In the era of globalization, rediscovering my own national identity is the main motivation for further research and development of my work at the moment. In the officially accepted art and literature, “Kazakhness” is depicted as courageous batyrs and beautiful girls in national clothes, yurts and camels, all decorated as souvenirs. Due to the colonial Russian conflict, much knowledge about ancient traditions and the representation of Kazakh culture has died out, and the purpose of many customs have been forgotten. The search for Kazakhness in itself may present difficulties. The search for female Kazakhness is a whole other problem.
Many anthropologists and ethnographers who studied Central Asia tried to collect a certain image of a real Kazakh woman: on the one hand, these are freedom-loving women, and on the other hand, the perfect image of a submissive servant-wife as was sung about by artists. With the advent of the USSR, only two images of an already conscientious woman are noted: a hard worker and a mother. In the later half of the XX century, there was a tendency of popularizing the image of a modest Kazakh woman that began to spread through epics and literature and settled in the minds of people in Kazakh culture. As a result, dissonance makes us question what's the real image of a Kazakh woman.
Chronicles of Kazakh Women shows the development of the image of a Kazakh woman, starting from historical and fictional figures and ending with more modern examples. Returning to important historical stages and painful tragic events of the past, the attempt to find the highest truth is the driving force behind my work. Knowing one’s roots is crucial for discovering oneself, starting from the very fundamental - national identity and gender.
Gauhar Ametova is a Kazakh visual artist with a special interest in digital illustration and 3D art. Influenced by the network culture, she shares inspiration with a like-minded community of people who connect with the deepest longings born from a sense of alienation, and fascination with the otherworldly that helped them find each other in the corners of cyberspace. One of her research themes is how commodified art today brings together different demographics of people and therefore, how the resulting geeky culture is impacting visual culture. Most of her works are influenced by internet culture with her primary interests being pop art, Japanese otaku culture and western animation.
