Between Suzani and Matisse: Ural Tansykbayev in the 1930s

• In Event: Visual Culture in Central Asia I: Repetition and Reenactment

Abstract

Focusing on categories of Central Asian visual production that are typically studied in isolation, this paper offers a comparative analysis of the structural elements found in embroidered tapestries known as suzani and in early works on paper by Soviet Central Asian artist Ural Tansykbayev. The guiding principle is the operation of repetition— within individual artworks and as a broader artistic practice. Ultimately, the paper challenges prevailing interpretations of Tansykbayev’s early work as a mere adaptation of European modernism’s visual language, reframing it not as a belated effort but as an innovative contribution and a negotiation of his complex identity.

Author

• Aziza Izamova, Harvard U