Central Asia in Art

In the midst of the space race and nuclear age, Soviet Realist artists were producing figurative oil paintings. Why? How was art produced to control and co-opt the peripheries of the Soviet Union, particularly Central Asia? Presenting the 'untold story' of Soviet Orientalism, Aliya Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen re-evaluates the imperial project of the Soviet state, placing the Orientalist undercurrent found within art and propaganda production in the USSR alongside the creation of new art forms in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. From the turmoil of the 1930s through to the post-Stalinist era, the author draws on meticulous new research and rich illustrations to examine the political and social structures in the Soviet Union - and particularly Soviet Central Asia - to establish vital connections between Socialist Realist visual art, the creation of Soviet identity and later nationalist sentiments.

Aliya Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen

Introduction: Soviet Orientalism - the Untold Story Chapter 1. The Politics of Multinationalism: Messages from the Centre The Union of Nations Nationality Policy The Great Russian People The Imperial Project and Soviet Art Russification Transformations Moscow and Muscovites Metro The War Chapter 2. Soviet Totalitarianism: the Visual Experiment Invented Doctrine and Exploitation of Visual Imagery Art Caged within Gesamtkunstwerk Ideal Humans in the Multinational Context of the USSR Chapter 3. Teaching to See: Bringing Art to the Republics Central Asia and the Great Russian Brother Exploitation, Labour and Industry Semion Chuikov: Daughters of Soviet Kyrgyzia (or Lolitas of the Soviet East Soviet Orientalism? Or Orientalism as Alternative? Pavel Benkov: Soviet Impressionism Alexander Volkov: Alternative East or Late Modernism Museumification of National Identity Chapter 4. Learning to Be: the Natives Learn to Paint or the Arrival of Soviet Identities National versus Soviet: from History to Everyday Life The Challenge to Tradition: the Patriarchal family versus the Soviet Friend Literacy, Language and Education Land, Agricultural Production and Nostalgia Abylkhan Kasteev: Primitive and National Ural Tansykbaev: Avant-Garde road to Socialist Realist Dream Conclusion. De-Stalinization and Beyond, from Stalin to Borat After Stalin? From Kasteev to Meldibekov Central Asia, Soviet Art, Orientalism: Discourses and Images Bibliographical References List of Illustrations Illustrations Appendix: Artists' Biographies