Akhmat Bikanov (b. 1996) is an artist from Kabardino-Balkaria, a graduate of Moscow Art Institute, living and working in Berlin. He works in a multi-layered watercolour technique, where transparent layers, preserving traces of the process and ‘mistakes’, transform painting into a ritual of cognition. His subjects are based on memories of his childhood in the Caucasus, which fade over time, leaving only colour sensations and images. Through bright colours, the artist creates an idealised space — a mythological refuge, free from prejudice, where people are united by common values rather than ideologies.