Almaty, June 1, 2026 – Almaty Museum of Arts (ALMA) announces the opening of Bill Viola: The Space of Time, the first large-scale exhibition in Central Asia dedicated to one of the most influential artists of our time. The project is realized with the strategic support of Halyk Bank.

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Bill Viola Studio (Long Beach, USA) and will open to the public on July 1, 2026. The exhibition is curated by Kira Perov, Executive Director of Bill Viola Studio, Viola’s wife and long-time creative collaborator.

The exhibition brings together key works spanning more than four decades of Viola’s practice, from early experiments of the late 1970s to monumental video installations of the 2000s, including The Reflecting Pool (1977–1979), The Greeting (1995), The Raft (2004), and Tristan’s Ascension (2005). This marks the first opportunity for audiences in Kazakhstan and Central Asia to experience such a comprehensive presentation of an artist who transformed the very understanding of video as an artistic medium.

Bill Viola approached video not as a screen-based image, but as a space of experience. In his works, light, sound, scale, tempo, and the movement of the viewer become as essential as the image itself. Many of the artist’s installations occupy entire rooms, creating environments that visitors enter both physically and emotionally. The exhibition at Almaty Museum of Arts, featuring 16 video installations, has been conceived in accordance with this principle.

Viola’s work addresses universal themes of human existence: life and death, memory and time, spirituality, corporeality, and inner transformation. His artistic language was shaped by both Western and Eastern philosophy, mystical traditions, and art history. Since the 1970s, Viola consistently expanded the boundaries of video art, combining technological precision with philosophical depth.

Bill Viola’s works have been exhibited at major museums worldwide, including MoMA in New York, Tate in London, Guggenheim Bilbao, and Centre Pompidou in Paris. In 2001, The Quintet of Remembrance became the first work of video art to enter the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 2014, his video installation Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) was installed in St Paul’s Cathedral in London as part of its permanent collection.

For Almaty Museum of Arts, this exhibition holds particular significance. The museum’s collection already includes Viola’s work Stations (1994). Its presence provides an important context for the first major presentation of the artist’s practice in the region and reflects the institution’s long-term engagement with his work.

To realize the project, a team from 235 Media (Germany), one of the world’s leading laboratories in exhibition design and media technologies, will travel to Almaty. 235 Media has been a long-standing technological partner of Bill Viola Studio. The specialists will oversee the adaptation of the complex video installations to the museum space, including the development of projection solutions and an acoustic environment in accordance with the original exhibition standards.

The exhibition will be presented in the Uly Dala Hall, which will be fully transformed into an immersive environment.

A richly illustrated trilingual catalogue will accompany the exhibition, featuring a newly commissioned scholarly essay, a 2001 interview with the artist, and authorial descriptions of the works.

The exhibition and catalogue have been made possible through the support of the museum’s General Partner, Halyk Bank. As part of their long-term collaboration, the bank supports the museum’s strategy aimed at developing cultural infrastructure and expanding access to world art.

Meruyert Kaliyeva, Artistic Director of ALMA: “For us, the Bill Viola exhibition represents an important step toward shaping a new level of artistic experience in the region. His works create a space for contemplation and emotional experience - one that cannot be accelerated or simplified, because it demands time, attention, and personal engagement. It is important for us to present in Almaty artists who have defined the language of contemporary art and to create the conditions for a profound immersion into their practice.”

The exhibition Bill Viola: The Space of Time will be open to visitors from July 1, 2026 through January 17, 2027. Admission to the exhibition is included with a general museum ticket. For ticket bookings and further details, please visit www.almaty.art.