Introduction to Anselm Kiefer and the art of memory (in Kazakh)

Kiefer’s artistic practice emerged from the traumatic legacy of World War II and Germany’s complex dialogue with its own history. His art is not an act of reconciliation, but rather an intense meditation on memory, guilt, myth, and the impossibility of forgetting. Drawing on biblical, Germanic, and classical narratives, philosophy, and the poetry of Paul Celan and Martin Heidegger, Kiefer constructs dense, multilayered images in which the past continually intrudes on the present.

Kiefer is renowned for his radical approach to material. Lead, ash, straw, concrete, earth, and scorched paint become carriers of meaning, while the surface of the artwork itself functions as a site of both physical and symbolic tension. His works often go beyond the boundaries of painting, transforming into large-scale objects and architectural spaces.

During the lecture, we will discuss why Kiefer’s art cannot be separated from history, how he engages with themes of destruction and renewal, and how his visual language creates a distinctive space of responsibility and profound reflection for the viewer. Special attention will be paid to the artist's works represented in the Almaty Museum of Arts collection and their place in the overall context of his work.

We invite you to explore together how memory takes shape in Anselm Kiefer's art and how history becomes the subject of artistic interpretation.