Monumentality and Symbolism in Bauyrzhan Doszhanov’s Tapestry Artworks

Abstract

This article examines the creative method of the young Kazakh tapestry artist Bauyrzhan Doszhanov. In mythological plots, religious motives, symbolic images, he reveals a rich ethnographic heritage of Turkic peoples, the ancient nomadic civilization of Eurasian steppes. The artist’s credo rests on two aesthetic-visual principles of monumentality and symbolism. Aesthetics of minimalism shapes the composition of tapestries, while monumentality scales the imagery andg raphics of artworks.

Keywords

• Kazakh contemporary art
• modern Kazakh tapestry
• nomadic Turkic mythology
• traditional nomadic archetypes
• monumentality of imagery
• Bauyrzhan Doszhanov