MISSION


TOVA foundation aims to foster cultural connections linking Kazakhstan with the wider audiences, scholars and organizations through programs centering around education, production and communication. 

We provide equal opportunities for artists, curators and other creative minds at all stages of their careers attempting to support intergenerational, diverse and interdisciplinary conversation that will benefit the cultural landscape of the emerging region. 

Historically underrepresented country located in the seemingly isolated region is gradually becoming a new destination for innovation, art and creative economy. 

Coming from Kazakhstan, co-founder of the foundation Togzhan Wertheimer wants to cultivate a striving environment in which the younger generation has tangible opportunities while more established artists and art professionals receive the recognition and attention they deserve.


FOUNDER



Located in the heart of Central Asia, Kazakhstan is a country of many contrasts, intertwining narratives and histories. From the Botai culture that first domesticated horses around 3,500 BC, through the Islamic Golden Age, the Great Silk Road, geopolitical tensions of the 20th century, 70 years of Sovietization, globalization of the 1990s, and, more recently, the decolonial turn, these often conflicting yet somehow still harmonious layers form a unique and complex cultural landscape worth sharing with the rest of the world. The TOVA Foundation is here to support the already rapidly developing art scene of Kazakhstan and, in the spirit of true nomadism, make its voices loud and unfolding. It is also paramount to me to pass on knowledge about my culture and roots to my daughters - Olympia, Vanessa, and Aruzhan - so they remain connected to the place we all belong to. Words hold special meaning in the oral tradition pivotal to understanding the steppe, and with that I say Aq Zhol, which translates as "White Journey" and serves as a wish for a calm, enriching, and prosperous way for the artists and people whose lives will be touched by this initiative.


Togzhan 
Wertheimer






CURATOR 
Vladislav 
Sludskiy

Prior to his role as the chief curator of the TOVA Foundation Vladislav Sludskiy has worked with a Singapore based company Metis Art Education and served as a director and curator at Ethan Cohen Gallery in New York, where he organized and co-curated solo and group exhibitions featuring artists such as Ai Weiwei, Xu Bing, Andy Warhol, Yayoi Kusama, Ushio Shinohara, Jon Kessler, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, Qiu Zhijie, Qiu Deshu, Zhang Huan, Gu Dexin, Qin Feng, Gonçalo Mabunda, Aboudia, Moffat Takadiwa, and, Hugh Hayden among others.

A native of Almaty, Kazakhstan, Sludskiy co-founded and ran ARTBAT FEST, an annual international contemporary art festival serving the Central Asian region from 2010-2023. He is the co-founder and curator for the Eurasian Cultural Alliance (ECA) which has been spearheading educational initiatives across the region and fostering cultural exchange between Kazakhstan and the global art community since 2011. ECA has presented exhibitions at notable venues including the Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MAMCS) in Strasbourg, Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, Union de la Jeunesse Internationale in Paris, Jeonbuk Museum of Art in Jeonbuk, the Museum of Future Energy in Astana, and the Kasteyev Museum of Fine Arts in Almaty.

Vladislav’s curatorial work and articles have appeared in Brooklyn Rail, Ocula, Dezeen, Huffington Post, Art Asia Pacific, Esquire, Forbes, and Vlast.kz, a number of catalogs and recently published book “Can Art Aid in Resolving Conflicts: 100 perspectives.” In 2021 Sludskiy won a nomination for Forbes Qazaqstan’s 30 under 30 list for the achievements in the field of arts and culture.