HOW FAR?
by Moses Zibor
The project creates a dialogue between Central Asia and West Africa, uniting painting, music, and personal history.
The exhibition brings together Astana-based artist and DJ Zhanat Karatayeva and artist Moses Zibor. In Zhanat’s works, there is a contrast of light and shadow, tension of color, and an attentive gaze at reality. In Moses’s works, scale, social intensity, and emotional depth prevail. Through different artistic languages, both artists address themes of identity, roots, and human values, emphasizing their universality beyond geography.
About the Artist
MOSES ZIBOR (b.1978) is a Nigerian-Ghanaian multi-disciplined artist who lives and works in his studio in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Curator's Note
Nigeria is the 14th largest country in Africa, with 210 million people and 500 languages of communication. Ghana – «Gold Coast», 33 million population, Archaeological evidence suggests that people have lived in the territory of modern Ghana since the Bronze Age. It is far from Kazakhstan. But not in everything. Zhanat Karataeva is an Astana artist and DJ. Music and painting together. Like Moses. But, in a different way. Fragile and subtle things in Zhanat's works become strong and bright. The contrast of light and shadow and the conflict of color are all honest. No compromises. Her art is not about «WHAT TO SEE», but about «HOW TO SEE». Zhanat sees sharply. And passing what she sees through herself as through a prism, gives out into the world. Specific subjects. Realistic presentation. Bright palette. But that's not what Zhanat is about. It's about being able to see differently. To the point of tears in my eyes. Moses Zibor is an artist. His father is from Nigeria, his mother is from Ghana. Moses' works are scale, social acuity, and unexpected melancholy among bright subjects and colors. Moses talks in his paintings about what is important to him as an artist and as a person. Emotions, color, sound (the artist is also engaged in musical projects), movement (football past) - in the life and work of this person, everything is at the limit. Breaking standards, Moses Zibor is building his world. New. Where the main place is occupied by a person and his feelings. «ETISEN, «people say hello to each other, but more often, there is a question-greeting, «HOW FAR?» «How are you?» «Where are you from?» and «Who are you?» - this phrase has many meanings. By responding to such a greeting, a person opens himself. «Salemetsiz be,» we say to each other in Kazakhstan. And then we ask, «KIM BOLASYZ?» (Who are you? Where are you from?) Knowing your roots is very important. The family is the most important wealth of a person. A place of power. Respect for elders, care for relatives, and memory of ancestors. In the center of the Eurasian continent or on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, the values are the same.
Exhibition Views
