An Artful Life with Adisa Keen: Contemporary Art in Central Asia

An Artful Life with Adisa Keen: Contemporary Art in Central Asia How is a museum born? What makes museums relevant today around the world? What does the Communications Manager of a Museum do? The first-ever museum of contemporary art in Central Asia has opened in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This museum is the passion project of Nurlan Smagulov, a collector and investor. Our guest, Adisa Keen is Manager of Communications for the museum, which opened it’s doors in September, 2025. She’s seen the museum’s initial three quarters, and has unique insight into this, the first museum of contemporary art in Central Asia! Adisa’s background is journalism and psychology, with training in both professions from around the world. She also opened and ran an elite school for English language in Kazakhstan. These skills made her perfect for the job of Director of Communications for the new Almaty Museum of Art imagined and realized by collector Nurlan Smagulov, which opened it’s doors in September, 2025. Happily, she is also an old friend of mine, with a wonderful back story. I'll tell that live on the show. @AdisaKeen An Artful Life: Painter Melissa Hefferlin and Photographer and Producer Nina Froriep are curious to understand many things about Art in their Live Show, An Artful Live: Curious Conversations About How Humans Make and Use Art. What is Art? Who is an artist, really? Why do we need Art in our lives? Where should we start if we want to collect Art? These questions (and many more) about the relationship between humans and Art in all its forms will be the topic of dynamic, 45-minute conversations in a 6-part series streaming live on LinkedIn and later available as recordings. Perhaps you'd like to send in a question? Join us for the investigations LIVE with knowledgeable, passionate people who work in different factions of the art world. Meet the Hosts: Melissa Hefferlin describes being an artist as spending her days preserving spirit and meaning in beautifully-crafted images. A professional fine artist for over three decades, Melissa was the only American to study fine art at the Russian Academy of Art in the Soviet Period. Her mentor was A. A. Mylnikov.Melissa is one of a family of artists: husband and son also fine artists. She divides her time between Europe and the United States. She is an occasional author, and plays the violin to relax. Travel is an addiction, way before working remotely was in vogue. Melissa speaks English, Russian and Spanish, and can order food in a few more languages. www.melissahefferlin.com @melissahefferlin Nina Froriep is a featured LinkedIn Content Creator, Producer, and Visual Storyteller. She helps business coaches, service-based entrepreneurs, and visual artists create digital content they love so they can grow their companies organically and elevate the conversations they're having in their areas of expertise. Nina is a “recovering” film producer and documentary filmmaker. She’s seen it all, from the early days on independent features to big national TV commercials, corporate mega-shows, and Emmy award-winning documentaries, including one she produced and directed called Abraham's Children. Nina is also an art photographer, and she loves spending time in nature, especially in her native Switzerland, with her owner Tigger, an 11-pound Dachshund mix who has her well-trained. @ninafroriep 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/53550805...