On the occasion of the adoption of the 2026 motto “Neutral Independent Turkmenistan – the Homeland of Purposeful Winged Horses”, the State Museum of Fine Arts hosts an exhibition of paintings, ceramic works, and sculptures by Turkmen and Turkish artists.

In the museum’s storage facilities are paintings previously donated by a group of artists from Turkiye who participated in a creative project in Turkmenistan in 2015, which included depictions of the Ahal-Teke horse. A certain difference in artistic approaches between Turkmen and Turkish painters was obvious even to a non-professional visitor. While our artists sought to emphasize in the image of the Ahal-Teke steed its elegance, friendliness toward its surroundings, as well as its fighting spirit and athletic qualities, their colleagues from Turkiye offer an enthusiastic appraisal of the obvious and extraordinary phenomenon they encountered in the image of the Ahal-Teke horse.

Somewhat contrasting with the Turkish paintings are the works of our masters — Mamed Mamedov’s “Toy”, Yarly Bayramov’s “In the Foothills of the Kopetdag”, Vladimir Maskevich’s “Two Friends”, and others. Here one senses a different school, a more concrete approach to conveying the visual charm of Ahal-Teke horses.

The very idea of a Turkmen–Turkish exhibition dedicated to the Ahal-Teke steed belongs to Nepesgeldi Lollekov, a staff member of the museum’s Research Department. As the organizer of the exhibition, he also complemented the displayed paintings with works of ceramics and sculpture, including two vases under the collective title “Galkynysh” by Gulyara Babayeva, the sculptures “The Rider” by Meretdurdy Ovezov, “Inspiration” by Juma Jumadurdy, and “Ahal-Teke horse” by Ynanch Yazmammedov.