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Voices On Cental Asia
VoicesOnCentralAsia.org
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Culture
  • Economy
  • Identity
  • History
  • Society
  • Current affairs
  • Economy

Want to Understand Industrialization in Resource-Rich Countries such as Uzbekistan? Read Marx (and Iñigo Carrera)

  • March 15, 2023
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  • Books
  • History

Saints, Scholars, Poets, Jurists, and Politicians of the Sufi Hidden Caliphate: An Interview with Waleed Ziad

  • March 8, 2023
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  • Current affairs
  • Politics

War, Post-War, and Peace in Eurasia: An Interview with Jesse Driscoll

  • February 22, 2023
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Women
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  • 15 min

A Woman, an Actress, a Jadid? Reflecting on a Recent Exhibition in London

  • December 16, 2022
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  • 19 min

Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova

  • November 14, 2022
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  • 32 min

Early Soviet Modernization in the Lives of Kazakh Women

  • October 19, 2022
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  • 8 min

Falling Off the Pedestal: Victim-blaming and Nationalism in Kazakhstan

  • August 2, 2022
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  • 12 min

Women, Kinship, and Property in Central Asia

  • June 16, 2022
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  • 11 min

Rural Women in Kyrgyzstan: “Ayalzattyn tagdyry: mezgil kүүsүndө” (Women’s Fates Don’t Choose Times). An Interview with Cholpon Koichumanova

  • May 6, 2022
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  • 14 min

A Reflection on Gender Studies in Central Asia by Svetlana Peshkova

  • April 29, 2022
  • History

Zoroastrianism and Islam: How They Interacted, Clashed, and Accommodated One Another. An Interview with Andrew Magnusson

  • March 20, 2023
In Persia and the greater Central Asian region, two religions once fought for dominance. In the end, Zoroastrianism—which still enjoys adherents to this day—was forced to give way to the…
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  • 7 min
  • Economy

Want to Understand Industrialization in Resource-Rich Countries such as Uzbekistan? Read Marx (and Iñigo Carrera)

  • March 15, 2023
The commodity supercycle of the 2000s and 2010s gave rise to a rich debate in the academic literature about the potential for resource-rich countries to take advantage of the primary…
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  • 16 min
  • Books
  • History

Saints, Scholars, Poets, Jurists, and Politicians of the Sufi Hidden Caliphate: An Interview with Waleed Ziad

  • March 8, 2023
In his recent book, Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints beyond the Oxus and Indus, Waleed Ziad examines the development of Muslim Sufi networks across Asia from the eighteenth to the twentieth…
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  • 23 min
  • Current affairs
  • Politics

War, Post-War, and Peace in Eurasia: An Interview with Jesse Driscoll

  • February 22, 2023
In his work—on Central Asia and recently on Ukraine—Jesse Driscoll focuses on war and post-war. The conflicts of the 1990s in Georgia and Tajikistan and the conflict in Donbas that…
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  • 15 min
  • History
  • Women

A Woman, an Actress, a Jadid? Reflecting on a Recent Exhibition in London

  • December 16, 2022
Last month, an exciting photographic exhibition on Central Asia, entitled “Bound for Life and Education”: Sara Eshonturaeva and the Jadid Movement in Soviet Uzbekistan, was shown at Asia House in…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 15 min
  • Books
  • History

The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol

  • December 5, 2022
Ayşe Zarakol’s book Before the West: The Rise and Fall of Eastern World Orders challenges our understanding of the history of international relations and makes sense of the apparently chaotic…
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  • 19 min
  • Culture
  • Women

Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova

  • November 14, 2022
Music occupies an enormous place in Central Asia, and in particular in Afghanistan. Dr. Razia Sultanova, a musicologist and cultural anthropologist, has studied the music of the Uzbeks and other…
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  • 17 min
  • History

Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan

  • November 8, 2022
Two seas—the Aral Sea, now almost non-existent, and the Caspian Sea—encircle the great Turan plain, where constant migrations and ethnogenetic contacts between nomadic and sedentary peoples have taken place over…
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  • 13 min
  • Photo

Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager

  • November 4, 2022
Edda Schlager, a journalist, photographer, and “natural feminist,” has spent the last 17 years researching and capturing key moments in Central Asia’s modern history: the demolition of old buildings and…
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  • 32 min
  • History
  • Women

Early Soviet Modernization in the Lives of Kazakh Women

  • October 19, 2022
In her book entitled Modernization of the Early Soviet Era in the Fate of Women of Kazakhstan, 1920–1930: Monograph (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 2017), Janat Kundakbayeva, Doctor of Historical Sciences…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 10 min
  • Fieldwork
  • History

What Can Golden Horde Fabrics Tell Us About Histories of Kazakhstan and Ukraine?

