Reviving a historic cinema as a contemporary art hub in Kazakhstan

In the heart of Almaty, Kazakhstan, a former Soviet‑era cinema has found a new voice. The Tselinny Center for Contemporary Culture has been reimagined as a vibrant platform for contemporary art, where video, architecture, and cultural dialogue intersect. Many of these works explore themes such as memory, identity, and social dialogue, often relying heavily on moving image content as their primary medium.

Rather than erasing the past, the transformation carefully preserves the building’s modernist character while opening it up to new forms of artistic expression. At the core of this evolution lies a Barco-powered visual infrastructure designed to give artists freedom, without distracting from the space itself.

One space, many artistic realities

Designing a projection setup for a contemporary art center is never a one‑size‑fits‑all exercise. At Tselinny, every exhibition can reshape the space, calling for different projection distances, image sizes, and mounting positions.

The projection system had to deliver stable performance during extended operating hours, while maintaining precise color reproduction and strong contrast in darkened exhibition halls. Equally important was flexibility. Projectors needed to be easily relocated and reconfigured between exhibitions, enabling curators and artists to experiment freely with spatial concepts.

Finally, the equipment itself had to remain visually discreet. In a predominantly light‑colored interior, technology needed to blend in, not stand out.

Flexible projection built around Barco G62

System integrator Digis AV from Kazakhstan selected Barco G62‑W11 laser‑phosphor projectors as the foundation of the Center’s visual infrastructure. A total of nine projectors were deployed across multiple exhibition spaces, forming a flexible and future‑proof projection platform.

With 11,000 lumens of brightness, WUXGA resolution, and support for 4K input signals, the G62 projectors provide stable image performance suited to both immersive video art and supporting informational content. Their laser light source ensures consistent brightness and color over long exhibition cycles, reducing maintenance concerns for the technical team.

To preserve the visual integrity of the architecture, the projectors were supplied in white housings, allowing them to integrate seamlessly into the museum’s light interior. Flexibility was further enhanced through a range of interchangeable Barco G-lenses. Ultra‑short‑throw, short‑throw, and mid‑throw lenses enable rapid adaptation to different room sizes, projection distances, and artistic formats, without replacing the core hardware.

A permanent platform for artistic freedom

Today, the Barco projection system is an integral part of the Tselinny Center’s permanent technical infrastructure. It supports a wide range of contemporary exhibitions, enabling artists to present video works with accurate color reproduction, strong contrast, and consistent visual quality, even during prolonged display periods.

For curators, the flexibility of the system means each new exhibition can redefine the space without technical constraints. Projection setups can be adapted quickly, keeping the Center dynamic and responsive to evolving artistic concepts.

The system is currently used for the video art installation “Who Guards Your Dreams?” by Daria Temirkhan, illustrating how the platform supports demanding, concept‑driven video works while respecting both the artwork and the architecture that surrounds it.