On September 9, 2025, the Almaty Museum of Arts, founded by entrepreneur, philanthropist and collector Nurlan Smagulov, opened in Almaty.
The mission of the Almaty Museum of Arts is to support and explore contemporary art processes, to reveal their significance in the global cultural context. The museum's collection includes 700 works of art by both domestic and foreign masters. The artistic strategy and conceptual content of the program were developed by the artistic director of the museum, Meruert Kaliyeva.
The museum began its work with two exhibitions - an exposition of works from N. Smagulov's own collection "Konaktar" and a retrospective of the work of the Kazakh artist Almagul Menlibayeva "I understand everything".
The opening ceremony of the museum was attended by the Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan Aida Balayeva, Akim of Almaty Darkhan Satybaldy, the founder of the museum Nurlan Smagulov, representatives of the art community and the media. Welcoming the audience, Aida Balayeva noted that the newly opened museum combines art, modern technologies, multimedia solutions and creative industry tools. The Minister recalled the words of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, voiced during the address, that the new generation of Kazakhstanis sees the basis of patriotism not only in traditions and language, but also in creative innovation. She called the activities of entrepreneur and philanthropist Nurlan Smagulov a shining example to follow.
"I am confident that the new museum will not only contribute to the development of culture and art, but will also give a new impetus to the growth of the tourism potential of the southern capital, and will make a significant contribution to the promotion of the art of Kazakhstan and Central Asia in the international arena," Aida Balayeva added.
The museum building, with an area of ​​over 10 thousand m², was designed by the British architectural bureau Chapman Taylor. The first floor houses spacious exhibition spaces, including the "Uly Dala" and "Saryarka" halls. The central hall is reserved for the bright atrium of Art Street, conveying the character of the natural forms of the Charyn Canyon. The museum's storage facility, restoration workshop and creative space "Sheberkhana" are also located here.
More than 70% of the museum's collection consists of works by 20th-century Kazakh artists - Zhanatai Shardenov, Tokbolat Toguzbayev, Maktum Kisamedin and Shaimardan Sariev. The collection also includes works by key figures in contemporary art such as Rustam Khalfin, Saule Suleimenova and Said Atabayov. In the future, the museum will continue to expand the collection, realizing its mission: to preserve, study and exhibit contemporary art of Kazakhstan and the Central Asian region in a broad international context.
The museum will open its doors to visitors on September 12.