Violetta Bogdanova

Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo Ovalles Morel: Violetta, we met in Almaty, Kazakhstan, through Anvar Musrepov. What a gorgeous city! My time there was brief and yet I was able to connect with creatives in the area and to get a general sense for the work that is happening in this place. For example, Zhanar Bereketova’s exhibition was one of the highlights of my trip. You and I discussed your interest in performance art and now I would like to hear more about it.

Violetta Bogdanova: Hello, Nicolás! I’m happy you enjoyed your short stay in Almaty! I can’t describe my love for this place.

I am really interested in performance and, so far, the best feelings I’ve experienced as an artist were after my performances. These were really transformative experiences. I felt that life divided “before” and “after.” But I think you can’t make these kinds of performances often and you rarely can repeat them. So, I don’t want to call myself a “performance artist.” I want only to do them when I feel that I have no choice; when I have something to say.

NDEREOM: Would you tell me about the birthday celebration that you organized in 2023? It is obvious that people were coming out and starting to gather after some of the most intense Covid waves. What was the impetus for this event and what were some of the synergies that manifested?

VB: Actually, we planned to repeat the poetic performance that I made on my show opening, but the accordionist with whom we made it got traumatized and we cancelled it. In a couple of days I decided to celebrate a Birthday of Everyone in the exhibition space. I love spontaneous art, I love humor and I love joy, game, something childish in art. Usually in the walls of Tselinny, people talk (exhibit) about very serious discourses. I wanted to do something that made absolutely no sense but that brought joy. We sat at a huge table with mostly people who have never met each other. When a new person joined, we would scream to them, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY.” I also asked everyone to show their talents. Some people could fart with their armpits. Anvar showed how he can spin plate on his finger and beatbox. Some people from the streets, children, my friends, serious curators and artists–we were all in this absurd, stupid, cringing situation and I loved it. I also loved that everyone became an artist in this situation.

I think we should take art less seriously and do it only from a clear inner desire; like a child.

NDEREOM: Food seems to be central in Central Asia. The beautiful breads, the fruits… Everywhere I went, the gatherings involved food and eating in ways that many people have done away with here in the United States. Food in Central Asia, much like in Europe and Latin America is meant to nourish the soul, deepen friendships, and bring time to a halt. I often joke as to how in the United Sates we swallow our food, and how food is seen as fuel to keep the body producing in a capitalist society. Flavors here are related to mostly salty and sweet items. That’s it. Tell me about art and eating for you?

VB: Here in Kazakhstan food was always something that unites people. From cooking to eating. I love it and it’s a bit sad that in big cities people, for some reason, rarely invite people to their place for dinner, etc. Maybe I am mistaken but that is what I have noticed while raveling the world.

It is also interesting how Almaty formed a new food culture. To be honest, the best restaurants I’ve been to were in Almaty. Here people know how to enjoy life. We have hundreds of restaurants with absolutely beautiful summer terraces (we call it letnik). And even if it’s your last bit of money you cannot deny yourself from ordering something delicious in a fancy restaurant–at least once a week, and better still once a day.

Speaking of art - in my personal practice I used food only on the Birthday of Everyone. But food was not that important in this piece. I would say, it was part of the “stage design.”

NDEREOM: For one thing, it was difficult for me to find vegetarian or vegan food in Central Asia. Similarly, I noticed how several artists used bones as well as other non-human animal elements in their work. What would you say are the materials that inform your performance-based work, which you mentioned is a field that you are starting to explore?

VB: Most of my performances are narrative or poetic, so my main material is language–for now. Maybe something will change.

And yeah, here in Kazakhstan we have different views on animals. My friend killed a sheep when he was 10 because “it was time for him.” I also play with my friends. It’s a game with the knee bones of a sheep (called asyk). So, it surrounds us everywhere; and of course finds its place in art.

NDEREOM: A great deal of my interest in the work that is produced in the region is its connections to the avant-garde, but also to play, to the absurd and to humor. What is the story behind How my Dad Sold the Garage? Would you be willing to publish this book online, through The Salon? 

VB: I am happy that you liked it! I think life is the best artist. Everything from this book is the absolute truth. My dad really sold the garage and our life changed.

I always record my relatives in my Instagram stories and people always say they are so funny. Maybe they formed who I am. I think so many things around us deserve being an art. Even the story of my dad selling our garage.  And yeah, I don’t mind publishing the book!

