Recently, among offices, traffic jams, and the urban scenery of Almaty, a new cultural hotspot opened — the Almaty Museum of Arts.

The building and interior are of exceptional quality. The British architectural bureau Chapman Taylor was inspired by Kazakhstan’s landscapes when designing the project.

The museum’s collection includes over 700 works, 70% of which are by Kazakhstani artists. Most of the pieces come from the private collection of Nurlan Smagulov, which he has been building for over 30 years.

It’s wonderful that original works by global masters like Yayoi Kusama, Bill Viola, Richard Serra, Jaume Plensa, and others are now preserved in Almaty.

In addition to the main exhibition halls, the museum features a restoration workshop, a creative space, and two temporary exhibition rooms. The first exhibition in the hall for local artists was the magnificent showcase of Almagul Menlibayeva’s works. The second hall will host major premieres of global art in collaboration with museums from Asia and Europe.

P.S. We don’t fully agree with the title “The first and only museum of contemporary art”, as many of the paintings and installations are not contemporary — such as the works of Kazakhstani painting classics like S. Mambeyev, Zh. Shardenov, A. Galymbayeva, and others.

Overall, our team enjoyed the experience. Beyond the rich cultural content, we’d like to highlight the smart and thoughtful layout of the exhibition space. We thank Nurlan Yerkebulanovich for his support of local talents and his significant contribution to Kazakhstan’s cultural life.

Sincerely,
Ambassador of the Cultural Heritage Foundation,
Art figure Abylai Rakhimov