Shamanism, globalisation and religion in the contemporary art of said atabekov and the kazakh art collective kyzyl tractor
Yessekeyeva E. Venbrux E.
May 2021MDPI AG
Religions
2021#12Issue 5
Central Asia’s most famous artist Said Atabekov both interrogates and imagines religiosity in post-Soviet Kazakhstan in his art. He has been doing so as a member of the Kyzyl Tractor (Red Tractor) art collective and in his own art practice. They perform as shamans and explore the nomadic steppe culture of the days of yore. Offering a nuanced and often ironic critique of present-day developments in his art, Atabekov seeks to make his audience think about meaning making or the lack thereof. He highlights the inclusiveness of vernacular religion while simultaneously drawing attention to the vacuousness of the hegemonic ideologies of the day, ranging from communism to capitalism to dogmatic religion. From his oeuvre, we discuss works that concern a dervish shaman, the nomadic game of kokpar and the advent of rigid religion, respectively.
Contemporary art , Kazakhstan , Kyzyl Tractor , Said Atabekov , Shamanism , Sufism , Tengrism
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Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Department of Comparative Religion, Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Radboud University, Erasmusplein 1, Nijmegen, 6525 HT, Netherlands
Department of Religious and Cultural Studies
Department of Comparative Religion
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