village of Inkoreyskoye, Jewish Autonomous Region 1935-1992 Aktyubinsk, Kazakhstan

(1935, In-Koreiskoe – 1992, Aktobe) Boris Pak was a leading figure among Kazakhstan’s ‘golden’ generation of graphic artists from the 1960s–1980s, alongside Maktum Qisamedin and Isatai Isabayev, both of whom also featured in Qonaqtar. Though he initially trained as a geologist, Pak graduated as a printmaker from the Repin Institute in 1966, dedicating his life to art thereafter. He excelled as a book illustrator, most notably for Abai’s The Book of Words (Слова назидания, 1983) and Korean Folk Tales (1974), the latter reflecting his own heritage. He also drew inspiration from Kazakh, Korean and Western European epics, as well as Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. Pak taught graphic arts at the Alma-Ata Art School and contributed to monumental art, including ceramic reliefs at the Arasan Bathhouse in Almaty, still visible today. Pak infused Soviet themes of labour and production with a vision gentler than the dogmas of Socialist Realism. His lithograph Noon, displayed in Qonaqtar, depicts a family picking grapes and preparing food. Rendered with meticulous care, it captures the harmony of traditional Kazakh life.