© Aneliya Bekbassova
What does spring mean to you? For Kazakh artist Aneliya Bekbassova, it’s a season of renewal and reflection—a special time each year to remember where you come from, cherish those you love, and offer a heartfelt ‘be well’ to those who matter most with a warm hug. In Kazakhstan, spring begins with a holiday called Körisu Küni or Amal. On this day, people embrace each other, forgive old grievances, and wish one another peace and kindness.
It was this very tradition that inspired Aneliya’s latest series of illustrations created in collaboration with Yandex Go. Her artworks became the foundation for a charming set of digital and printed stickers designed to be shared like warm words or virtual hugs. We sat down with Aneliya to talk about how art can help preserve traditions and why ancient customs continue to find meaning in today’s digital world.
PARTNERSHIP
Your work is known for its unique style and deep connection to traditional Kazakh culture. Could you tell us a bit about yourself and how your artistic journey began?
Aneliya Bekbassova х Яндекс Go
From an early age, I was drawn to colors and shapes that filled the world around me. By the time I reached school, I had a deep connection with art and knew that it would become an integral part of my life. After the sixth grade, I enrolled in an arts-focused school where I gained my first formal training and began to find my own path.
Later, while studying abroad, I started feeling a deep sense of nostalgia—for familiar landscapes, sounds, and rituals—which led me to explore Kazakh aesthetics more closely, especially in the style often referred to as ‘ethno-chic’. I realized something was missing in my everyday life, and I started filling that space through my drawings and paintings.
Aneliya Bekbassova х Яндекс Go
How did the collaboration with Yandex Go come about?
It happened quite organically, as a natural extension of my desire to make traditional motifs more accessible and relevant in the modern world. Stickers are a vibrant and easy way to share the spirit of a holiday—they allow people to express warmth and pass along cultural symbols, and projects like this help promote Kazakh culture by weaving it seamlessly into both digital and physical spaces. I really appreciate that Yandex supports such initiatives.
What I especially liked is that the project goes beyond the widely known Nauryz holiday and highlights lesser-known but deeply meaningful traditions like Amal and Körisu Küni. You see, Amal isn’t just about the arrival of spring—it’s a celebration of unity, respect for our elders, and the warmth of human connection. In Kazakhstan today, it reminds us of the importance of tradition and the value of heartfelt communication. The Körisu tradition, those sincere hugs and kind wishes that we exchange, feels especially relevant in a world that often forgets to slow down.
Aneliya Bekbassova х Яндекс Go
What message do you hope to convey through your illustrations?
The main idea behind my work is that traditions and culture are living, breathing entities, and they can easily adapt to changing times. By blending modern elements with traditional motifs, we create a visual language that feels familiar and accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds, even those who may not know much about Kazakh customs.
Each sticker carries a bit of our cultural DNA, featuring ethnic patterns, symbols, and recognizable forms. One of my favorites shows a boy playing the dombra along with a smart speaker like Alice. That mix of folklore and technology really captures the essence of the project.
What inspires you most in your creative process?
My biggest source of inspiration is the world around me—nature, people, music, the vibe of the city, the little moments of daily life. There’s something special in the everyday: the way light falls, an unexpected mix of colors, a simple gesture, or a fleeting emotion. When my creative flow hits a wall, I find that changing my surroundings helps—going on a walk, finding a new location, or sometimes just taking a break and recharging. If the block lingers, I disconnect not just from art but from social media too.
Aneliya Bekbassova х Яндекс Go
What’s your professional dream, and what are you working on next?
My dream is to create projects that don’t just please the eye but also carry Kazakh cultural codes within them—I want to make traditions more visible, relatable, and alive. I plan to keep expanding my repertoire by working with national themes, experimenting with animation, and, most importantly, painting a mural in my hometown.
Every new idea is a chance to connect the past and the future and to make Kazakh culture more accessible and exciting for everyone.
About the Artist
Aneliya Bekbassova is a Kazakh artist and illustrator based in Almaty. She studied at the school affiliated with the T.K. Zhurgenov Kazakh National Academy of Arts and later continued her education at the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Bechyně in the Czech Republic.
Aneliya works across various media, including digital illustration, oil and watercolor painting, and graphic art. Her work often explores the reinterpretation of cultural codes and national traditions through a contemporary visual language. In her projects, she draws on Kazakh symbolism, integrating it into both everyday and digital contexts.
© Aneliya Bekbassova