  • September 23, 2022
Tatiana Krupa, a Ukrainian archaeologist, historian, and restorer, has extensive experience studying fragments of fabrics that date back to the Golden Horde era. She has done work on fabrics that…
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  • 16 min
  • Contemporary art

ArtChaeology and the Destruction of Ideologies: An Interview with Vyacheslav Akhunov

  • September 12, 2022
The artist, philosopher, and writer Vyacheslav Akhunov stands out in the Central Asian art landscape. He created his own art movement – Sotsmodernism – based on the rejection of Soviet art…
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  • 6 min
  • History
  • Photo

The Lives and Work of Soviet Kazakh Women in Photos. From the Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents, and Sound Recording of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan

  • August 9, 2022
The lives of women in Central Asia before Russian colonization are often portrayed in a miserable light. European travelers did not leave much visual evidence about local women. Women in…
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  • 9 min
  • History
  • Photo

Archival Treasures of Kazakhstan Offer New Images and Voices of Its History

  • August 8, 2022
The Central State Archive of Film, Photo Documents, and Sound Recording of the Republic of Kazakhstan– http://kfdz.kz/was set up almost 80 years ago but has recently expanded to include new collections…
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  • 12 min
  • History

Studying the Steppe on Imperial Orders: Fyodor Shcherbina and His Expedition

  • June 27, 2022
A revolutionary spirit, an opponent of imperial and Soviet power, and a supporter of the idea of an independent Ukraine, Fyodor Shcherbina was one of the first scientists sent by…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 7 min
  • Books
  • Culture

Why We Translate Central Asia While All Eyes Are on Ukraine

  • June 20, 2022
This July, Gaudy Boy will publish an English-language anthology of Kazakhstani women’s writing entitled Amanat. The anthology brings together short stories and essays by 13 women from three generations (ranging…
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  • 12 min
  • Fieldwork
  • Women

Women, Kinship, and Property in Central Asia

  • June 16, 2022
Author Aksana Ismailbekova Aksana Ismailbekova is a research fellow at Leibniz-Zentrum-Moderner Orient (ZMO). Ismailbekova completed her PhD dissertation at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg in…
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  • 11 min
  • Fieldwork
  • Women

Rural Women in Kyrgyzstan: “Ayalzattyn tagdyry: mezgil kүүsүndө” (Women’s Fates Don’t Choose Times). An Interview with Cholpon Koichumanova

  • May 6, 2022
For the last few years, Professor Cholpon Koichumanova has been working on a project studying the role and place of women in modern Kyrgyzstan. The project has been implemented with…
  • Women

A Reflection on Gender Studies in Central Asia by Svetlana Peshkova

  • 14 minute read
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  • 11 min
  • History

The Turkic Roots of Monomakh’s Cap: An Interview with Guzel Valeeva-Suleymanova

  • March 7, 2022
Monomakh’s Cap used to crown the Russian tsars. Created in the early fourteenth century, the cap is topped by a simple gold cross, inlaid with precious stones, and trimmed with…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 14 min
  • History

The Treasures of Pazyryk Kurgans in the Hermitage Museum

  • February 11, 2022
Pavel Azbelev, archaeologist and guides’ educator at the State Hermitage Museum, Russia, discusses the frozen treasures of Pazyryk culture, a Scythian nomadic Iron Age archaeological culture whose artifacts and mummies…
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  • 11 min
  • Contemporary art
  • Photo

Jewelry of Central Asia: Past and Present of the Art Tradition

  • January 24, 2022
While working in the archives of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, I came across an interesting document. It was a list of the…
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  • 15 min
  • History
  • Identity

Political Vagabonds of the Steppe and Their Influence on Modern Eurasia. A Conversation About Qazaqlïq With Joo-Yup Lee

  • January 12, 2022
What are the origins of the Kazakh nation? What do the Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Cossacks have in common? In this interview, Joo-Yup Lee tells us about the political vagabonds or ambitious…
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  • 6 min
  • Culture

Documentary Center in Tashkent Documents Untold Stories and Unfurls Symbolic Meanings

  • December 17, 2021
Around the world, “art and artistic activism is a dynamic practice that combines the creative power of art, which moves us emotionally, with the strategic planning of the activities necessary…
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  • 12 min
  • Fieldwork
  • Society

