Map Icons
Journeys of perception Alter/Native realities of modern Mongolia Invasion Letter to East Turkestan Dodeskaden Women & ways Old airport: my personal homeland Maïdyñ ïisin shyğаru Tasting ethnic politics along roadsides Nomadtitude Speed bump Identifying a leader Epic failure Anthropology & Art Catalog Trail A dream in Shambala Way to Rome
Map Icons
Trail Epic failure A dream of Shambala Journeys of perception Dodeskaden Old airport: my personal homeland Alter/Native realities of modern Mongolia Tasting ethnic politics along roadsides The way to Rome Identifying a leader Nomadtitude Maïdyñ ïisin shyğаru Speed bump Letter to East Turkestan Catalog Anthropology & Art Invasion Women & ways

ASPHALT: Lives and Lines

is an interdisciplinary online art project on roads and their social, cultural, political and economic impacts. We have invited artists from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China’s provinces of Xinjiang, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia to reflect artistically on roads: on how they matter to human and animal life; on the care and work they need in order to persist; how they alter and affect their surroundings; how they decay, transform, disintegrate and bleed into the landscape.

This project is initiated together with the researchers from the ROADWORK project, based at the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg in Switzerland. The art contributions are presented via virtual means or any other form of artistic expression possible online.

The exhibition is co-funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the University of Zurich.

Curatorial section on projects

“Asphalt: Lines & Lives” brings together 17 works by artists from different parts of Inner Asia — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, the Uyghur homeland (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China) and Inner Mongolia — alongside projects by researchers and artists who offer an outsider’s perspective on the region.

In the photo series The Road to Rome, Said Atabekov’s photo series The Road (and the tracks on it) becomes a teleological metaphor for both the ancient caravan routes between East and West and the signs of modern transformation in the Kazakh nation. Marat Raimkulov’s interactive animation Dodeskaden takes us back to the artist’s youth during the transformations of the 1990s, perceived through recreational daily rides on trolleybus no. 8 in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Similarly, Shailoo Dzhekshenbaev, in his project The Old Airport, presents a short history of the former runway of the old Bishkek (Frunze) airport — transporting the viewer not only into his memories of dreams, and of flying, but also showing the changes taking place in public consciousness now.

Urban and rural roads and pavements are the subject of a photo essay by Sonata Raimkulova as well as a video work, Women’s Roads, by Altyn Kapalova, which looks at the everyday roads that women walk in remote regions of Kyrgyzstan. Meder Akhmetov, in his project Lezhachiy Policeman, perceives the texture of Bishkek’s asphalt roads as “living matter that communicates with us in the language of vibrations.” In his postmodernist and largely ironic study, he tries to tell the viewer different stories that appear “underfoot.”

Road infrastructure itself features prominently in several of the works. Zoya Falkova’s augmented reality videos explore how roads dissect nature, while Zulaa Urchuud’s video work reflects on the emergence of modern road infrastructure in light of Mongolia’s history and the gradual settling of Mongolians as they shift from nomadic ways to a more sedentary life. Ikuru Kuwajima examines the roads and trails constructed across the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, along the border with Afghanistan, as part of the Soviet Union’s inland development project. Finally, Fatima Omir’s kaleidoscope of videos focuses on the roads, people and connections within Inner Asia itself.

Roads home feature prominently in several pieces, such as Lisa Ross and Mukaddas Mijit’s video work on the Uyghur homeland, as well as the journey of the character in Letters to East Turkestan, a video from Ramil Niyazov and Yadikar Ibraimov to the Chinese–Kazakh border. Madeleine Kobi, meanwhile, takes us on a culinary exploration of the ethnic politics of food.

Nazira Karimova’s video work Maidyn isin shygharu examines human development through the prism of the Central Asian tradition of transformation, which takes place in each of the 12 years of the lifecycle. Finally, the audiovisual piece Dreaming in Shambhala by Davaajargal Tsashikher presents a spiritual journey to the World Energy Centre: Hamar Monastery in Dornogovi province, Mongolia. Curated by Orna Tsultem and featuring Mongolian artists Enkhbold Togmidshyirev, Munguntsetseg Lhagbasuren and Batzorig Mart, the project is a visual narrative of the changes brought about by the separation and intertwining of urban and rural realities.

Why not come and join us on the ride?

Curators

Gosia Biczyk

Anthropologist, Central Asian art and culture admirer

I am here because I believe that art has a great power to connect people’s lives. And I believe that it is what we need now more than ever — a moment of break to meet along the road, a symbolic tea time to listen to each other, to understand our different, and yet fundamentally similar paths.

Ulan Djaparov

Architect of the MUSEUM studio, independent curator of contemporary art

I got engaged in “Asphalt” because of the friendly relationship with the curatorial group: Gosia, Philipp, Aida.

Also, there is an opportunity to look at the situation in our region in different optics, in the context of different concepts of “Central Asia” or “Inner Asia” that include the republics of Central Asia, Mongolia and some regions of China. Interesting new characters, discoveries, projects, connections. I wonder what constellation of artworks and the artists will turn out in our joint project.

Philipp Reichmuth

Researcher, consultant, art manager in Central Asian projects

Two things got me interested in “Asphalt” — how roads appear and disappear and shape the lives and fates of Central Asian countries, peoples and people; and how they connect them, shifting the gaze from nations and their differences towards what they have in common and how they are affected by similar fates.

Aida Sulova

Art Producer, Curator

I came to participate in Asphalt project to reconnect with Central Asian art scene and to discover new artists from China and Mongolia. Taking new roads, starting new journeys, hearing the sound of feet walking are the signs of life full of discoveries, curiosity, and freedom.