Arystanbek Shalbayev is a Kazakh interdisciplinary artist who combines his creative work with his teaching career. After graduating from the Almaty State Theater and Art Institute in 1984, he started teaching at the Shymkent Art College after Kasteev. He worked as a head of the cycle of composition until 1989. From 1989 until now he has taught at the Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T. Zhurgenov at the Department of Interior and Furniture Design.
He is a core member of the Kyzyl Tractor art group. Since its formation in 1991, Shalbayev has constantly taken part in various contemporary art exhibitions and festivals in Kazakhstan and abroad. His works encompass performance, installation, photography and video art.
Shalbayev is also a member of the Union of Artists of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and a corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 1979.