Batima Zaurbekova's 80th-Birthday Tapestry Retrospective Opens at Abylkhan Kasteyev National Museum in Almaty
In celebration of Batima Zaurbekova's 80th birthday, the Abylkhan Kasteyev National Museum of Arts in Almaty is hosting a retrospective titled Threads of Heritage, featuring over 80 of her works. Curated by Alina Fedorovich and Natalya Bazhenova, the exhibition will be open until 8 November 2026. A graduate of the Alma-Ata Art School in 1969, Zaurbekova draws inspiration from her childhood and her mother, Bibikhan. The showcase includes oil paintings and tapestry pieces, such as Still Life (1978) and Quraqs (2015). The final section highlights womanhood, displaying a shanyrak above portraits and her latest work, Transitional Season (2026). Zaurbekova embraced her Kazakh themes without compromise, favoring Impressionism.
Key facts
- Threads of Heritage marks Batima Zaurbekova's 80th birthday with more than 80 works at the Abylkhan Kasteyev National Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty.
- The exhibition is curated by Alina Fedorovich with Natalya Bazhenova and runs until 8 November 2026.
- Zaurbekova graduated from the Alma-Ata Art School in 1969, the year she made Ornamental Rug, the earliest work on show.
- The show spans three halls and includes a pavilion modelled on the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkestan, a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2003.
- Several compositions appear in both oil and tapestry, including Still Life (1978), highlighting the dialogue between painting and weaving.
- Works on view include Quraqs (2015), Madonna of the Steppe (1980), Kazakhstan (1977) and the new Transitional Season (2026).
- After 1991, state purchases stopped, the supplying art factory closed and the artists' union fund shut down; in 1997 Zaurbekova taught tapestry in Istanbul and produced 35 landscapes in a month.
- Zaurbekova cites her mother Bibikhan, a seamstress of national costume, and a childhood among flat-woven carpets as formative influences.
Entities
Artists
- Batima Zaurbekova
- Alina Fedorovich
- Natalya Bazhenova
- Bibikhan
- Timur
- Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
- Kirill Fedorov
Institutions
- Abylkhan Kasteyev National Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan
- Alma-Ata Art School
- Almaty Museum of Arts
- Unesco
- Ministry of Culture
- Canvas
- Abylkhan Kasteyev State Museum of Arts
Locations
- Almaty
- Kazakhstan
- Turkestan
- Merke
- Astana
- Istanbul
- Türkiye