Born in the country’s former capital, they moved to Estonia at age three, returning during school breaks until their teenage years. After relocating to the United States in the early 2000s, these visits ceased.
Nostalgia was managed by recalling moments like eating ice cream near their grandmother’s apartment or glimpsing felt-covered yurts in the Tian Shan mountains. Over time, their Kazakh past became distant.
Reviving Nomadic Heritage Through Fashion and Art
For millennia, the Great Steppe was home to Turkic tribes known as the Kazakh Khanate. Their nomadic lifestyle, centered around livestock and portable yurts, shaped their worldview. The yurt, a sacral structure, symbolized the universe. However, this identity faced suppression during the Soviet era, with collectivization and famine displacing and killing over a third of the Kazakh population.
Since gaining independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has undergone significant changes. Artifacts like Qarlygash’s mosaics were dismantled, and felt, once central to Kazakh life, gave way to imports and luxury brands. Yet, a new generation of artists is reclaiming these traditions.
Her designs, described as “modern armor for the soul,” draw from the steppe’s cosmology and Tengrism, a nomadic worldview deeply rooted in Kazakh traditions.
Aitzhanova’s brand name, Al Basty, references an ancient Turkic shapeshifting female spirit. Once used to scold children, this figure was originally a protector of women in childbirth. Aitzhanova’s work, inspired by Kazakh myths, includes pieces like the Bayur liver bag and a coat inspired by the sacred swan of Kazakh legends, Aqqu.
This revival of traditional motifs is not limited to fashion. Artist Laila Zharkyn has spent six years reinventing handmade felt, a craft once central to Kazakh households. Her large-scale panels blend modern aesthetics with traditional symbolism, appearing in galleries and design lookbooks. In 2024, she created a monumental felt work for the Central State Museum, described as a “time code enciphered in felt.”
Zharkyn’s work explores fundamental aspects of Kazakh culture, such as dastarkhan, the philosophy of welcoming guests. She teaches felting to her family, ensuring the craft’s survival. “When we know our history, we’re firmly rooted in the ground,” she reflects.
The Yurt’s Sacred Legacy and Soviet Suppression
The yurt held deep spiritual significance for the Kazakhs, symbolizing the universe’s structure. This belief was systematically eroded over the past two centuries. Collectivization, forced settlements, and the Soviet-induced famine of the 1930s devastated the Kazakh population, killing and displacing over a third of its people. Former nomads lost their lands, animals, and traditional way of life, severing their connection to this sacred structure.
Soviet Mosaics and Urban Revival
These mosaics, once used to communicate Soviet values, now adorn cafes and streets, reinterpreted by local artists.
Daria Zaitova, founder of Art Oskolok, creates mosaics using natural stone and glass. She attributes their appeal to their durability and vibrancy, contrasting modern materials.
Ceramist Altynay Baizhan explores themes of roots and identity through her art. Her grandfather, a legendary Kazakh painter, worked in the same studio she now occupies. Baizhan’s pieces, such as a supersized amulet wall panel, highlight the strength of Kazakh women, addressing contemporary social issues like gender-based violence.
Her multimedia installation, Saparlau, features a shanyrak, the wooden crown of a yurt, symbolizing the connection between sky spirits and ancestors. Beneath it, ceramic swallows and poppies soar, representing the enduring journey home.