Selbi Jumayeva
area: Transdisciplinary researcher, curator and artist
Key Facts
nationality
Turkmenistanarea
Transdisciplinary researcher, curator and artistresidence
Ashgabatrecommending institution
BMEIAtime period
January 2026 - February 2026Selbi Jumayeva (Ashgabat, 1986) is a transdisciplinary researcher, curator and artist, using documentary photography, ethnography, and applied ecology. Her research focuses on desert futures, socio-ecological systems, and planetary boundaries. Currently, Jumayeva is designing cultural and natural heritage programs for environmental, biodiversity conservation, and climate adaptation work in Turkmenistan. Previously, she directed environment and society strategy at Artcom Platform in Kazakhstan.
As a Central Asian expert, Selbi Jumayeva has 25 years of experience in strengthening regional civil society, leading and resourcing grassroots initiatives, and advising international organizations. As a curator and artist, Jumayeva explores multispecies relations and traditional ecological knowledge(s), preserves her Yomud tribal kinship’s narratives and artifacts, and documents Central Asian quotidien and Turkmen intellectual history.
She weaves her learnings and ideas of transboundary boundary objects and planetary human entanglements into ongoing collaborative projects such as “Dusts (The Terraforming 2021)” and “Steppe Synanthropies: Extant Across Borders (Climate Dignity 2025)”.
During my residence at MQ I’m working on and presenting one of the Data Tapestry pieces and its video and graphic documentation - Maşyn başlyk (car trapping) - at the Steppe Synanthropies exhibition curated by Alisa Verbina 12.02 - 31.05.2026.
The Steppe Synanthropies: Data Tapestry project continues my exploration of interconnectedness and embeddedness experiences within local, intimate ecosystems and planetary processes. Raising awareness about the importance of efforts to protect critically endangered species is central to my artistic expression and scientific inquiry. I also follow the mission of my collaborative project Steppe Synanthropies: Extant Across Continents to further illuminate the co-existence of migratory bird species, scientists, and pastoralists on the African-Eurasian Flyway.
In the Data Tapestry project I employ the traditional Turkmen folk art techniques of reusing and upcycling household items and textile pieces as intricate embroidered patchwork to cover, shelter, and protect humans, domesticated animals, and more-than-human entities. Textile and jewelry adornments are adaptive necessities developed from transhumance experiences and celebration of life in Central Asia’s harsh environments and extreme weather. The project pieces are rugs, tapestries, and documentary works embedded with symbols, talismans, and artifacts of field research and nature, recording and honoring everyday realities, livelihoods, and life ways.
My Steppe Synanthropies: Data Tapestry project builds on the ground truth established in Extant Across Continents to tell the story of local wildlife conservationists who are often invisible but always on the frontlines of environmental stewardship.