Live and work in Almaty, Kazakhstan Madanov is both a graduate of the All-Union of Cinematography in Moscow and of Philosophy and Political Science at the Kazakh State Al-Farabi University in Almaty. Terekbay is a graduate of the Kazakh University of International Relations and International Languages in Almaty. They are among the few contemporary artists who are rethinking the medium of painting by  identifying its contemporary and social significance. Simultaneously involved in cinema and contemporary visual arts their artistic practice is a means of social critique. They have exhibited, among other places, at: the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011; Aluminium, IV International Biennial of Contemporary Art, Baku, Azerbaijan in 2009; and in Red Star-Blue Dome, IFA-Gallery, Berlin in 2004.