Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

Transoxiana Dreams addresses the social, economical and ecological situation of the locally called Aralkum generation, the peoples living in the vast region of the rapidly receding Aral Sea due to the radical irrigation policies of the Soviet Union in the 1960?s, between Soviet Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and southwestern Kazakhstan. Almagul Menlibayeva portrays the impact on the inhabitants of a formerly thriving area with tourism, beaches and fishing fleets, now living upon a constantly growing salt desert in a desolate landscape. Through the eyes of a fisherman?s daughter in a dreamlike mélange of documentary and fantasy, she depicts their struggle to survive in the 21st Century.

Almagul Menlibayeva was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan, lives and works in Kazakhstan and Berlin and holds an MFA from the Art & Theatre University of Almaty. She has gained international recognition exhibiting at the 10th Sharjah Biennial; 15th Sydney Biennial; 51st, 52nd and 53rd Venice Biennale; Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, M HKA, Antwerp, Belgium; Queens Museum, NY; Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Ithaca, NY; Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway; University of California, San Diego, CA; Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City; Queensland Art Gallery, Bisbane, Australia; and Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL. Menlibayeva`s videos have been shown at the Santiago International Film Festival, Chile; International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany; International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Les Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France; and Videonale 13, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany. In 2010, Menlibayeva was the recipient of a grant from the Open Society Institute Budapest, Art and Culture Network Program.