"Through the Female Line." Why the exhibition of artist Robiya Kadyrova at Zanmakon is of interest

"Through the Female Line." What makes the exhibition of artist Robiya Kadyrova at Zanmakon so appealing

The name of 28-year-old artist Robiya Kadyrova has been known since 2023. She actively participates in creative contests, collective art projects, and festivals, and also runs social media accounts. Last spring, her first solo exhibition, "The Path to Self," took place at the Human House gallery, where the artist met curator and researcher Svetlana Chistyakova. This meeting marked the beginning of communication over viewing and discussing paintings, which three months later resulted in a joint exhibition project, "Through the Female Line," at the Zanmakon space.

Curator Svetlana Chistyakova calls the project an "observation exhibition." Each of the 16 paintings created between 2022 and 2026 is an episode of everyday life that the artist transferred onto canvas to preserve in memory. In most of the works, the main characters are close people: Robiya's grandmother, mother and father, husband, daughter, and mother-in-law.

Moving from one painting to another is like flipping through a family photo album assembled with great love and warmth.

"For me personally, this exhibition is about care, love, and wisdom passed down from generation to generation, from mother to daughter, from grandmother to granddaughter. The upbringing I received, the words I heard, found reflection in my works. I want to remind people that loved ones are our support and inspiration," says Robiya Kadyrova.

The exposition is structured more complexly than it might seem at first. On the surface is a general focus on female experience. Below are three sections, each of which the curator built around a narrower theme.

The "Roots" section includes works about relationships and family.

"Transition" focuses on the daily choices a woman makes: between home and career, decision and doubt.

Particularly prominent in this section is the painting "In the Fortress of Eternity" (2025) — the only one in the exhibition executed in mixed media using textiles, and seemingly in mixed feelings. It was inspired by conversations with friends about the limitations women feel even when, by definition, everything in life is fine.

"Women always combine different roles. But sometimes, instead of looking for a balance between them, they have to choose just one. This is a choice without a choice — when you want both, but it is impossible for some reason. For example, there are traditions. They exist, on the one hand, to protect us from something, and on the other hand, they keep us within boundaries. It turns out that everything seems to be fine, but for some reason, it hurts," the artist explains.

The final section, "Light," symbolizes the search for the meaning of life in love, partnership, motherhood — there are many options — and finding oneself on this path.

According to Robiya Kadyrova, her main task is not so much to tell people her story and observations, but to remind them of important moments, connections, and relationships in their own lives.

And this really works. The artist's personal experience prompts female visitors to reflect on their own and evokes memories of similar situations.

But the similarity of subjects does not mean a coincidence of emotional response. The painting with the central image of a bride, "On the Threshold" (2025), is perceived differently by those who are happily married and those for whom marriage brought nothing good.

The portrait of a sleeping mother with traces of fatigue on her face — the only work in the exhibition in the style of realism — evokes sympathy for the woman and a desire to hug one's own mother in some, and tears from the realization of the impossibility of doing so in others.

The exhibition also allows a look at the artist herself — at how she searches for her own artistic language. Robiya Kadyrova's signature style is an intriguing combination of elements of avant-garde, cubism, and brutalism with everyday, sometimes naive subjects. She is not afraid of color, confidently works with geometric shapes, and seeks inspiration in architecture, which makes her works resemble urban mosaics or stained glass. There is a strong sense that for the artist, conveying her own vision is more important than being an A-student and following academic canons.

You can visit the exhibition "Through the Female Line" at the Zanmakon space until September 18.