Gulnur Mukazhanova

Gulnur Mukazhanova, »Memory of Hope«, 2025. © Foto: Gulnur Mukazhanova

The exhibition by Gulnur Mukazhanova is conceived as a contemporary intervention within the historical space of Kunsthaus Dahlem. Through a spatial installation made of textile, soft, body-related materials, the artist responds to the building’s monumental architecture, whose history has been shaped by ideological attributions as well as political upheavals.

Mukazhanova, born in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, studied at the Art Academy in Almaty and at the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, and now lives in Berlin. For many years, she has worked primarily with textiles, especially felt, whose production is deeply rooted in Kazakh craft traditions.

In her work, the artist addresses questions of identity and cultural change in the tension between tradition and globalization. From an international perspective, she reflects both her Kazakh roots and current socio-political developments in her country of origin, in which she sees clear parallels to German postwar history. Against this backdrop, Kunsthaus Dahlem becomes a resonant space where personal history, cultural heritage, and social transformation intersect.