Kazakhstani artist Asel Kadyrkhanova’s installation “Machine,” dedicated to the Red Terror and Stalinist repressions, was removed from the Kazakhstan pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale.
The Kazakhstan National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale opened on May 6. The Kazakh Ministry of Culture and Information removed the installation from the exhibition one day before the opening.
The ministry explained the decision, in part, by the fact that according to the agreement with the Naval History Museum of Venice, which hosts the pavilion, the works on display should not be of political, ideological, or other character, Vlast.kz reported.
The ministry also stated that a new interpretation and adapted version of the installation was planned for inclusion in the Kazakhstan national pavilion.
According to Kadyrkhanova, her work was removed from the exhibition by the ministry’s order following pressure demanding to modify the installation conceptually and stylistically. She emphasized that no objections regarding the installation had been received from the Italian side.
The Naval History Museum of Venice did not demand the removal of Kadyrkhanova’s work, D’Uva S.r.l., the company that manages the museum, stated in response to an inquiry from Vlast.kz.
The company confirmed that an agreement was signed with the organizers of the Kazakhstan pavilion in January. It includes a standard requirement that the works on display be consistent with the historical, institutional, and public nature of the exhibition space, do not harm the image of the Italian Navy, the Ministry of Defense, and the involved government agencies, and do not have a propagandistic nature.
D’Uva S.r.l. emphasized that this provision does not refer to any specific artwork, historical theme, or geopolitical issue, nor does it specifically prohibit works dedicated to complex or dramatic episodes of Soviet or Kazakh history, including the Stalinist repressions.
In an interview, Kadyrkhanova said that the day before the opening, curators from the ministry demanded that she modify the installation by removing the details depicting arrest warrants and replacing them with white pieces of paper.
Kadyrkhanova responded that this was impossible not only ideologically, as it would change the entire meaning of the artwork, which tells the story of the 1937-38 repressions in Kazakhstan, but also physically, since even if 10 people were to do that, they simply wouldn’t have enough time.
Under pressure, Kadyrkhanova finally agreed to modify the installation, understanding that it was connected to the entire exhibition and important for the pavilion’s opening, but refused to do it herself and left the pavilion.
Returning some time later, she saw that the installation had been dismantled.
The ministry also accused Kadyrkhanova’s work of being derivative, claiming that it was too similar to a work of Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota. In the interview, Kadyrkhanova says that in 2013, when she first created her installation, she was unaware of the Japanese artist.
Artists Elena and Viktor Vorobyov issued a statement expressing their full support for Kadyrkhanova and demanding that the Ministry of Culture and Information apologize to the artist and return her work to the Kazakhstan pavilion in Venice.
Photo: The “Machine” installation at an exhibition in 2018 (kadyrkhanova.com)
