Tselinny Reopens: Almaty’s Iconic Soviet Cinema Transformed Into Art Center

On September 5, Almaty’s long-awaited cultural landmark “Tselinny” reopens after more than a decade of closure and reconstruction, Orda.kz reports.

Built in 1964 as Kazakhstan’s first widescreen cinema with 1,500 seats and a striking glass façade, “Tselinny” became a symbol of the city’s “Broadway” (today Kabambay Batyr Street).

Unlike most Soviet-era cinemas, it escaped demolition but was shut down in the mid-2010s for renovation, repeatedly delayed until now.

The building has been transformed into a multifunctional art center under the direction of British architect Asif Khan. While much of the original structure was lost during earlier attempts to convert it into a nightclub, the new team restored elements such as the long-hidden sgraffito murals of artist Yevgeny Sidorkin and reimagined the space with references to its history.

The opening program features three exhibitions:

• Barsakelmes installations by Gulnur Mukazhanova and Daria Temirkhan
  
• From Sky to Earth: Asif Khan’s Tselinny, on the building’s transformation
  
• Documentation, a digital archive of Central Asian contemporary art since 1985

Alongside these are performances, film screenings on the cinema’s legacy, lectures, children’s workshops, and book launches, marking the start of a new era for the Center for Contemporary Culture Tselinny, founded in 2018.

The venue will operate in a limited format until January 2026, when it moves to a full schedule.

Original Author: Alena Timofeeva