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On June 14, the 13th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art passing the fugitive on opened in Berlin, curated by Zasha Colah with assistant curator Valentina Viviani.
The international exhibition presents works by over 60 artists and features more than 170 artworks. The Biennale explores the ability of art to establish its own laws in the face of institutionalized violence and unjust systems. It also reflects on the capacity of thought to evolve even under conditions of persecution, militarization, and ecocide.

Learn more on the 13th Berlin Biennale website
At the Berlin Biennale, in the building of a former Courthouse, Artcom presented the video installation Balqaş Jyry. The work explores the intersections of nomadic lifeways and knowledge, colonization, and the contemporary socio-economic, environmental, and climate challenges in the Lake Balkhash basin, which are being exacerbated by the decision to build a nuclear power plant on the lake.

The video essay draws on the heritage of qazaqiliq—the tradition of free, nomadic life that enabled Kazakh communities to develop resilient survival strategies even under conditions of colonization, forced sedentarization, and the famine known as Asharshylyq. This tradition inspires the collective’s artistic and research-based strategies. In the video essay Balqaş Jyry, Lake Balkhash is given voice and corporeality, speaking of ecosystem destruction and asserting its rights—to existence and to justice.
*Zhyr means “song, tale”. Zhyrau performers were creators and keepers of the historical memory, they embodied the talent of a storyteller, actor, singer, musician. In tribal associations of nomadic peoples, zhyrau belonged to the layer of the political elite. Many zhyrau were not only poets, but also warriors, tribal leaders. In their song and poetry creations they philosophically interpreted the life of the people, in artistic form they assessed the events taking place in the country, expressed their attitude to the rulers and their policies from the position of society. In the cultural life of Kazakh society and institute of Steppe Democracy the role of zhyrau – steppe musicians and akyns-improvisers – was vital.
The video is accompanied by a spatial installation made from shym shy (steppe reed), evoking the transboundary nature of the Ili River—the lake’s main artery—and collective forms of art and interconnectedness with ecosystems.

As an art form practiced collectively by women, each woven pattern becomes a carrier of collective memory, narrative tapestry, preserving collective practices, rituals, and ecological wisdom. Today we continue co-learning and practicing this art as a decolonial act of care for our collective knowledge and ecosystems, fostering sustainable futures rooted in cultural memory and ecological solidarity
The author of the idea, Aigerim Kapar, believes that “the truly nomadic medium is the moving image: it recreates the perspective of the rider traversing the steppe expanse.”
Biennale curator Zasha Colah notes: “The installation unfolds through visuals that amplify the sensation of movement. The polyphony of the work is accentuated and imagined through animation, poetry, and archival artifacts.”
The Balqaş Jyry team:

concept and script by Aigerim Kapar;
cinematography, editing, and color correction by Asem Sultanova;
composer, sound design, and voiceover by Akmaral Mergen;
animation, design, and assistant editor Karlygash Akhmetbek;
producer and co-author of the concept Antonina van Lier;
producer and illustrator Aigerim Ospan.
The work was commissioned for the 13th Berlin Biennale and the collection of FRAC Poitou-Charentes (France), with the support of the Center for Contemporary Culture Tselinny and the Goethe-Institut Kazakhstan.
Another work produced by Artcom Platform for the exhibition is the felt sculpture Monument to Common Heroes, collectively created in memory of those who fought for justice in Kazakhstan, Central Asia, and all those who continue to resist violence around the world

Artcom together with Lyazzat Kurmangaliyeva, Deken Rapygat, Azhar Altynsaqa, Togzhan Kuttugaeva, Serik Salimbekov, Acell Shaldibayeva, Assem Sultavova, Almat Kulsuleimenov.
With support of Gulnara Dautova, Khamar Bekbanova, Seitzhan Kasenov.

Commissioned by the 13th Berlin Biennale
Still from Balqaş Jyry, Artcom Platform, 2025
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