Taldy-Kurgan, Kazakhstan 1936-2007 Almaty, Kazakhstan

(1936, Taldykorgan – 2007, Almaty) Isatai Isabayev is a Kazakh graphic artist celebrated for his illustrations of national epics and poetry, giving Kazakh literature a visual form. A graduate of the Moscow Polygraphic Institute, he belonged to the generation of Sixtiers, an influential group of artists who emerged during the Khrushchev Thaw and sought to forge a new visual language rooted in local identity. After graduation, he became an art editor at the Writer (Jazushy) publishing house, and over his career illustrated more than a hundred books, including works by Mukhtar Auezov and Ilias Jansugurov, visually capturing the national ethos. Book illustration was one of the few semi-autonomous fields in the Soviet system where experimentation with form was tolerated. Within it, Isabayev developed a distinctive style grounded in rhythm and ornament. In Labour and Celebration (from Kazakh National Epic series), shown in Qonaqtar, Isabayev depicts communal life with tapestry-like density while Altybakan draws on a traditional ritual of courtship involving the use of a Kazakh swing called Altybakan (translated as ‘six poles’), exchanging songs and forming bonds. Birth of a Batyr captures the ceremonial joy surrounding the birth of a boy – a future hero, reflecting cultural ideals of masculinity and lineage in Kazakh society.