Kazakhstan

Tengri means heaven. For centuries, Tengri has guided Kazakhs and their herds through the Great Steppe of Central Asia, so that they do not lose their way in space and time.

Today’s Kazakhstan is an ethnic mosaic. In addition to Kazakhs, there are Uzbeks, Tatars, Chechens, Koreans, Germans, Poles. In total, there are over 130 registered nationalities. Cultures, religions, customs, cuisine, languages ​​have mixed. After regaining independence in 1991, Kazakhstan began to develop dynamically.

Modern residents, however, have not lost themselves in modernity. They still remember Tengri, and they still cultivate traditions from the times when Tengri was a god. They seek his advice in the melodies played by the kobyz – a musical instrument that symbolizes the path of the shamanic path from the underworld, through the earth to the sky.
The central axis of the capital of Kazakhstan – Astana – evokes mythical times. Nurzhol Boulevard was led along a sacred path. A tower was erected on its route, referring to the shamanic tree of life.

Kazakhs still practice traditional sports such as falconry, kokbar, or kokpar. Each of them was created by life on the Great Steppe under the cloak of Tengri. I had the opportunity to watch them during the World Nomad Games in Astana. An extraordinary event during which descendants of nomads from all over the world compete in ethnic sports.

The works in the exhibition were made in cyanotype. It is one of the discarded photographic techniques, which is somewhere between painting and reflector. Its application is applied to contemporary images patina of age. The present becomes the past. Kazakhstan allows me to do this not like treatment, medical treatment. Tengri breath on the hand.

I’d like to extend special thanks to the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Republic of Poland and the Air Astana airlines.