Wayne Eastep

The Almaty studio of Artists Amangul Ikhanova and Zhangir Umbetov reflects the profusion of activities and media they work in: weaving, painting, sculpting and jewelry making. The studio also recreates a microcosm of Kazakh culture, with the musical Dombra instruments and the sacred wolf hide hanging on the wall and the Dastarqan laid out with food. This husband-and-wife team have created a unique Kazakh art form, called Kushkon, in which they dye leather and create a work that is both suclpture and painting. The concepts for most of their kpieces are drawn from Tengrism, Shamanism, Sufism and Soroastrianism. They are both from the Qizilorda region of Kazakhstan