Mirra Markhaeva is a visual artist based in Brussels, originally from the Republic of Buryatia (North Asia). She works with illustration, graphic design, mural painting, and textile sculpture. Her recent practice focuses on tapestry and rug-making, often inspired by her illustrations drawn from childhood memories and the experience of growing up in a Buryat village.

Many aspects of Buryat culture are reflected in her visual language: veneration of ancestors, Buddhism, shamanism, Siberian nature, and fragments of indigenous experience that have survived assimilation. Through the (re)discovery of her own culture in art, Mirra reflects on her origins, amplifies the voices of her ancestors, and questions how to navigate (im)material heritage that is increasingly at risk. Her artistic practice becomes a form of activism—an exploration of Buryat identity and a denunciation of the imperialist forces that have long silenced the indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Far East.

One of the greatest treasures of Buryat-Mongol culture is the philosophy of syncretism—the idea that duality does not necessarily imply opposition or conflict but rather the interdependence of opposites. In this exhibition, Mirra seeks to explore and express this interplay through memories, reflections, and visual codes.

The first thing that comes to her mind is a quote from Ursula K. Le Guin, the feminist writer whose fantasy novels have been Mirra's favorite since childhood. This quote not only embodies the philosophy of syncretism but also poetically aligns with Tengrism—the ancient pan-Mongolic religion that venerates the Great Blue Sky.  

"Only in silence the word,
Only in dark the light,
Only in dying life:
Bright the hawk's flight
On the empty sky."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

TBC Dumpling Tales :

Mirra Markhaeva has initiated the project The School of Conviviality: “Dumpling Tales IV” as part of the Kunstenfestivaldesarts last year. Dumpling Tales is a series of culinary performative dinners and dumpling workshops, based on co-learning experience and story-telling that gravitate around dumplings from different countries: a dish that in different shape and form is present in many cultures around the world.  While hands-on teaching the recipe of dumplings, She spoke about the deep connection between food and cultural identity, highlighting how traditional recipes serve as a means of cultural preservation and a tool for community building. Using food as a crossroad of different cultures to find similarities and celebrate differences, as a language of non-verbal yet sensorial communication and departure for sharing stories and experiences. As well as establishing a non-consumerist way of eating and propagating a culture of sharing.

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