During Soviet times, arts and culture were promoted, financed and used by the state and the communist party as an instrument to underpin the state, their party values and ideology. Cultural content had to align with ideological propaganda and be broadly understood by the general public. It also had to instill into people a feeling of being a part of the USSR family alongside its objectives and achievements.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the concomitant economic dip and scarcity of state resources in the newly independent Kyrgyz Republic, the arts and culture community and Kyrgyz Union of Artists not only lost its financing but more importantly its role in society and the state. Twenty years after independence, like other newly independent states, the multi-ethnic Kyrgyz Republic is still struggling with a new national identity appealing to all constituent parts of the country. There is also a lack of understanding of citizen responsibility in a pluralistic market economy.
Б’Art Contemporary was founded in 2007 by Shaarbek Amankul as an artistic research project and mobile art practice aimed at developing and promoting contemporary art in Kyrgyzstan as an alternative to the traditional view of and approach to art.
VISION: To establish Contemporary Art and Culture in Kyrgyzstan as a platform supporting creative interaction, collaboration and the generation of new media as well as forging intercultural connections between artists and societies in both Central Asia and internationally.
MISSION: To promote Contemporary Art as a cultural sensor and facilitator of critical dialogue on environmental, social, economic and cultural issues faced by the people of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asian societies.
