Karipbek Kuyukov (, ) is a Kazakh painter born without arms as a result of exposure to nuclear radiation from Soviet nuclear testing in Eastern Kazakhstan. Kuyukov is a global advocate for the cessation of nuclear weapons testing and worldwide nuclear disarmament. Kuyukov is the Honorary Ambassador for

The ATOM Project The ATOM Project (est. August 2012) is an international campaign by the Nazarbayev Center of Kazakhstan. The primary goal of the campaign is to build international support for the abolishment of nuclear testing. ATOM stands for "Abolish Testing. Ou ...

, a campaign to raise awareness of the devastation caused by

nuclear weapons testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...

Early life

Karipbek was born in the small village of

Yegindybulak Yegindybulak (, ''Egindibulaq'') is a settlement in Karkaraly District, Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of the Yegindybulak Rural District (KATO code - 354851100). Population: History The Koyandy Fair, a large ann ...

, just from where the Soviet Union conducted more than 450 nuclear weapons tests from 1949 to 1989 on where is today the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Painting and artwork

Kuyukov paints holding brushes with his teeth and toes. He has dedicated his artistic life to painting impressions of the environmental and human devastation caused by nuclear weapons testing. His art has been exhibited at major nongovernmental and governmental institutions around the world.

Other activism

Kuyukov was appointed Honorary Ambassador of The ATOM Project at its launch in 2012. As the ATOM Project Honorary Ambassador, Kuyukov addressed on September 6, 2018 a special session of the UN General Assembly commemorating the International Day against Nuclear Tests. During his address, Kuyukov delivered a plea to the world and countries possessing nuclear weapons to act to legally ban such testing. According to

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

, Kuyukov said that he was denied a British travel visa in 2013 with the explanation that his 'fingerprints are of poor quality'. After media reports of the incident the British consulate in Almaty apologized to Kuyukov and issued a visa.

Awards

Karipbek Kuyukov received the

Nuclear-Free Future Award Since 1998 the Nuclear-Free Future Award (NFFA) is an award given to anti-nuclear activists, organizations and communities. The award is intended to promote opposition to uranium mining, nuclear weapons and nuclear power. The NFFA is a project of ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, on October 24, 2018. Receiving the award, Kuyukov announced that he intended to spend the prize money on preserving his home village of Yegindibulak, just 100 km from the nuclear test site.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuyukov, Karipbek Living people 21st-century Kazakhstani painters Anti–nuclear weapons activists Year of birth missing (living people)