The Flow presents a comprehensive survey of video art and selected photography from Central Asia, tracing its evolution over the past three decades. Video art in Central Asia as a medium has emerged as one of the most compelling and rapidly evolving fields within the region’s contemporary art. It serves as a distinct lens through which artists critically engage with the historical, political, and social transformations that have shaped today’s reality in Central Asia.

The aim of the programme is to present the prominent works of video art and selected photography created by Central Asian artists within the last 30 years to show the trajectory of its evolution and the way it reflects the social and historical change in the region. 

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Structured chronologically for the first three weeks and around the urgent theme - Environmental Landscape and the Anthropocene - in the fourth week, The Flow reflects the fluidity of artistic thought and the interconnectedness of personal and political narratives across the region. The programme not only charts the development of video art as a form of expression, but also highlights its role as a site of resistance, imagination, and re-envisioning of Central Asia’s place within global contemporary art.

 

Through this programme, we seek to bring Central Asian voices and perspectives to wider audiences, offering a detailed look at the diversity, innovation, and critical engagement that defines the region’s contemporary video practices nowadays. By presenting both pioneering and emerging artists, this initiative not only celebrates key works of the past decades but also invites the viewer into a dialogue about the future of video art and artistic expression in Central Asia. The programme is designed as an immersive and educational experience, encouraging the audience to explore the intersections of culture, memory, and identity, and to appreciate the complex ways in which video art addresses and challenges local and global narratives.

 

Whether made in the early 2000s or just a few months ago, most of these videos are being shown in the UK for the first time. The aim of this programme is to introduce the British public to this rich and varied world of Central Asian moving image.

 

The first week is dedicated to the pioneers of the Central Asian art scene. The late 1990s and 2000s saw artists in this region embrace video art for several reasons. One was its inherent link to narrative. Another, its accessibility both in terms of production and exhibition of such works. Artists took their bodies and cameras out onto the streets. From Meldibekov’s slaps, to Menlibayeva’s roaming of the markets in a bridal dress, to Dzhaparov’s seemingly innocent beach-side games: this was the era of metaphor in art. Who was being slapped, who disappeared into the sea: individual people, groups, or whole countries? Some artists went the other way and addressed the dark side of the new post-Soviet reality head on. Kasmalieva and Djumaliev showed a world where people built their houses on trash dumps or spent their lives in train carriages full of heavy-duty checkered bags.

 

But Central Asia was changing and so was its art scene. During the second week we delves into the next decade. By the 2010s video art became more technically sophisticated, and the artists wore their hearts on their sleeves. Akhmediyarov burned fields revealing faces of significant people, Atabekov brought us up close and personal into the violence and competitiveness of the national sport, Menlibayeva put the historical monument centre stage, Kadyrkhanova wove the thread that links the past and the present. This was the time when it seemed that the Soviet legacy was just that – a legacy – something to evaluate, something that has a bearing on Central Asia’s past, but not on its future. The video art of the period seems assured in its place both within local society and on the international stage. The years between 2005-2015 saw the active participation of Central Asian artists in international exhibitions and regular pavilions at the Venice Biennale.

 

The third week brings us very close to present day. We are looking at the rapidly expanding field of video art – now embraced by a new generation of artists. There is a greater variety of styles and subjects. From the AI generated videos of Ardak Mukanova, to playful documentary-style works of Intizor Otaniyozova, this generation wants us to join them in their struggle. And they have many struggles. The world they find themselves in is much less certain and much more divided, and the videos make that evident. Love, the right for national self-determination, parenthood – things that matter to one person and to all people are here.

 

The fourth part of the programme is dedicated to a subject that has undeniable bearing on us all, whether in London or in Bishkek. Environment is both a significant and a constant theme addressed by Central Asian artists. From the 2000s to today, artists from the region have taken it upon themselves to bring this issue to the wider public. Melting glaciers, plastic pollution, disappearing seas – in Central Asia and beyond – find haunting expressions in the videos. They offer the viewer images of sublime landscapes tinted with regret and despair. What have we done? And do we still have time to change anything?

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Notes to Editors 

 

Flow: Central Asian Video Art Programme runs from 28 November, 2025, to January 18, 2026, with a preview on November 28, 6-8 PM. The programme is open on Thursday, Saturday 2 pm – 6 pm, and Sunday 12 pm – 4 pm, or by appointment. To book an appointment or for general and press enquiries, please contact  info@threehighgate.com or indira@ainalaiynspace.com

 

The exhibition is co-curated by Indira Dyussebayeva-Ziyabek and Aliya de Tiesenhausen, and assistant curator Darya Kalembet, produced in collaboration with Three Highgate Gallery and Ainalaiyn Space.

 

About Three Highgate Gallery

Three Highgate is an art gallery and creative hub based in Highgate Village, an iconic part of London, perched at the top of Highgate Hill and teeming with history and culture. The gallery is run by the founder and director, Irina Johnstone, assisted on this project by Maria Lupashko. Three Highgate places special emphasis on development and promotion of modern and contemporary artists with a unique and poetic vision. In addition to art exhibitions, Three Highgate´s cultural programme further extends artists´ work and legacy through cinematography, book publishing, artists´ talks and residencies.  

threehighgate.com ⏐ @threehighgate
 

About Ainalaiyn Space

Established in 2022 by Indira Dyussebayeva-Ziyabek, Ainalaiyn Space is a nomadic arts project that showcases contemporary art from an interdisciplinary perspective. The project is primarily based in London but works in collaboration with international organisations and a global community of artists, curators and researchers. With learning, research, and experimentation at the centre of its practice, Ainalaiyn Space develops exhibitions, residencies, and public programmes that explore the intersections between art and a range of other disciplines, including science, psychoanalysis, performance, and cultural studies.

ainalaiynspace.com⏐ @ainalaiynspace 

 

About Curators 

Dr Aliya de Tiesenhausen is a writer, curator and editor. She is the author of Central Asia in Art: from Soviet Orientalism to the New Republics published in 2016. Together with Indira Dyussebayeva-Ziyabek, she co-curated the exhibition Focus Kazakhstan: Post-Nomadic Mind in London in 2018 – the first major show of modern and contemporary art from the country in the UK. She regularly organises academic exchanges in her area of interest, including guest editing the Special Issue of Central Asian Survey entitled ‘The social role of art and culture in Central Asia’ in 2021. She writes art reviews for her blog
tiesennotes.com ⏐ @tiesennotes