Is There Future for the Ilkhom Theatre?
By Alexey Ulko for MOZAIKAIn the last few months, the flagship of Uzbek contemporary art, the Mark Weil Ilkhom Theatre has been in danger. Why is its very existence threatened…
Genghis Khan, Kok-Par and Other Stories of the Great Steppe by Said Atabekov
“I wish to see kok-par players – “Steppe Wolves” from Central Asia on the world’s best catwalks. They are not the refined Europeans, just ordinary guys from a remote aul…
Central Asian Non-Conformist Art in Norton Dodge Collection
Norton Townshend Dodge (June 15, 1927 – November 5, 2011) was an American economist who amassed one of the largest Soviet-era art collections outside of the Soviet Union. Dodge, who…
Women’s Perspective and the Central Asian Cinema
The founders of Central Asian countries’ national cinema include Kazakhstan’s Shaken Aimanov, with his masterpiece “The Land of Fathers”, Kyrgyzstan’s Melis Ubukeyev, with his work “White Mountains”, Uzbekistan’s Shukhrat Abbasov,…
Sweat, Blood and Central Asian Dance
Dance is an integral part of life in Central Asia; it can be seen both in rural settings and on the proscenium stage, from highly developed virtuosic classical styles to…
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Khorezm Lazgi: The Sunniest Dance on Earth
Lazgi is a must-see of Khorezm. Lazgi is the dance with a feel-good factor, making you feel a joie de vivre or zest for life. There is an opinion that…
Law and Custom in Central Asia: An Interview with Judith Beyer
Prof. Dr. Judith Beyer specializes in political and legal anthropology. She conducted long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Kyrgyzstan where she studied the practices of retraditionalization – how the concept of traditions…
Uzbekistan Without Graffiti: Censorship Against Street Art
Despite the rich artistic traditions of the past, contemporary Uzbekistan can not particularly boast about its popular street art. Even in cosmopolitan Tashkent, public spaces sparkle with pristine purity. On…
Through the Eyes of an Artist: Art Quarantine by Vyacheslav (Yura) Useinov, Bobur Ismoilov and Anna Ivanova
In the midst of quarantine, I saw Stagnation (Стагнация) by Bobur Ismailov. The painting shows a lonely girl in a confined room with a book on her knees and the…
Would Uzbekistan be the First Nuclear Power and Technological Leader in Central Asia? An Interview with Margarita Kalinina-Pohl
Uzbekistan has announced plans to develop its nuclear energy capacities to support economic growth and development. The advantages, risks, and threats that nuclear power can bring are discussed in this…
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Ali Shir Navayi and the Rich World of Turkic-Persian Poetry. An Interview with Nicholas Walmsley
Ali Shir Navayi born in 1441 in Herat, was a Turkic poet, writer, politician, linguist, and mystic, who was the greatest representative of Chagatai literature. He lived in the Timurid…
Feminism and Central Asia – What Went Wrong?
