on focus
from 09.10.2018 to 06.01.2019

A World Turned Upside Down (Quarter 4)

Almagul Menlibayeva

In 2016, Neues Museum set up a permanent space for film and video art. Following presentations of work by AES+F, Till Nowak and Yang Fudong, this year’s A World Turned Upside Down series concludes with Transoxiana Dreams by Almagul Menlibayeva (born 1969 in Almaty) that offers striking images of the Kazakh countryside. In a mix of documentary film and fairy tale, she speaks of the social and economic changes brought about by communist mismanagement in the region around the Aral Sea from the viewpoint of a small fisher girl. One day, her father sets off in search of new fishing areas. On his way through the desert, he meets bizarre creatures, half human, half horse – a homage to the nomadic past of his people.