In 1937, Joseph Stalin had a technique for displacing unwanted immigrants. They were put on trains and sent to far-flung, inhospitable places. Stalin sent thousands of Koreans who had been living in Siberia to Central Asia, fully intending that they would not survive. Seventy-nine years later a thriving Korean community in Tashkent and Central Asia is proof to the contrary.

Vladimir Kim, who is ethnically Korean, was born in Tashkent in 1964. He studied and graduated from Tashkent Teacher’s College in 1991 with a major in Fine Arts.

Kim’s artwork has distinct Asian influences. He is prone to personifying inanimate objects—simple chairs seem to relate to each other, pots and pans are ‘talking’ at the table. His still life paintings are decorative and simple, showing his interest in flatness.