NDEREOM: In Nothing Important, the series of drawings that you generated during a full year, you speak of poetry and the day-to-day. In your description for this piece, you wonder about the locus for the mundane within the gallery space. What made you ponder on this particular issue?

VB: I have read different philosophers. I was close to become part of different religions and I also studied journalism at a university. This all brought me to the idea that we know nothing (hi, Socrates). I was kind of sure only about things that surround me. Now I know only that I am sitting on the sofa and replying to your questions. That was period when I didn’t believe in anything except the physical reality around me at that exact moment.  I am also huge fan of the Japanese poet Basho. He definitely affected this series.

NDEREOM: BOOK IS A BOOK put a smile on my face. I am drawn by the simplicity and the humor in this publication and the video that you created. How do you balance the political and the experimental in your work?

VB: To be honest, I believe there’s nothing political in my practice. Of course, any artistic gesture can be political. Of course, not making political art is also a “position.”.But I honestly enjoy life. I love life. And it’s so much more complicated and amazing than social structures. Also, as I mentioned, I studied journalism at a university and there are reasons why I was disappointed with that. If I wanted to save the world and fight for justice, I would have become a journalist, not an artist. And book is a book is also ode to material world, to simplicity, to life.

NDEREOM: As result of climate crisis, we barely see snow in New York City anymore. I have a closet full of vintage coats that I yearn to bring them out and wear again, but it is not cold enough. Your video The Snowman made me nostalgic for contact with this wondrous being that descends from the sky to kiss the world. Who is snow in your video?

VB: I was born in Northern Kazakhstan and winter and snow are very important for me. It’s nothing. It’s zero. It’s silence. It’s white paper. It’s something that filters in your brain and body. I moved to Almaty and I always complain about winter in here. I need my -30 Celsius. I need my 6 months of whiteness.

NDEREOM: It is very difficult to be at peace in life with so many of the events that are happening, from the genocides in Palestine and Ukraine, to the systemic ravaging of Haiti by empire. However, you have titled one of your pieces I am Satisfied with Everything. How so?

VB: My opinion, this phrase is probably not very popular in the 21st century, but I am satisfied with everything in my life. I have faced sorrow, sadness in love, death, but I have also experienced huge love, pure joy and beauty. And I don’t regret anything. And I adore everything that I have experienced.

In this performance I told everyone everything I am ashamed of: from some stupidity (like I put my snot in places that were not made for that), to sincere and serious things (like I never told my mom that I love her) and that “I think that what I am doing is mediocre.” I also shared how “I watch complicated movies to seem smarter than I am” and that “I don’t pity homeless animals.” I haven’t killed anyone–you know–but I feel guilty of being me. I even feel weird that I’m satisfied with everything. I do think the world needs changes in a lot of fields. I also think you should save yourself first. Then the world. And listen to yourself.

And speaking of world disasters, if an earthquake would happen in Almaty I will go and save people from the ruins. If my hometown Petropavl keeps flooding, I will send more money and clothes. If I need to sign a petition for criminalizing domestic violence in Kazakhstan, I will. But I don’t know what a 24 years old girl from Kazakhstan with poor knowledge of history can do with the situation in Ukraine and Palestine. And why this should affect my enjoyment of life and art.

NDEREOM: How is it for you to be creative in Almaty?

VB: I love it. We don’t have huge museums, educational programs, grants…, but in this situation you only make art if you cannot to make it into the art world because you know that you won’t get famous or make money. I see some honesty in our art scene. I visited Bishkek some weeks ago and their art community seemed even more alive though. As one of their artists said, “artists from Almaty know a lot of terms, but our artists have thinner (more developed) brush.”

I also love that we are not a huge city. I love this feeling of community. I love that everyone knows each other, but there’s always a chance to meet someone new here.

NDEREOM: I am grateful for this conversation with you.

VB: Thank you for your questions. I enjoyed our conversation too!

All images of Violetta Bogdanova

Violetta Bogdanova’s links: Website / Instagram

Violetta Bogdanova is an artist born in Petropavlovsk and now based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She is engaged in painting, performance, theater, poetry and video art. Her works almost always contain humor, simplicity, extreme sincerity, vulnerability and fragility. 

In 2022 Violetta’s first personal exhibition Nothing Important took place in Tselinny. The artist also participated in Artbat Fest, the April Fools' competition in Bishkek, and has exhibited as well at Sapar Contemporary, TSE Art Destination, YEMAA Art Space.

Violetta has worked in cities such as Petropavl, Tokyo, Shanghai, Milan, Moscow, and Beijing.