Said Atabekov: 66 Lbs

Andakulova Gallery presents “66 Lbs”, a solo show by the artist Said Atabekov featuring photo, video and site–specific installation to take the viewer into the game of Kokpar, an ancient nomadic tradition of Kazakhstan in which the competitors has to pick up a headless sheep or goat from the ground. The title refers to the mandatory weight of the animal carcass.

A true star of contemporary art scene in Kazakhstan and internationally, Said Atabekov was born in 1965 in Bes Terek (Uzbekistan) and currently lives in Shymkent (Kazakhstan). Founding member of the Kyzyl Traktor (Red Tractor Group), the first avant-garde art collective established in the 1980s in Kazakhstan, Said Atabekov started the ambitious mission of creating a new art for the country after gaining the independence in 1991. Atabekov’s photographic works are powerful and marked by a coexisting inside-out duality of time with references to Max Penson’s Uzbek photo reportage and Rodčenko’s time-space discontinuity.