Lena Tchibor has created a stunning collection of pencil on paper drawings exclusively for her Solo Ehxibition at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge. These unique artworks showcase her exceptional skills and deep understanding of the subject matter. The drawings depict a series of musical instruments from the Turkic-speaking world, capturing their intricate details and cultural significance. Each piece invites the viewer to dive into the rich musical traditions of this region, highlighting the diversity and beauty of the instruments. Tchibor's solo exhibitions have garnered critical acclaim, further cementing her reputation as a masterful artist.
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. University of Cambridge.
Solo Exhibitions 'Musical Instruments of Turkic speaking world'
Artist: Lena Tchibor (University of Oxford),
Curator: Irene Kukota (University of Oxford, Sotheby’s Institute of Art), Academic Consultant: Dr. Razia Sultanova (University of Cambridge).
Musical instruments have always been an integral part of the Turkic Asian culture. Their idiosyncrasies correspond to the history of each particular region and its material culture, representing the whole complex of beliefs, superstitions and aspirations. For ancient Asian cultures, musical instruments were almost live beings; their makeup and sound represented the elemental forces. Materials the instruments were made of invoked the powers of nature (e.g. wood, mother of pearl, tusks, animal leather and hair, fish skin, intestines etc.). Their tunes are based on natural rhythms, such as the rhythm of the heart beat, breath, slow and dignified gait of a camel in a caravan. Everything is taken from nature and returns to nature. Everything moves in unison with elemental forces and upholds the pre-ordained rhythm of the universe. These instruments remind us, the people of the 21st century, of the holistic and ecological vision of the world of the primeval cultures, when human beings and nature formed an inseparable whole.
The musical universe of the Turkic- speaking communities has not yet been much explored by contemporary artists. Lena Tchibor attempts to bridge this gap and offer a closer view of these magnificent musical artefacts in her accomplished graphic works, revealing the light, the structure and the tactile qualities of the instruments, as well as of their native land changing with seasons. Among other main attractions of this subject for Lena was how the elemental forces and everyday objects were turned into art or served to produce art – a theme very close to many a serious contemporary artist.
The Exhibition Musical Instruments of the Turkic Speaking World is the exploration of a magical terra incognita – the life and beliefs of the Turkic-speaking nations through the images of the musical instruments. Such practice-based research, focusing on the metaphors, values and meanings that shaped the Asian civilizations and their material musical culture, hopes once again to raise the question formulated by John Blacking: “How musical is the man?” And in this particular case: “How musical is the Asian Turkic-speaking man”?
Text by Irene Kukota
Lena Tchibor (2012) Dutar, Tanbur and Rubab. Pencil on paper, 13 x 38 cm.
Lena Tchibor (2012) Dutar, Tanbur and Rubab. Pencil on paper, 13 x 38 cm.
Lena Tchibor (2012) Dutar, Tanbur and Rubab.
Pencil on paper, 21 x 30 cm.
Lena Tchibor (2012) Kashgar Rubab, Doyras and Nay.
Pencil on paper, 35 x 29 cm.
Lena Tchibor (2012) Dutar.
Pencil on paper, 41.8 x 29.5 cm.
Lena Tchibor (2012) Kazakh Bakshi. Pencil on paper, 21 x 30 cm
Lena Tchibor (2012) Tar and Doyra. Pencil on paper,42 x 30 cm. In Collection of The Azerbaijan State Museum of Musical Culture.
Lena Tchibor (2012) Saz, Tar and Nays.
Pencil on paper, 41 x 29.5 cm.
THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE TURKIC SPEAKING WORLD
As integrated into the Third Symposium of the ICTM Study Group for Music of the Turkic Speaking World
Cambridge University, UK, 30 November-2 December, 2012, "Popular Culture in Turkic Asia and Afghanistan: Performance and Belief"
