Press room

Almaty, Kazakhstan | March 5, 2026 – The Almaty Museum of Arts and Halyk Bank have signed a Memorandum of Strategic Partnership aimed at the long-term development and support of contemporary art in Kazakhstan.

This collaboration brings together the largest contemporary art museum in Central Asia and the region’s leading financial institution, establishing a new model of interaction between business and cultural entities in the country. Under the Memorandum, Halyk will serve as the General Partner for the key exhibition, educational, and publishing projects at the Almaty Museum of Arts throughout the current year.

The museum and the bank share a commitment to expand opportunities for participation in cultural life and to consistently develop educational initiatives. The partners view investments in culture and education as a contribution to the country’s future.

"We often reiterate that social responsibility is in Halyk's DNA. As part of our mission, we see support for culture as one of the foundational factors in the development of society. I am confident that contemporary art can shape an open, dynamic environment where visionaries and innovative ideas can emerge, capable of changing our world and our reality for the better. The collaboration with the Almaty Museum of Arts is yet another systemic step by Halyk in developing and supporting culture and education in our country,” said Umut Shayakhmetova, CEO of Halyk Bank.

Nurlan Smagulov, founder of the Almaty Museum of Arts noted:

"We built the museum as an international-level institution capable of bringing key contemporary names to Kazakhstan while also supporting local artistic processes. The partnership with Halyk allows us to think strategically and implement truly large-scale projects."

The centerpiece of the partnership for 2026 will be the exhibition “Bill Viola: Between Worlds,” set to open this June.

Bill Viola is one of the most influential artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, whose work redefined video as an artistic medium. His exhibitions have taken place in leading museums around the world, including MoMA (New York), Tate (London), Guggenheim Bilbao (Bilbao), and Centre Pompidou (Paris). Viola’s large-scale video installations address fundamental themes of the human experience: life and death, memory and time, spirituality and inner transformation. Since the 1970s, the artist has developed a distinctive visual language that bridges technology and philosophical depth, exerting a significant impact on the development of video art.

This will be the artist's first exhibition in Central Asia, marking a milestone for the region and strengthening Kazakhstan's international presence in the global art world.

Additionally, the partnership will support the second chapter of Almagul Menlibayeva’s exhibition “I Understand everything” curated by  Gridthiya Gaweewong. There will also be the publication of scholarly catalogs for both exhibitions, forming a long-term research foundation and expanding professional discourse.

Tatyana Khojayeva, Director of the Almaty Museum of Arts:

"Since opening in September 2025, the museum has welcomed over 250,000 visitors and everyday we see people of different ages, professions and cultural backgrounds within its walls. Our museum program resonates both with those visiting a museum for the first time and with members of the professional art community. Despite the fact that the museum only opened half a year ago, it has already implemented joint projects with the Tate and the Getty Foundation, confirming its significance in the international art context. The support of Halyk Bank is a testament to the recognition of the museum's role in the country's cultural life and represents one of the most important validations of our work."

Press Information

Halyk is Kazakhstan's largest bank with over KZT 20 trillion of total assets. The bank accounts for over 50% of lending to the real sector of the Kazakh economy. Halyk Bank has one of the largest customer bases, which is served through digital channels and a branch network of more than 540 outlets across the country. Moreover, Halyk Bank operates in Georgia and Uzbekistan. Halyk Bank has the highest credit ratings among commercial banks without foreign participation (at the investment level: Moody's – Baa1 / Fitch – BBB- / S&P – BBB-).

Halyk is widely known for its charitable activities. Over the past 5 years, the bank and the "Halyk" Charitable Foundation have allocated approximately 62 billion tenge toward social projects across the country.

Almaty Museum of Arts (ALMA) is the largest contemporary art museum in Central Asia, founded by collector and philanthropist Nurlan Smagulov. It opened its doors in the fall of 2025.

The museum's mission is to create a space for the development of society and the individual through engagement with art and open dialogue. The museum displays, supports, studies, and preserves the art of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, connecting it with the global artistic context and forming a sustainable cultural environment for both the general public and the professional community.

The ALMA collection features over 700 works, including pieces by Kazakhstani artists (Aisha Galimbayeva, Salikhitdin Aitbayev, Rustam Khalfin, Almagul Menlibayeva, and others) and key figures in world art: Richard Serra, Yayoi Kusama, Anselm Kiefer, and Bill Viola. A special place is held by monumental outdoor sculptures by Yinka Shonibare, Alicja Kwade, and Jaume Plensa, created specifically for the Almaty Museum of Arts.

The museum's architecture, designed by the British firm Chapman Taylor with the involvement of Lord Cultural Resources and Buro Happold (both known for their work on the Guggenheim Bilbao, the Louvre, and the Centre Pompidou), combines two L-shaped volumes: one clad in Jurassic limestone, reflecting the energy and dynamism of the contemporary city.