Shamanism is one of the most ancient spiritual frameworks that shaped the social and cultural structure of nomadic Turkic peoples. Its roots reach back to the Neolithic era, as evidenced by the petroglyphs of Tamgaly-Tas - some of the earliest visualizations of sacred experience. In Soviet times, shamanism was forbidden by the atheistic regime but survived underground. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it reemerged as a tool of introspection and reconnection with ancestral spirits. This exhibition traces the evolution of shamanic tradition through the scientific reconstructions of Krym Altynbekov, the visionary art of Moldakul Narymbetov - an artist who identified as a shaman - and the philosophical inquiries of Abdrashit Sydykhanov into tribal tangba and Tengri symbols.

From sacred blacksmithing to protective jewelry, from ritual theatricality expressed in the Bapanov family’s tapestries to the haunting video works of Bakhyt Bubikanova, shamanism reveals itself as a living force that transforms with society. In the same way Sergey Maslov explores the archetype of the shaman through symbols and shadow.

Shamanism continues to speak through form, sound, gesture, and memory. This exhibition is an invitation to listen and to ask what shamanism might become, if it never truly disappeared.