Top right: Festivity, handwoven wool and cotton tapestry with semiprecious stones, 62" x 59".
Bottom: Contemplation, handwoven wool and cotton tapestry, 40" x 57". Photographs: Christophe Randall.
Bapanov, Saule and Alibay
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Artist Statement
For over twenty years, my husband Alibay and I have created handwoven and hand-felted tapestries using the centuries-old techniques of our nomad ancestors. We find inspiration in blending Central Asian cultural icons with modern artistic expression. We are always seeking new artistic challenges and love opening unexpected horizons with every piece, whether bold color contrasts or fluid color gradation, grand scale or smaller size pieces, ethnic symbolism or universal abstraction. Our tapestries are found in museums and private collections in Europe and Asia. We are very happy to reach an American audience through Meggy Wagner and Art Beyond Borders. Meggy's friendship and enthusiasm for our work has been an inspiration and great source of energy for us for more than a decade! We live and work in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and teach painting and textile art at the Kazakh National Academy of Art. In 2003 Alibay was awarded the Kazakh National Medal of Honor for his lifetime achievements in the arts. In 2007 we were awarded the Platinum Tarlan of the Mécénats' Club of Kazakhstan.