Kazakh fabric artist’s Hong Kong exhibition reflects on heritage and ‘historical traumas’
The Mills becomes Berlin-based Gulnur Mukazhanova’s canvas as she uses Central Asian textiles to explore perspective and question hope
Kazakh artist Gulnur Mukazhanova’s large-scale installation soaring above the entrance of The Mills, in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, is a dazzling display of traditional Central Asian textiles.
Stretching three storeys high above the atrium of the cultural space – converted from former cotton mills – the clusters of irregular-shaped, brightly hued fabric, called False Hope or Moment of the Present, exemplify the power of perspective.
From ground level, the work floats overhead like a brilliant collection of clouds. But the colours truly shine when seen from the third floor.
It is from this viewpoint that Berlin-based Mukazhanova explains her creative process of cutting, deconstructing and reassembling fabric, of which 90 per cent is material from Kazakhstan.
“In celebrations like weddings, coloured fabrics are often given as gifts as a dowry to women,” Mukazhanova says.