Central Asia in Art: From Soviet Orientalism to the New Republics by Aliya Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen Laurie Essig Artist Statement

Artist Statement

Examining the government policy that allowed these ‘small architectural forms’ to flourish

money was resurrected as an essential tool of Soviet governance

Franck Billé and Caroline Humphrey have spent years traveling through and studying this important yet forgotten region

lies in how he articulates the shared collective perspective that unites many Russian citizens

Central Asia in Art: From Soviet Orientalism to the New Republics by Aliya Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen Laurie Essig Artist StatementIn the midst of the space race and nuclear age, Soviet Realist artists were producing figurative oil paintings. Why? How was art produced to control and co opt the peripheries of the Soviet Union, particularly Central Asia? Presenting the 'untold story' of Soviet Orientalism, Aliya Abykayeva Tiesenhausen re evaluates the imperial project of the Soviet state, placing the Orientalist undercurrent found within art and propaganda production in the USSR