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Is culture a viable alternative to oil as a driver
of economic growth? This is a question being
mulled over by many of the oil-rich nations
around the world that have based their
futures on historically high oil prices over
the past decade. These same nations are now
rethinking their economic forecasts due to
the current reality of lower global oil prices.
Since 2001, state oil companies and their
generous revenues have funded enormous
urban expansion in places like the United
Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and
Qatar, all of which have included national
cultural projects such as the museums of
Saadiyat Island in the UAE, the Museum of
Islamic Art in Qatar, the Heydar Aliyev
Center in Baku, and the Kazakh National
Museum in Astana. Many of these countries
have been some of the most generous arts
patrons globally, funding exhibitions and
projects at home and abroad as a way to build
commonality with regions that may be less
familiar with non-Western contexts. However,
the global downturn of commodity prices
in 2014 inevitably resulted in cutbacks in
soft projects like museums and public arts
programs, as these once oil-rich states faced
Art in a Post-Oil World
BY LESLEY ANN GRAYAlternative funding models for a booming art scene in Kazakhstan
more immediate concerns such as economic
and infrastructure development. Ironically,
as tourism is one of the industries recently
identified as a replacement for commodity
dependence, arts and culture will be crucial
to emerging post-oil economies. But how can
nascent art initiatives continue to develop
under changing patronage structures and
diminished state support?
Take Kazakhstan, one of the most
energy-rich countries on the planet. With
high global oil and gas prices, the country
has posted sustained growth since 1998 due
to domestic and foreign investment in oil
and mining. Since its independence from
the Soviet Union in 1991, institutional
development has occurred alongside urban
and economic development and, due to this
support, art institutions are flush with public
and private patronage. Museums and
cultural initiatives are used to promote and
strengthen Kazakhstan’s national identity
and have received generous support from
the government, with several billion being
spent to promote Kazakh film, theater,
culture, handicrafts and art. In recent
years, however, the focus has turned tocontemporary art as the National Museum
of the Republic of Kazakhstan opened in
2014 in the capital Astana, and the Astana
Art Fest, which focuses on local and regional
contemporary art and new media, returned
for the second year in 2016. Astana will also
host the 2017 Expo, which has accelerated
the development of various cultural events
involving the Kazakh art community to
draw in tourists. In Almaty, Kazakhstan, the
cultural capital and home to the majority
of the country’s creative class, established
institutions such as the Kasteev Museum of
Art partners with local culture professionals
to incorporate art into their programming.
Kazakhstan-based contemporary artists are
showcased in Almaty galleries like Esentai,
located in the upscale Esentai Mall, and
Aspan Gallery, which represents well-known
figures such as Almagul Menlibayeva, and
Yelena and Viktor Vorobyev.
Abroad, Kazakh artists have enjoyed
increased exposure. In Europe, the
International Art Development Association
(IADA), located in London and Paris,
organizes artist residencies and supports
exhibitions of Kazakh artwork abroad inOpening of the exhibition “Symbiosis” in Almaty’s Botanical Garden, as part of Artbat Fest 7, “City in Motion,” 2016.
Photo by Theo Frost and Anna Assonova. Courtesy Eurasian Cultural Alliance, Almaty.