Almaty Museum of Arts (AMA) is a major private museum of contemporary art in Kazakhstan which welcomed its first visitors this September. Expectations for this institution are epic – it has been compared to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and already hailed as a world-class venue. Alongside Kazakh art, the AMA collection includes works by Richard Serra (1938-2024), Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945), Bill Viola (1951-2024), Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), and other internationally renowned artists. Art Focus Now explores the new museum, its current exhibitions, and institutional mission.

The Almaty Museum of Arts (AMA) has been founded by well-known entrepreneur and art collector Nurlan Smagulov. He owns the MEGA shopping mall chain and Astana Motors, one of the country’s largest companies assembling and selling cars, as well as a suite of other successful enterprises and since the 1990s, Smagulov has been a highly visible figure in Kazakhstan’s business landscape, with a talent for maintaining good relations with the authorities without being absorbed by them. Publicly, he is seen as the quintessential self-made man, very different from the stereotypical post-Soviet oligarch. Smagulov became interested in art at a relatively young age and while studying at MISiS (Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys), he frequently visited the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, especially to see works from the Shchukin and Morozov collections. Subsequently, he has emphasized the importance of these two Russian patrons for his own collecting practice.

Smagulov started to create his own art collection back in the mid 1990s with the acquisition of a mask by Buryat sculptor Serenzhab Baldano (1930-2014), who lived for many years in Almaty. The work reminded him of his father, who had recently passed away. Baldano went on to become a key artist for Smagulov and today, around ten of his works can be seen in the museum, while the collection holds about sixty. The young entrepreneur soon began acquiring works by contemporary Kazakhstani artists and became actively engaged with Almaty’s art scene. This included artists such as Eduard Kazaryan (b. 1964), Almagul Menlibayeva (b. 1969) and Askar Yesdauletov (b. 1962) all who are now well established. Works by Kazaryan can be found in Smagulov’s entertainment centres across the nation and Kazaryan also helped the entrepreneur to shape his artistic taste.

Alongside his personal passion for art and love of creativity, Smagulov has also been driven by patriotism. In the 1990s, works by major Kazakhstani artists of the Soviet era, such as Sergey Kalmykov (1891-1967) and Pavel Zaltsman (1912-1985), were rapidly flowing into international collections and Smagulov sought to keep important pieces in the country. In addition to contemporary artists, he also began collecting the artists of the sixties, forming a substantial body of their work. As a result, the major exhibition in 2010 called ‘Treasures of Kazakhstan’ at Christie’s in London was composed of pieces from both the state Kasteev Museum collection and Smagulov’s own personal holdings. At that time, he saw himself as a representative of Kazakhstani art on the international stage.

The Treasures of Kazakhstan project was coordinated by a young specialist at Christie’s, Meruert Kaliyeva (now known as the founder of Aspan Gallery and curator of Kazakhstan’s first pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2022). Smagulov had long been friends with her family and that exhibition marked the beginning of their active collaboration in the art sphere. Kaliyeva helped Smagulov to shape and build further his collection and has since become AMA’s director of museum affairs. Over time, Smagulov’s collection began to include works by prominent international artists as well. But the large-scale projects by international artists now displayed at AMA were purchased or commissioned specifically for the museum.

The idea of such an institution had long been on Smagulov’s mind. As early as 2007, another well-known entrepreneur-collector, Serzhan Jumashov, initiated the creation of a museum of contemporary art in Almaty, with Smagulov among those keen to participate. That project, however, did not materialize. At the end of 2020, Smagulov and Kaliyeva began developing the concept for a future institution, and in 2021 an architectural competition was held. The winning design came from the British bureau Chapman Taylor.

The new museum building is undoubtedly a striking addition to Kazakhstan’s cultural capital. Its robust contemporary architecture is defined by sharply dynamic volumes and a play of materials interwoven with one another. The silver metallic cladding symbolizes a developed metropolis looking toward the future, while stone surfaces brought specially from Bavaria evoke the timelessness of mountains and nature. Wooden accents add an organic touch. The facades themselves are not the building’s strongest feature, rather the real visual centrepiece is the ‘Street of Arts’ – a canyon-like space which runs from the main entrance and connects the floors (with a staircase seemingly designed for selfies) and exhibition halls. There is also a massive balcony offering beautiful views of the mountains and a quieter stretch of Al-Farabi Avenue, perfect for cultural events on a summer evening.

