Bill Viola retrospective opens in Almaty, marking Central Asia debut

A landmark exhibition of the renowned video artist Bill Viola has opened at the Almaty Museum of Arts (ALMA), marking the first time his work is showcased in Central Asia. This retrospective, titled 'The Space of Time,' represents a significant cultural event for the region and is dedicated to the artist, who died in 2024.

Viola, recognized as a highly influential video artist of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, has previously exhibited at prestigious institutions worldwide, including MoMA in New York and the Tate Modern in London. Kazakhstan now joins this list thanks to the Almaty Museum of Arts, which opened in September of the previous year. The museum's founders, Nurlan Smagulov and Madina Smagulova, acquired Viola's installation 'Stations' (1994) for one of its Artist Rooms, providing Almaty audiences their initial exposure to his art.

“

We had dreamed of bringing an international exhibition of the highest caliber to Almaty. Bill Viola was a global figure. In 2017, I traveled with my family to Liège, Belgium, to see his exhibition, and even then we began thinking about how important it would be to make an encounter with world-class video art possible in Almaty too.

'The Space of Time' brings together 18 of Viola's works, created between 1977 and 2013. The collection includes large-scale immersive installations and smaller video pieces, displayed within the museum's Uly Dala hall. The exhibition was organized by ALMA in collaboration with the Bill Viola Studio, led by the artist's wife and long-time collaborator, Kira Perov, who also served as the project's curator.

Nurlan Smagulov expressed his long-held ambition to bring world-class international exhibitions to Almaty. He shared his personal experience of seeing Viola's work in Belgium in 2017, which fueled the desire to make such art accessible in Almaty. Smagulov hopes the exhibition will attract visitors globally and serve the museum's core mission: to connect Kazakhstan with the international art scene. He also emphasized the importance of inspiring local and Central Asian artists through this exposure, fostering a creative exchange that benefits the region's art community.

“

I hope this retrospective will draw visitors from China, Azerbaijan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and countries around the world to see Bill Viola’s work in person. Being able to give everyone access to his art speaks to the museum’s core mission: to integrate Kazakhstan into the global art world. It matters deeply to us that local and Central Asian artists find inspiration here and go on to create great work that we can one day bring to audiences abroad. That exchange is crucial to everything we do.