MQ Artist-in-Residence Selbi Jumayeva | Steppe Synanthropies: Data Tapestry

12.02. – 31.05.2026 | MQ Pop-Up Schauraum,
free admission

Opening Wed 11.02.2026, 18h – the following openings will take place on the same evening in other MQ Showrooms and at the eSeL reception, as well as in MQ Raum D:

artVideoLoop: Ursula Maria Probst & Raashish India - PEACE STARTS WITH A SMILE

MQ Artist-in-Residence Edwin Adokwei Boye: After Fashion, Life!

Martin Markeli: Open Atelier – Back from Miami candy

eSeL: Gerngeschehen MQ

MQ Artist-in-Residence Ausstellung: Artistic Gathering

In Steppe Synanthropies: Data Tapestry, MQ Artist-in-Residence Selbi Jumayeva is committed to raise awareness about the importance of efforts to protect critically endangered species through artistic expression and scientific inquiry. She employs traditional Turkmen folk techniques of embroidery and patchwork to reuse and upcycle household objects and textiles pieces woven together with protective talismans and field research accoutrement. In this exhibition, maşyn başlyk is presented as the düýe başlyk and düýe dyzlyk camel trappings’ designed successor. From all-terrain camel transportation to 4x4 off-road vehicles, this handcrafted protective tech gear is  adapted to the transhumance experiences of life in Central Asia’s harsh environments and extreme weather. Steppe Synanthropies: Data Tapestry 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.

Selbi Jumayeva (b. 1986, Ashgabat) 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, Selbi is designing cultural and natural heritage programs for environmental, biodiversity conservation, and climate adaptation work in Turkmenistan and the larger Central Asian neighborhood. As a curator and artist, Selbi 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.

Curated by Alisa Verbina

With support of the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA)

Photo ©MuseumsQuartier Wien, Photo: Alisa Verbina