Divided by the Street of Arts, the main exhibition hall on the first floor presents ‘I Understand Everything’, probably the most comprehensive retrospective to date of the work of Almagul Menlibayeva, Kazakhstan’s most internationally recognized artist. Her video and photographic works, exploring national identity, ecological issues, and gender concerns, are widely known, and the exhibition includes all of them. In winter some of the video works will be rotated, as the vast display cannot accommodate them all at once. Less familiar to international audiences is Menlibayeva’s early painting, rooted in the traditions of local unofficial art of the late Soviet era. Particularly striking is a non-classical tapestry-style hanging selected by Thai curator Gridthiya Gaweewong. Each period of Menlibayeva’s painting is represented as a tightly clustered patch of canvases hung in multiple tiers.

‘I Understand Everything’ will stay on view for six months, unusual in Almaty where art exhibitions are notoriously short-lived - the excellent solo show Mate(r)reality (2024) by Sayan Baigaliyev (b. 1996) at the Kasteev Museum lasted less than a month, even with an extension. Art exhibitions are seen primarily by the art crowd and by the time broader audiences hear of them (and any analysis has appeared), they are already closed. AMA, however, plans to disrupt this, with shows typically lasting for half a year.

Also on the first floor is the permanent exhibition Qonaqtar (‘Guests’), featuring Central Asian art from Smagulov’s collection. The museum’s chief curator, Inga Lāce – formerly of MoMA in New York – explains: “I decided against a linear narrative because it didn’t reflect the nature of the collection, which was formed through the passion of the collector. I looked for recurring themes in the works and found many festive scenes related to traditional Kazakh hospitality, vital for survival in nomadic life. There is also another angle: in the 20th century, Kazakhstan became home to many migrants, both as a result of Stalin’s repressions and Soviet industrial and agricultural projects requiring vast labor forces. They were welcomed here and eventually saw Kazakhstan as their home. This largely shaped today’s multiethnic and multicultural Kazakhstan, which is reflected in the art.”

The exhibition thus reflects both the country’s 20th-century history and older Kazakh traditions. National themes coexist with intercultural dialogues, echoing the very concept of the museum – introducing Kazakh audiences to both national and international art. This dense display includes works by artists of the sixties, led by Salikhitdin Aitbayev (1938-1994), Abdrashit Sydykhanov (1931-2011), 1990’s art classic Sergey Maslov (1952-2002), contemporary political artist Yerbossyn Meldibekov (b. 1964), among many others. Every few years, the permanent exhibition will change to allow visitors to see more works from Smagulov’s collection.

The international section of the museum will remain constant. These are large-scale works and each has been given its own separate space to encourage immersive engagement. For instance, there is Richard Serra’s 2011 sculpture Intersection, housed in the last hall on the first floor. After wandering through its steel labyrinth, they can view the work in its entirety from the second floor. The museum also plans to host cultural events and performances within Serra’s monumental installation. On the second floor there are spaces dedicated to Anselm Kiefer with the monumental painting-installation ‘When These Writings Burn, They Will Finally Cast a Little Light, 2020-2021, Bill Viola and his 1994 video installation ‘Stations’, and Yayoi Kusama with her 2013 immersive installation ‘Love is Calling’.

There are also monumental outdoor sculptures commissioned specifically for AMA. By the main entrance you find ‘Nadesh’ (2023), by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa (b. 1955), popular in Kazakhstan, the head of a ‘universal’ girl with braids styled in the Kazakh tradition. Her closed eyes and serene expression invite visitors to slow down and shift into another perceptual register as they enter the museum. Nearby is the elegant ‘Wind Sculpture (TP) II’ (2022) by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare (b. 1962). Its painted surface evokes wind-blown Ankara fabric, a symbol of hybrid identity. Both of these works highlight the harmonious coexistence of national and multicultural elements. Behind the museum building you come across ‘Pre-Position’ (2023) by Alicja Kwade (b. 1979) – a striking cosmic installation made of nineteen stone spheres from different continents, appearing to roll down a staircase and hover mid-air on a metal structure. The artist drew inspiration from the Torysh Valley in western Kazakhstan, known for its spherical geological formations.

The museum also plans lectures, film screenings, and workshops for various age groups – including the elderly, who need spaces for socialization. It will feature a restoration workshop and initiate research projects in collaboration with international institutions. In early October, for example, AMA will host a conference on performance art in Central Asia and the Caucasus, co-organized with Tate Modern in London.

AMA is envisioned as both a platform for introducing Kazakh audiences to national and international contemporary art, helping popularize its very language, and as a means of attracting international cultural attention to Kazakhstan, fostering both tourism and intellectual exchange. Unsurprisingly, Smagulov has cited the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, which transformed the fate of its city, as his inspiration. AMA will surely energize Kazakhstan’s art scene, long hampered by a lack of institutional support and infrastructure. Although it is too early to draw any hard and fast conclusions as the opening of AMA and Tselinny is only a first step, but it seems a step in the right direction.