Feminism is not adequately perceived in Central Asian societies. Some consider it as a threat to the existing traditions of the patriarchal foundation, when a woman (responsible for too many…
A Look into the Soviet Past of the Central Asian Cinema with Cloe Drieu
Researcher Cloe Drieu studied the earliest films in Central Asia that go back as far as 1924, a year that marked a political birth, with the ethnic and territorial delimitation…
On the Uzbek media development: An interview with Nikita Makarenko
Main photo: President Shavkat Mirziyoev with bloggers, August 2019Media in Uzbekistan represents an interesting object of study. After President Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power, the media, which under the previous…
Central Asia is Slowly Reopening After a Tight Lockdown. Street Photos from Four Cities
These days streets are not so busy and crowded in the Central Asia’s largest cities: Tashkent, Almaty, Bishkek and Dushanbe. Yet, they are slowly returning to the previous life even…
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Refugees from Сentral Asia and in Central Asia
Closed borders around the world due to the outbreak of COVID – 19 have temporarily affected the mobility of people, including both voluntary and forced migration. The precise impact of…
The Worsening of US-Chinese Relations and the Echo in Central Asia. An Interview with Raffaello Pantucci
An interview with Raffaello PantucciSenior Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Raffaello Pantucci’s research focuses on terrorism and counter-terrorism as well as China’s relations with its Western neighbors. Prior to…
Art Bazar! A New Initiative for Central Asian Artists to Create An Online Marketplace for Contemporary Art
Author Diana T. Kudaibergenova Diana T. Kudaibergenova is a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the UKRI GCRF “COMPASS” project at the University of Cambridge. She studies different intersections of power relations…
Panjikent, the Central Asian Pompeii. An Interview with Pavel Lurje
Interview with Pavel Lurje Head of the Sector of Central Asia, Caucasus and Crimea, Senior Research Fellow of the Oriental Department of the State Hermitage Museum, head of the Panjikent Expedition.Dr.…
The Image of the Snow Leopard in the Archaeological Records of Kazakhstan and its Instrumentalization in Modern-Day Political Agendas
This article examines the connection between how archaeological remains were excavated in the past to how such remains are dealt with in present day Kazakhstan. Special attention is given to…
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How Alerte Héritage Protects the Cultural Heritage of Central Asia
The cultural heritage of Central Asia is in serious danger due to the relative poverty of the population, the high levels of corruption, and the radical rewriting of history that…
What do Theaters in Tajikistan Tell Us?
My recent visit to Tashkent (the capital of Uzbekistan) was marked by the exploration of several theaters. I saw two plays: The first, Zavtra (Tomorrow), was staged by Artyom Kim,…
Nomads and Soviet Rule: Central Asia under Lenin and Stalin. An Interview with an Author
In his book, Nomads and Soviet Rule: Central Asia under Lenin and Stalin (I.B. Tauris, 2018), Alun Thomas examines the experiences of Kazakh and Kyrgyz nomads in the NEP (New…
Сarpet Propaganda: From Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan. The “Echo of Soviet Azerbaijan” Exhibition
The State Museum of Oriental Art of Russia, in cooperation with the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum (ANCM), is holding an exhibition called “Echo of Soviet Azerbaijan. Carpet. Embroidery. Poster.” The…
Tajik Fashion and the Challenges of Achieving an International Breakthrough
Just recently, Tajikistan, with its rich aesthetic traditions, has seemingly made a breakthrough in the fashion arena with some great designers like Khurshed Sattorov (born in 1981), Nafisa Imronova (1991)…
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Petroglyphs of Kazakhstan
Author Alan Georgievich Medoev (1934-1980) Alan Medoev was born in Leningrad in 1934. In the 1960-1980s he guided archaeological teams and expeditions in the field; he discovered and explored the…
ALZHIR – A Place of Remembrance
Situated in the center of Kazakhstan, ALZHIR (Акмолинский лагерь жен изменников родины, “the Akmola camp of wives of traitors to the homeland”) was a notorious prison for thousands of women…
Contemporary Art in Central Asia: An Interview with a Curator
Interview withThibaut de Ruyter is a French architect, curator, and critic. His latest projects include a traveling exhibition for the Goethe Institute in Eastern Europe and Central Asia entitled “die…
How Ikat Accompanied History in Central Asia
Ikat is a fabric that got its name from the resist dye technique used to make its patterns. But I’d like to show you ikat from a different perspective. In…
Destructing Soviet Architecture in Central Asia
Soviet architecture in Central Asia, as the name tells, is a fusion of Soviet modernity with traditional Central Asian culture that remains remarkable to this day. Persian and Islamic motifs…
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Kazakh Graphic Illustrations of Evgeny Sidorkin
Evgeny Matveevich Sidorkin (1930-1982) is a Soviet graphic illustrator and artist who was recognized by several prestigious awards for his art. He mainly worked in Kazakhstan and created powerful images…
WILDNESS. About Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan
In the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, thousands of young girls and women are kidnapped every year to be forced into marriage. Although the practice was outlawed in 2013, bride…
The Art of the Wood Carving in Tajikistan
Tajikistan has a rich heritage of exquisite wood carvings. Dr. Larisa Dodkhudoeva from the Institute of History, Archeology, and Ethnography named after Donish talks about the origins of this art…