Central Asian Project

About

Central Asian Project is a collaborative exchange organised by Cornerhouse, SPACE (London), and AsiaArt+ (Almaty, Kazakhstan) dedicated to forging new links between the UK and Central Asia. Encompassing exhibitions, artist residencies and cultural exchange, the project aims to increase communication and cultural understanding by acknowledging and reflecting upon the prejudices and preconceptions that are held about other cultures.
UK based-artists Dinu Li, Ruth Maclennan and Shona Illingworth will exhibit work developed during residencies in Central Asia.
Dinu Li's photography and video investigates issues of identity in contemporary Kazakhstan, looking at dualities between urban and rural, local and global individual and collective. Maclennan's film Valley of Castles (Hunting Eagles) explores human identification with the golden eagle, a powerful symbol used throughout history on flags and heraldry, whilst Shona Illingworth works with video and sound to examine issues of dislocation.
Kazakhstan-based artist Alexander Ugay will premiere a new series of photos and video completed during a three month residency at SPACE, in summer 2006. Ugay's practice involves 'cinema-objects' in the form of short, experimental films, parables and performances recorded on 16mm Soviet-era video cameras. Central Asian-based artists, Vyacheslav Akhunov, Natalya Dyu and Almagul Menlibayeva, will show their media works alongside their UK colleagues, whilst also developing new works to be shown in a final joint exhibition in Central Asia.
The first joint exhibition of its kind in the UK, Central Asian Project will show at Cornerhouse, and SPACE (Sat 17 February ' Sat 14 April), linking events and activities at both venues, before showing in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.