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  Bishkek Art CenterCEC Arts Link, an international arts organization, invited Kendal Henry and I to travel to Bishkek (Capital of Kyrgyzstan) to collaborate with the local community of artists mainly working on the soviet era style of art. The objective for this project was to create a new identity for the community, which would inject new energy, attract young experimental artists and make the center more accessible for the international arts community. We had 10 days to do our work.
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  Bishkek Art CenterHere is the picture of the Bishkek Art Center where over 30 artists have their studios, mostly producing soviet-era style art.
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  Bishkek Art CenterHere is a sample of a typical style of work the local artists were making: busts of politicians.
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  Bishkek Art CenterAfter a group discussion, we decided on the name Bishkek Art Center and I created a logo using the Cyrillic “B”. The official Kyrgyz language is Russian and the Cyrillic letter represents the local culture.
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  Bishkek Art CenterThe Cyrillic “B” becomes the core of the mark and the word “Art” can be substituted by any images relevant to the center.
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  Bishkek Art CenterThe Cyrillic “B” becomes the core of the mark and the word “Art” can be substituted by any images relevant to the center.
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  Bishkek Art CenterThe Cyrillic “B” becomes the core of the mark and the word “Art” can be substituted by any images relevant to the center.
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  Bishkek Art CenterThe center was a very modest place running on a small budget, so all the work we did had be inexpensive. Everybody worked as volunteers. We all worked hard, but everybody had fun.
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  Bishkek Art CenterThe center was a very modest place running on a small budget, so all the work we did had be inexpensive. Everybody worked as volunteers. We all worked hard, but everybody had fun.
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  Bishkek Art CenterThere was an abandoned bus from the soviet era in the courtyard. Kendal, the artist and curator who traveled with me, had the idea of transforming it into a video art exhibition space. It took days just to clean it up.
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  Bishkek Art CenterWe called it B’us and covered the seats with the typical Kyrgyz fabric. When it was finished, it looked fantastic and people really enjoyed watching the videos inside the B’us.
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  Bishkek Art CenterIn the end, for the unveiling of the new Bishkek Art Center, we threw a big party and invited neighbors, artists and journalists. Everybody had fun and our mission was accomplished.

Bishkek Blog