Queer identity in the contemporary art of Kazakhstan

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores contemporary artistic practices in Kazakhstan that challenge narratives on national belonging and identity through the notion of queerness. It discusses artworks created by artists Saule Dyussenbina, Natalya Dyu and Kuanish Bazargaliyev, the artistic duo Kreolex Center, and the advertising agency Havas Worldwide Kazakhstan, which were created as a reaction to global discussions around gender and sexuality happening in and between various countries. It seeks to scrutinize different approaches and aspects presented in each artwork and argues that the overall strategy present in all the artistic testimonies is humour. While drawing on key concepts and categorizations of humour that permit the uncovering of the ways in which humour creates specific knowledge and identity, this article looks at humour techniques more broadly and builds on the argumentation provided by Uroš Čvoro and Chrisoula Lionis that opt for humour analysis connected to temporality and its perception in the works of art.