Solo Jubilee Exhibition of Kazakhstani Artist Nelly Bubé: «Dialogue of Cultures. East-West»

Attention! Opening on June 18, 2025!

On June 18, 2025, at 4:00 PM, the State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan named after Abylkhan Kasteev will open the solo jubilee exhibition of Kazakhstani artist Nelly Bubé, titled «Dialogue of Cultures. East-West.»

This large-scale project spans over five decades of the artist’s creative journey. The exhibition features paintings, graphic works, collages, art objects, and easel compositions, all unified by the central theme of dialogue - between civilizations, generations, and time.

More than 80 works will be on display. Bubé’s art revolves around three dominant themes: cultural continuity, ecology, and biblical motifs. These subjects are conveyed through a metaphorical visual language, expressive forms, and the artist’s distinctive technique.

For Nelly Bubé, East-West is not a bridge, but a shared space of cultural interaction. Her series on the Great Silk Road is not just a geographical reference, but a poetic meditation on exchange and unity between Europe and Asia. Since 2002, she has sought the most powerful visual embodiment of this concept; two versions of this series are included in the exhibition.

A special section is dedicated to the cultural and spiritual values of Turkic peoples. The artwork «Saukele» reflects the threefold cosmological structure (underworld, earth, sky) embodied in the traditional headdress turned symbol of existence. In «Hospitality,» a large kazan (cauldron) becomes a center of community and warmth, symbolising nomadic hospitality and unity. «Kobyz», rendered abstractly, represents Kazakh musical heritage, while «Kazakh Woman» offers a collective image of a nomadic woman. In her diptych «Many-Faced Asia,» Bubé portrays the diverse ethnicities of Kazakhstan - a theme she has revisited through numerous portraits over the years.

The ecological cycle is a visual protest against environmental destruction - an emotional artistic outcry. Bubé creates unforgettable images of distorted animals tangled in wires and metal, transforming industrial waste into a metaphor for lost harmony with nature. Works like «Nest of the Lonely Bird» and «New Moon» are painted in mixed media (acrylic and oil pastel) on canvas, essentially serving as colourful graphic statements. Since the late 1990s, ecology has been a persistent concern in Bubé’s work, first emerging in her 1997 solo exhibition at the «Ular» Gallery.

In 2019, during a symposium in Nicosia (Northern Cyprus), the artist created a series of 30 eco-themed pieces, now housed at the Museum of Biology and Natural History in Nicosia, attesting to the theme’s global significance.

A notable section of the show explores biblical narratives, which Bubé began developing in 1999. These works offer a noncanonical, Eastern interpretation of Old Testament stories and parables. Christ, the prophets, and apostles are portrayed in Central Asian clothing, making them relatable to a Kazakh audience while preserving their universal spiritual essence. These works have been exhibited in Oslo, Kristiansand, Bergen, and are now part of international collections. The exhibition also features early sketches, drawings, and book illustrations from the artist’s formative years.

Nelly Bubé’s art is a living, evolving organism - responsive, reflective, and inspiring. Her work holds memory of nomadic traditions, anxiety of the present, and yearning for spiritual balance. «Dialogue of Cultures» is not merely a theme - it is a philosophical realm of art, inviting viewers into deep reflection. Bubé is an artist in dialogue with the world, the future - and with each of us.

Nelly Vitalyevna Bubé is an Honoured Cultural Worker of the Republic of Kazakhstan, member of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan, the Kazakhstan Academy of Arts, and an Honorary Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Arts. Born in 1949 in Karaganda, she graduated from the Almaty Art College named after N.V. Gogol (1969) and the Abylai Kazakh Pedagogical Institute (1977). She has participated in numerous city, national, international, and solo exhibitions.