Трансмедиальные связи в визуальной культуре: фотография в живописи и проектах современного искусства Казахстана

In the present day, archival photography of Kazakhstan from the 19th to the early 20th century attracts keen attention from experts and the general public. The history of the interaction between painting and photography, as well as the latter’s use in creating visual art masterpieces of Kazakhstan, have become significant issues in contemporary domestic art studies.The aim of this article is to comprehend photography as a resource for mythological connotations and the actualization of cultural memory during the formative years of the painting school of Kazakhstan and in the artistic practices of contemporary Kazakh masters. In order to achieve this goal, the objectives of this article are to: 1) consider the use of photography in the visual arts during the Soviet period and its role in reflecting transformations in everyday life and the emergence of new heroes; 2) study photography as a tool in modern artistic practices; 3) identify the features of using photography in the works of contemporary painters.The primary method of the study lies in art and historical analysis of selected works. To understand the painting of the Stalinist period and the manifestation of the ideological discourse of the era within it, a structural-semiotic method is employed. The examination of the unique ways of the appropriation of archival photographs by contemporary artists into their work as a means of exploring collective trauma has prompted a shift towards postcolonial perspectives in historical knowledge. The significance of photography is explored through the lens of visual inquiry and the exploration of memory, providing insights into the utilization of this medium for capturing the essence of the past. It has been discovered that the interaction between photography and painting is a crucial aspect of the visual culture in Kazakhstan, enabling the examination of this phenomenon at different stages of its artistic development. During the period of totalitarianism, the use of photographs from previous years allowed to make a connection with the fading nature of the past, providing the necessary “tactics” for visualizing the archetypes of national thought in the socialist realist genre of everyday life.Contemporary visual culture reflects the acknowledgement of the traumatic experience during the Soviet period. Ongoing work on post-memory, based on the appropriation of archival photographs and works of the Soviet photographic school, has become one the approaches to shape public history not tied to mythologizing and ideology, and initiating a process of self-identification. The “return” to photography through the combination of a painted canvas and a photographic frame, as well as process of reconstructing lost cityscapes using old photographs, serves as a basis for preserving cultural memory and reinforcing identification strategies.