NURBEK ZHOLBUNOV
Naryn city

Nurbek Zholbunov is an artist who uses chiy as an artistic language in its own right. In his panels, the traditional material moves beyond familiar ornament to create figures, movement, depth and narrative.

His works evoke the heroic rider, the ritual of tuloo, ancestral memory, nature, and the relationship between people and the land. Chiy, felt, wool and other traditional materials become part of a contemporary artistic expression.

For this project, meeting Nurbek aga revealed an important possibility: chiy does not have to survive only by preserving the past, it can tell new stories and continue to live through contemporary art.