KZBlog

You never hear a lot about Kazakhstani artists outside of Kazakhstan. There’s a handful of fashion designers that do some international shows and the writer Abai has been heard of throughout the Soviet Union. Even a few orchestras and traditional Kazakh musicians seem to make headlines in other countries occasionally. But painters and sculptors tend to get short shrift.

So I was surprised to hear from some friends here that Nelly Bube, born in Astana, is quite a darling of the expat community. Her paintings are not radically different from a lot of other Kazakhstani artists but they are well-executed and brightly colored. They vaguely remind me of works by the dutchmasters, not so much in style, but insofar as they depict ordinary life and ordinary objects. It is interesting that a lot of art in Kazakhstan depicts medieval nomadic life, even when the artist is of German heritage, like Bube. Of course, only a few years ago, artists were expected to glorify Soviet farmers and agricultural workers so perhaps this is a transitional period for local art.

In any case, here are a few of my favorite works by Bube: