Our primary program partner is ArtSpirit, the arts initiative of the Episcopal Church in Wyoming, which includes a special focus on Native American contemporary art. 

Read about GROUNDED, a forthcoming touring exhibition with contemporary artists from Indigenous American tribes traditionally based in and around the Great Plains.

GATES OF TURAN - An Ecology of the Soul

Firouz FarmanFarmaian and the Venice Biennale 2022

(Apr 23, 2022 – Nov 27, 2022)

We are partnering with Persian-born artist Firouz FarmanFarmaian in his artistic installation at the Venice Biennale 2022 at the invitation of Kyrgyzstan titled Gates of Turan. Gates of Turan features ten hand-stitched, hand-felted Shirdaks (nomadic tapestries) designed by Firouz to represent the tribal banners of ten nomadic communities of ancient Turan. Set against a black background, the banners lead to a monumental Tündük, the central cross-shaped copula of a traditional Krygzy yurt (see above photo), that is suspended from the ceiling to form the point of a meeting place carpeted with white Yak felt. Firouz spent eight months working with a women’s handicraft cooperative in the Kyrgyz Republic that continues to preserve the Kyrgyz tradition of handcrafting Shirdaks and Ala-Kiiz, the hand-stitched colorful felt floor-coverings used in Kyrgyz yurts. These nomadic tapestries are only made in the remote highland regions of the country. In Gates of Turan, Firouz has drawn on his shared tribal heritage with the Turanian nomads.  History, memory and the post-tribal inform Firouz FarmanFarmaian’s installation, bridging dialogues between the past and future, east and west, ancient craft and innovative technology, and between planet preservation, art, spirituality and philosophy.

Read ArtSpirit's newsletter - ArtSpirit Issue 1