The Ilkhom Theatre of Mark Weil: Artwork Site

The Ilkhom theatre was one of the first professional theatres not dependent on the state institution for cultural affairs in the history of the former USSR. The director, Mark Weil, who died tragically in 2007, and a group of Tashkent Theatre Institute graduates, founded it in 1976. From its beginning, the theatre was founded on a jazz structure where the director creates an ensemble consisting of participants who understand and listen to each other.

Today, only a few people can remember that everything began from a rather strange play from that time called Maskhoroboz-76 which was made in the tradition of street theatre. With that play, the founders of the Ilkhom went to Novgorod, Russia. It was the first trial of a new kind of professional actor working in the circumstances - the circumstances of immediate improvisation.

From the very beginning, the theatre was named ESTY, the Ilkhom (Experimental Studio of Theatrical Youth actors, artists, musicians, and theatricals). Such young playwrights as A. Vampilov, S. Zlotnikov, Sh. Bashbekov, Ch. Guseinov, and L. Razumovskaya debuted in the young "Ilkhom", and were later hailed as new-wave playwrights. Meeting with the playwrights of that generation has become one of the best ways of self-expression for the actors.

The years have passed. In 1985 arrived the time of independence and freedom. By that time the Ilkhom had become famous, as a real independent theatre which usually is ahead of its time. Te exhibition created by the young artists is in keeping with this tradition. All the artworks will be placed around the grounds of the theatre to be seen and scrutinized by the general public.

Making Sculpture...

Zafar began work on "Happy Death", using himself as the model...

Ev

Everyone was really getting into it!

OMG! The Shashlik WAS Sooo Good!

What looks like a feast fit for a king was just a sampling of the amazingly delicious food that Tashkent has to offer. Andrei, Manzura, Timur, Mark and I were treated to succulent pork, chicken and beef shashlik along with various salads and a side of gluttony.

Manzura the Brave!

Manzura's sculpture was selected to be the first that everyone would work on. That meant that she was to be the model. Manzura the brave had to were tight underwear-like clothing, be wrapped in cellophane, then pawed and groped by everyone as they attach thick pieces of tape all over her upper body and head all while she's posed in an awkward position. Although somewhat claustrophobic, it was lots of fun.

Proposal and Idea Review

As always during these workshops - Home Work is given. The young artists had to take in the site which surrounds the Ilkom Theatre and come up with a site-specific sculpture which will be created out of the tape. Although it was not necessary to make a tape sculpture, no one wanted to be left out. As the ideas came in, they were reviewed and discussed as a group. Once it was vetted it moved into the fabrication phase. There were rules...everyone had to help each other and everyone had to cut tape.

Cutting Strips

Mark's presentation of his work got everyone inspired and excited about making sculptures, but the basics had to be taught first - and cutting strips of tape was just the beginning. As you can imagine many shortcuts and hurry-let's-finish-quicker methods have been attempted during these workshops but Mark showed the best and most efficient way to cut tape. Before anyone can start working on a sculpture, they had to pass the tape-cutting test. Pull, stick, cut, stick, cut, stick, cut - pull, stick,cut,stick,cut, stick, cut. This had to be repeated hundreds of times in order to get enough tape for 1 sculpture.

Live Cinema in Bishkek :: Outdoor Performance At National Fine Arts Museum

What an excellent experience! We had perfect weather, great music contributed by Aytegin Muratbek, and very smooth and well-attended performances! Check out the slideshow below for a taste of how it looked.

Live cinema in Bishkek :: Show #1

We do a demo version of the show in the indoor space of the National Fine Arts in conjunction with the opening of 'Magic Story Table' by fellow CEC artists JD Beltran and Scott Minneman. The theatre is packed!


Our materials laid out for the performance.


Nargiz performs the opening piece, her creation "Energy Dance" in which live video is layered to look like a kaleidoscope with her hands creating the movement.

Bishkek workshops :: Live cinema/shadow theatre

Workshops are held in the space of the inspiring ArtEast organization.
At the first day of workshop we have a long discussion about the Manas Epic. For some this story is a source of pride for Kyrgyzstan, for others its a nationalist propaganda tool of the government. We debate whether or not it would be appropriate to project art onto the base of the Manas sculpture which was recently installed in Ala-too Square.

Participants break into groups based on mutual interests and create storyboards to begin planning their shows.



Next we go through how the equipment and software work and all participants are invited to play a hand in setting it up.

Soon the artists are plugging away at constructing shows for public exhibition.

Bishkek Arrival :: Scoping and Planning

My name is Andrea Steudel. I'm in Bishkek to share my artmaking style and skills with local artists. We will meet in a workshop environment to create works together for outdoor space. I make ephemeral video projections on surfaces in public spaces, often using live camera feed to perform a type of shadow/silhouette puppetry which can be combined with pre-recorded video and layered in interesting ways.



One of my first tasks upon arrival is to identify some potential sites of interest for projection. I want to find a place which already has some pedestrian traffic at night, the building surface should not be lit at night, and we need to be able to get permission for the site from the government here. A few of the key prospects:

The White House

Base of Manas Sculpture at Ala-Too Square

MegaCom building at opposite end of Ala-Too

I create a mock-up for the Manas site. It is fitting for the piece I am planning which is a shadow puppet depiction of the "Birth of Manas" story.


The National Fine Art Museum is also an option.


Also in my first week I get very familiar with all the shops and bazaar as I gather materials for art-making during the workshops.

Three great photos from Jamshed Kholikov
taken in Dushanbe during the City Arts festival.

thanks for keeping us in the loop!