yuriy bartenev

Yuriy Bartenev was born and lived in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, until he left for Germany in 2017. He graduated from medical faculty and worked as a doctor till 2005. While he was studying he organized a blues-rock band, where was the lead singer and songwriter. The Artistic Director and founder of the “Ilkhom” Theater Mark Weil heard this band and invited Bartenev’s group to participate in his “Christmas Evenings at the “Ilkhom” Theater” - 1999-2000".

While Yuriy Bartenev was working as a doctor, he wrote plays. Stage readings of his plays “Dove” and “Devil” were held in “ARTiSHOCK” Theater (Almaty, Kazakhstan) in 2006 and in 2007, respectively. His debut as a director, was a chamber contemporary opera “Salvation” by Uzbek composer Felix Yanov-Yanovsky, as a part of “Central Asian Young Directors Laboratory” in “Ilkhom” Theater together with “Omnibus” Ensemble in 2005. 

Based on Bartenev’s play “Dancing painter” Mark Weil wrote his own play "Ecstasy with a Pomegranate", and staged a performance by this play in 2006. In the same year Yuriy Bartenev wrote a libretto to the chamber mini-opera “The Box” by Uzbek composer Artyom Kim, which was performed on “Kameroperafestival” in Amsterdam, Netherland.

In 2005 Bartenev agreed to accept Mark Weil’s offer to work as stage manager at the “Ilkhom” Theater. He held this position until the Mark Weil's brutal murder in 2007. For two years, together with the brilliant director and the best Uzbek stage designers, Bartenev created scenery for more than 20 of Mark Weil’s performances and theater projects. After Weil’s death, Yuriy Bartenev left the “Ilkhom” Theater and accepted an offer to become the Editor-in-Chief of the first fashion magazine for men in Uzbekistan “SNOB Collection”. In October 2008 Bartenev created the theater group "Status Plus“ with participation of people living with HIV. In 2009 he together with his theater group invented and organized an international theater festival dedicated to the social discrimination of people living with HIV. In 2010 Yuriy Bartenev together with his theater group “Status Plus” staged a play “Swallows fly low” by Finn Havrevold.

During his participation in “Central Asian Young Directors Laboratory” 2013, Bartenev was invited to the “Ilkhom” Theater to play a small role in the play "Rain Behind the Wall" by the famous Russian director Vladimir Pankov. He was involved in the performance until the spring of 2014, when he and his wife founded a new theater company “Buta Media”. At the same time, he began work on a performance based on his own play "Ordinary Heroes". The premiere of the performance took place in June 2014.

In the summer of 2014 Yuriy Bartenev became a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab in New York. He returned to the LCT Directors Lab in 2015, where he suggested working on the play "Tamburlaine the Great" by Christopher Marlowe.

In May 2017 Bartenev together with his family moved to Germany, where he now lives. Here in Germany in autumn 2018 was ended his latest play "Old Fellow Hank". In December 2018 the play was performed on a stage reading in the “TranceForm” Culture space in Almaty, Kazakhstan.