Batima Zaurbekova: Threads of Heritage

The Abylkhan Kasteyev National Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty presents Threads of Heritage, a major exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of Batima Zaurbekova, one of Kazakhstan’s most influential artists and a pioneer of the national school of tapestry. On view from September 25 to November 8, 2026, the exhibition brings together more than 80 works—including tapestries, paintings, and graphic works—from the museum’s collection and the artist’s family archive. Threads of Heritage is curated by Alina Fedorovich.

A tapestry is a handwoven textile artwork in which an image is created not with paint, but by weaving coloured threads on a loom. In Kazakhstan, the medium flourished during the second half of the twentieth century, when artists reimagined traditional carpet weaving and felt ornamentation as the foundation for a new form of visual art. This gave rise to the Kazakh school of tapestry—an artistic movement that combined folk traditions, national ornament, and the visual language of modern painting. Batima Zaurbekova was one of its founding figures and leading innovators.

A Distinguished Artist of Kazakhstan and recipient of the State Prize of the Kazakh SSR, Zaurbekova spent more than five decades shaping the development of Kazakh tapestry, creating a body of work that seamlessly united traditional craftsmanship with a contemporary artistic vision. Threads of Heritage places her work within the broader context of world art, exploring its dialogue with traditional craft, modernist painting, and universal cultural ideas.

The exhibition unfolds as a journey through three interconnected galleries. The experience begins in the museum’s permanent collection galleries, where masterpieces of Kazakh decorative and applied art highlight the deep connection between Zaurbekova’s work and the country’s artistic heritage. The monumental architecture of the exhibition pavilion evokes the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, an image that frequently appears throughout the artist’s oeuvre.

At the same time, the structure becomes a metaphor for home, sanctuary, and spiritual refuge, reflecting the central themes of her work: the unity of humanity and nature, and the sacred character of both material and craft.

The second gallery presents Zaurbekova’s works in a series of thematic sections, each devoted to a distinct strand of her artistic practice. The open exhibition design encourages visitors to explore freely, allowing the works to be experienced from multiple perspectives and in changing relationships with one another. A carefully curated musical soundscape provides an additional cultural dimension, enriching the visitor’s understanding of the exhibition.

The final gallery is dedicated to Zaurbekova’s vision of womanhood. At its centre hangs a shanyrak—the symbolic crown of the traditional Kazakh yurt—surrounded by portraits of Kazakh women dressed in national costume. Together, they celebrate femininity as a symbol of continuity, family, and the enduring cycle of life.

This concluding space also features a documentary film about the artist, archival photographs, and an interactive educational weaving loom, where visitors can gain first-hand insight into the craft and techniques behind tapestry making. More than a traditional retrospective, Threads of Heritage reintroduces tapestry as a vibrant and contemporary artistic medium—one that continues to speak to audiences through the universal language of art.The exhibition is intended for a broad audience, from art historians and collectors to designers, architects, and members of the creative community seeking inspiration in cultural traditions as a living source of contemporary visual expression. Decades after they were created, Batima Zaurbekova’s tapestries continue to speak of home, memory, and the continuity of generations. Threads of Heritage offers visitors an encounter with a past that remains deeply present today.

For more information please contact Alexia Menikou at am@alexiamenikou.com.

About Batima Zaurbekova
Batima Zaurbekova (b.1946, Kazakhstan). Her mother, Bibikhan, a seamstress who sewed dresses and national costumes, introduced her to needlework at an early age, fostering an appreciation of textiles and craftsmanship that would later shape her artistic path. In 1964, she entered the Alma-Ata Art School (now the Oral Tansykbayev Almaty College of Decorative and Applied Arts), where she studied in the department of decorative arts, graduating in 1969. Although she initially aspired to become a painter, her upbringing in a remote Kazakh village and her exposure to traditional crafts guided her toward textile art; tapestry reminded her of flat-woven Kazakh carpets. Following her studies, Zaurbekova specialized in tapestry, dedicating her entire career to the medium, working primarily in traditional flat-woven Gobelin, produced on a vertical loom with dense weaving.

In the early 1970s, as tapestry was emerging as a significant medium within Kazakhstan’s fine arts, Zaurbekova stood out as one of the pioneers, mastering the craft and helping to lay the foundations for the country’s modern tapestry tradition. Zaurbekova initially worked on smaller tapestries, which gave her the opportunity to experiment with different genres and test her initial ideas. She went on to participate in numerous exhibitions in the youth category, earning her rising acclaim within the Soviet artistic system. In 1977, she participated in the creation of the monumental tapestry Rainbow (finished in 1979), commissioned by the state for the banquet hall of the Hotel Kazakhstan, in Almaty. In 1980, she, alongside a team of artists who included K. Tynybekov, E. Nikolayeva, and I. Yarema, was awarded the Shokan Valikhanov State Prize of Kazakh SSR.

During the 1980s, Zaurbekova increasingly turned to monumental work, and her artistic language acquired a stronger symbolic dimension, drawing from Kazakh cultural traditions, including nomadic heritage, ceremonial imagery, and ancient rock carvings, particularly motifs inspired by the Tamgaly petroglyphs.

In the 1990s, Zaurbekova created a series of tapestries and paintings dedicated to the ancient Silk Road, to the city of Turkestan, and to the celebrated mausoleum of philosopher and poet Khoja Akhmet Yassawi.

Throughout her career, Zaurbekova has created more than two hundred tapestries and paintings. Her works are preserved in leading public collections in Kazakhstan, including the Abilkhan Kasteyev State Museum of Arts, in Almaty, where eighteen of her artworks are recognized as part of the national cultural legacy. She produced four large-scale tapestries for the Palais des Nations at the United Nations Office at Geneva. Her art is also held in private collections across Europe, North America, and other regions. Batima Zaurbekova has been awarded the title of Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan. She is one of the founders of the tapestry school in Kazakhstan. Today, as a member of the Union of Artists of the Republic of Kazakhstan, she remains an essential and influential figure in Kazakh tapestry.