Qonaqtar

The title Qonaqtar (Қонақтар), meaning ‘guests’ in Kazakh, stems from the Turkic root qon- (‘to stop for a night’). It embodies the deep-rooted tradition of welcoming guests with warmth and respect but also evokes the act of travelling long distances to find shelter in someone else’s yurt – a necessity in vast, often harsh landscapes. Communal living, sharing meals, stories and music formed an important part of that. Guests, of course, can come in many guises, and hospitality is not always voluntary. From granting Kazakh pasture lands to the settlers from the European parts of the Russian empire – from the 19th century onwards – to the mass deportation of Koreans in the 1930s and the exile of Soviet dissidents to Karaganda and Akmola, these histories have left lasting marks on the region’s society and art. While many people arrived in Kazakhstan as outsiders, generations have since made it their home.