Kulanshi Art Forum highlights common values rooted in Turkic culture

TANA. November 16. KAZINFORM Unity in the diversity of the Turkic art was demonstrated at the Sixth International Art Forum that opened on November 11 at the Kulanshi Modern Art Centre in Astana. The works of the eight artists from Kazakhstan and Turkey reflected the motto of the exhibition, as well as the Kulanshi Centre in general: Art speaks in the language of universal values and ideals, no matter what one's background is.

Every year, the Kulanshi Art Centre organizes international art forums dedicated to different cultures. The decision to hold the Sixth Forum on the 'magic' date of 11.11.11 and devote it to the Turkic art was set two years ago, the organizer of the exhibition and the director of the Kulanshi Art Centre Leyla Makhat said at the opening of the event, the Kazakh MFA's press service reports.

"For its long history, the culture of the Turks has absorbed all the great variety of the geography of these people. Different peoples, different languages, traditions and customs. However, we do share common culture and values," Makhat said.

"Every year, the Kulanshi Contemporary Art Centre holds international art forums to demonstrate the unity of people of different nationalities and cultures and to provide a colourful scene to discuss art," the Ambassador of Turkey to Kazakhstan Lale Ulker said at the opening. "I believe during the Sixth Forum, art will prove to be more powerful than words to show how Turkish and Kazakh cultures and peoples are close to each other, how our cultures are naturally indivisible," he added

In addition to the exhibition of artworks by Kazakhstan's Tokhtar Ermekov, Zhenis Kakenuly, Yuliya Moskalenko, Konyr Mukhamediyev, Valeriy Pirozhkov and Turkey's Esra Oskay and Cansu and Murat Okmen, the Sixth Art Forum offered a series of master-classes for arts students, as well as conferences and seminars on issues of contemporary fine arts market.

"The works selected for the exhibition differ in technique, direction, and genre, but they share one commonality - they all focus on the eternal values of the beauty of the world in which we live, the love for one's roots, and the hope for a brighter future for our children," Leyla Makhat said.

The decision to dedicate the Sixth International Art Forum to the Turkic art was timely, according to the organizers, since 2012 was announced the "Year of Astana - the cultural capital of the Turkic world" by the international organization of Turkic culture TURKSOY in 2010.

The Forum was also devoted to the 20^th anniversary of the independence of Kazakhstan.

"The Art Forum Kulanshi, like all projects of the Contemporary Art Centre this year, was dedicated to celebrating this landmark event," Leyla Makhat added.

Located in the Palace of Peace and Accord, the Kulanshi Contemporary Art Center has a collection that includes works of talented artists from all over the world, as well as of the prominent masters such as Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, Salvador Dali, and Pablo Picasso. The Centre also has fine arts studios for children and adults. In addition, master-classes, evenings with artists, and relevant lectures and seminars are a regular occurrence here.