arystanbek Shalbayev will illustrate the art group’s constant nomadic movement in their performances and its distinctive practices on developing its characteristic line of research on the mutual influence of traditional values of culture and civilisation. Independent curator and artist Ulan Dzhaparov will discuss the diverse formats of activities hosted by the MUSEUM Studio, including its architectural design, personal and collective artistic practices such as the longstanding Bishkek April Fools’ competitions and Lazy Art  annual workshop, and its club format building on mutual interest and communication with friends and partners.

Screening and sharing by: Adilkhan Yerzhanov with films from Partisan Cinema

Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Venue: Kino (Level 1, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong)
Speaker: Adilkhan Yerzhanov
Language: Russian and English with simultaneous interpretation into English and Cantonese
Deposit $50｜RSVP

‘Cinema for me is an attempt to see old things in a new way.’ Adilkhan Yerzhanov, an award-winning director and scriptwriter from Kazakhstan, will present two feature films on the topic of the Partisan movement. The director will also share his view on cinema as the last refuge of the romantics, and further explore sharp-edged truths as depicted on the screen.

30 April 2023 – Developing and Expanding Social Network – From Central Asia to Hong Kong

Panel Discussion

Time: 2:00-6:00pm
Venue: Kino (Level 1, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong)
Speakers: Aigerim Kapar, Acell Shaldibayeva, Meder Akhmetov, Eunice Tsang, Chong Chin-Yin, Chen King Yuen Joseph
Language: Russian and English with simultaneous interpretation into English and Cantonese
Deposit $50｜RSVP

Three curator and platform founders across Central Asia will share their curatorial practices addressing engagement and community power in this panel discussion. Aigerim Kapar, an interdependent curator, interdisciplinary researcher and decolonial activist from Kazakhstan will share her insights in founding Artcom Platform, a Central Asian community-based contemporary art and public engagement organisation working with grassroot-driven agenda. DJ and working group member Acell Shaldibayeva will outline her exploration in co-founding the techno club bULt, a safe space for the local queer community comprehending topics such as traditions and rituals, decolonial optics, queer feminism, and its place and role in the reality of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Independent curator Meder Akhmetov will illustrate his experience of initiating the Art Bazaar Central Asia, a self-organised online platform on Facebook that has emerged during the pandemic time, from his perspective as the fair initiator, moderator and an artist.

Three local curatorial practitioners will respond to the community practices in Central Asia from a local lens with their experimental initiatives in Hong Kong. Curator and artist Eunice Tsang founded the alternative art space Current Plans to encourage cross-disciplinary dialogues through exhibition-making. Chong Chin-Yin co-founded Arts Collective, a collective gathering curators and researchers from Hong Kong and Taiwan to elucidate current events through art and collaboration. Artist and cultural organiser Chen King Yuen Joseph will touch on his curatorial practices as the Director of Culture at Eaton HK as a purpose-driven hospitality brand building for artists, changemakers, marginalised groups as well as the co-founder of Virtue Village, an art initiative navigating the planes of queer subculture, fetish and posthumanism.

Techno Performance by Acell in Collaboration with Local Techno DJ(s)

Time: 7:00-8:30pm
Venue: Music Room (Level 4, Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong)
Artist: Acell
Language: English
Deposit $50｜RSVP

Celebrate the cultural festival together with an experimental musical night. Sound artist and DJ Acell will join hands with local techno DJs, bringing you cross-cultural techno sensations, in which sounds from diverse cultures will be woven into a single fabric, reinforcing each other and erasing the boundaries between them.

Programme Partner