Aliza Pays Homage to Her Roots

Aliza Souleyeva has always been an artist. Her beloved grandfather was also an artist, a famous musician. At one-point Souleyeva was an established artist in her home country Kazakhstan, and then moved to Canada to start over again.

Now, she creates jewelry as an established silversmith and lapidary provider. Her latest collection has paid homage to her Kazakhstan roots to reconnect with them since she realized that growing up her culture has been severely depressed by the Soviet Regime since it was controlled by the former USSR now Russia due to the colonization of the country. It was to the point her country couldn’t speak their native language and were punished for being true to their culture. As a part of the assimilation, a lot of Kazakhstan’s history has been erased not being taught in schools and that the USSR (Russia) was the best.

The Kazakhstan culture is rich with a past of people who lived a nomadic lifestyle raising and using horses and animals for their work, farming or as warriors even being related to the Huns, Scyhians, Hunnu, Kypchak and many more.

Aliza stated passionately, “I love nomadism so much because they took care of the Earth, took care of the animals and tried to not hurt or kill only taking what is needed and not wasting.”

Geographically, the country is known as a central Asian country and a former Soviet Republic bordering Russia, Mongolia and China.

Now she is relearning about her history, slowly connecting to her ancestors and deepening her connection to her late grandfather whom she was close to growing up. His name was Magauiya Khamzin and he was a famous musician who was known for preserving Kazakhstan’s traditional music which entails playing a dombra. The instrument has been around since the middle ages and is a widely used instrument within the Kazakh culture and in other parts of the world. Khamzin played many concerts, traveled abroad and at one point was offered to be a part of the Communist party, which he refused.

Not only did he play the dombra but he made them as well which is a unique skill to have. “He always did something with his hands and made instruments. Whenever I work, I feel that connection to him,” recalled Aliza.

Magauiya Khamzin, Aliza's grandfather who made and played the dombra.

Her grandfather made such an impression on Aliza because he stayed true to who he was and stayed humble. She admits that through his influence, she was privileged to receive a good education but unfortunately was taught Kazakh at only a basic level. Instead, Aliza and other children mostly learned Russian. Being under Russian government control not only attempted to erase her people’s history and culture but their language as well. Aliza remembers that the local people couldn’t speak Kazakh or else they would be discriminated against.

Historically when the Soviets came into power, they destroyed the nomadic lifestyle via their animals which the people heavily depended on to do their farming, trading and other things. Eventually this caused a famine where many people died as a result. “The government (Kazakhstan government) will never admit it because they don’t want trouble with their neighbors,” said Aliza explaining that if the government were to admit such things, they could not only get in trouble with the Russian government but with the possible uprise of their people who are still trying to take a stand for their identities and human rights.

Aliza constructed a necklace pendant out of the shape of the dombra in honor of her grandfather.

Aliza being an activist in her own way raises money to send to the Ukraine war effort against Russia. With the Ukraine also being a former USSR territory like Kazakhstan. She is worried about the future of her country not only the neighboring ones who used to be controlled by the Russian government but what it means for her people’s safety and future including her family members who still reside there.  “Kazakhs need to be united and strong to survive as a nation, they face so many challenges but Ukraine has showed us that it is possible to stand up to the bully and clean up corruption on the inside,” explained Aliza.

Previously she has launched several collections dedicated to the war in Ukraine cause to donate money to help the people. She still has many distinct pieces available in her shop that come in the colors of yellow and blue representing the Ukrainian flag and using the symbolism of sunflowers which the country is symbolized by and grows as a part of their agriculture.

Still, Aliza has experienced racism in her younger years. Even as a young person she loved expressing her Kazakhstan roots through her artwork but even in the early 2000’s it was rejected:

“I wanted to mention that as an artist, I loved painting and depicting Kazakh ornaments…in early 2000’s my mom and I went to a modern art gallery in Moscow to show them photos of my art, we had an appointment, the gallery director was late and once he arrived he gave us a few seconds of his time and told me to show my art to his manager. The manager was a Russian woman who, after looking at my art, told me that my art was too ethnic and wouldn't work well for their gallery,” recalled Aliza.

Now residing in British Columbia, she continues to express herself through her jewelry connecting to her roots and ancestors in this way. Through her work and newest collection, she desires to depict the nomads of who they truly are and what they represent. Not the propaganda that they are barbaric and uneducated but people who are free and connected to the Earth and animals. The jewelry has Kazakh symbolism, charms and ornaments that are shown throughout the culture. Even with a few pieces she had made a piece in the shape of a dombra to honor her beloved grandfather to show the beauty of the music and art present within her culture.

Another way Aliza is connecting is learning more about the history of her background and the native language. Being stripped of the opportunity before due to the discrimination of the government, she feels it is important to learn her people’s mother tongue to further connect and understand them. For others and her customers, she makes her special Kazakh jewelry for this reason: “It connects me to people who want to know the culture or to get to know it.”

At one point this Kazakh artist felt like she lost a connection with her culture due to immigrating to Canada, but she then created a new one- freedom to know who she was.

“Everything pulled me into this direction and it worked, it all worked,” Aliza said with a soft smile on her face.