ALMATY – The Embassy of Spain in Kazakhstan and Esentai Gallery have announced the launch of the 2025 Art Residency Program, featuring Spanish contemporary artist Juan Saliquet and his new research project, “Archaeology of a City.”
Photo credit: Esentai Gallery
The project, centered on Almaty as a space of memory and personal archaeology, invites the public to see the city not merely as a setting, but as a protagonist in its own layered narrative, shaped by architecture, light, silence and stories.
Saliquet’s process will unfold over several months. From June to July, he will immerse himself in urban research, walking the streets of Almaty and engaging with its textures and forms. In August, the artist will collaborate with local creatives and cultural practitioners. The residency will culminate in a public exhibition in September at Esentai Gallery, presenting the results of this dialogue between city and self.
The project draws from Saliquet’s ongoing exploration of “self-archaeology”, a practice in which the external cityscape becomes a mirror for internal experience. Through this dual excavation, “Archaeology of a City” offers a reflection on how personal memory and public space interlace, forming layered, unfinished narratives.
Saliquet is no stranger to Kazakhstan’s art scene. His work has been exhibited in Almaty several times, including “The Skin I Dress” at Art Future Gallery in 2017, a performance at the Green Bazaar in 2022 and “The Almaty Trilogy” at the A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts in 2023.
The 2025 residency builds on this dialogue, opening new avenues for cross-cultural artistic exchange and urban introspection.
The project’s development will be shared publicly through a series of updates and interactions with the local community.