Social Mobilization in the Absence of Infrastructure and Services on the Urban Margins: Toward “Societal Infrastructures”

  • November 15, 2021
How do communities deal with the decay, failure or complete absence of infrastructure? In the fourth decade after the collapse of the Soviet and other Socialist states, this question is…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 7 min
  • Fieldwork

How the Soviet State’s Promises of Water Were First Fulfilled and then Failed

  • October 19, 2021
The Soviet state invested heavily in water infrastructure in arid Central Asia. These investments produced transformations with significant social impact. They also created memories that many anthropological studies have tried…
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  • 7 min
  • History
  • Photo

A Past That Is Neither Remembered nor Forgotten. A Tale of Two Lenin Statues in Tajikistan

  • October 1, 2021
In Soviet times, statues of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, a Russian revolutionary and the first head of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, were powerful political symbols. For most of the…
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  • 18 min
  • Culture

Did the Kazakhs Have Their Own Dance Culture and What Are the Origins of Kara-Zhorga – The Nation’s Favorite Dance?

  • September 17, 2021
It is known that dance is a bodily expression of human feelings and emotions. Every nation has its own lexicography and distinguished style of dance. How things were with the…
  • Books
  • Fieldwork

“Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat”. An Interview with Robert Spengler

  • 16 minute read
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  • 9 min
  • Culture

The Love and Beauty of Wedding Suzani from the Collection of the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art

  • July 29, 2021
Russian State Museum of Oriental Art (Gosudarstvennyi Muzei Vostoka) has an extensive collection of Central Asian suzani—a type of richly embroidered textile that once served as wedding embroidery to protect…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 16 min
  • Contemporary art

The Comfort Zone of the Artist Alexander Barkovsky

  • July 1, 2021
In this essay, artist Alexander Barkovsky writes about his comfort zone, his attempts to escape it, and the reasons why he ultimately had to return to it.An artist must deceive…
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  • 10 min
  • History

The History of the Tajik Costume: An Interview with Guzel Maitdinova

  • June 15, 2021
In her Eurovision performance, Russian singer Manizha (of Tajik origin) wore a dress richly decorated with traditional Tajik chakan embroidery. This embroidery can be traced back to early medieval ornamentation…
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  • 8 min
  • Books

The Cinema of Soviet Kazakhstan 1925–1991: An Uneasy Legacy. An interview with Peter Rollberg

  • May 14, 2021
In this interview, Peter Rollberg, one of the rare foreign specialists on Soviet Kazakh cinema, speaks about the first Kazakh filmmakers, their main themes and relations with the audience, and…
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  • 17 min
  • Current affairs
  • Economy

Politics of the Kyrgyz mining sector: An Interview with Beril Ocaklı

  • May 7, 2021
The mining sector of the Kyrgyz Republic has been attracting a lot of diverse investments even despite frequent conflicts and violence. Investors are advised to consider volatile politics when entering…
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  • 11 min
  • History

Open Central Asian Photo Archives: A Visual History of the Region in Private Collections

  • April 19, 2021
On March 7, 2021 the Open Central Asian Photo Archives/Открытый Центральноазиатский Фотоархив (https://ca-photoarchives.net/) opened. An exciting project is open to all potential collectors who would like to share photos of…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 10 min
  • Current affairs

Niva Yau on China in Central Asia: We Need to Look and Think Ahead of China

  • March 17, 2021
Interview with Niva Yau Niva Yau is a resident researcher at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek and a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. Her work focuses on…
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  • 8 min
  • Contemporary art
  • Culture

The Return to Romanticism: Interview with Crimean Tatar folk artist Mamut Churlu

  • March 11, 2021
Mamut Churlu is an artist who worked for years in Uzbekistan and Russia on researching folk art practices as well as creating his own art. As part of the mass…
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  • 4 min
  • History

Urban Planning in Bukhara in the Early Post-Revolutionary Years

  • February 24, 2021
The bombing of Bukhara in 1920 by Bolshevik troops under the command of Mikhail Frunze marked the beginning of the destruction of old urban space in the city. The Ark…
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  • 10 min
  • MOZAIKA

Uzbek Dance Goes Virtual with the 17th Central Asian Dance Camp

  • December 23, 2020
Member of Silk Road Dance Company, Nilufar Rahmanova. Image courtesy of Central Asian Dance Camp.“Yaxshi Raqqosa Bitta Joyda O’nayshi Mumkin”(A Good Dancer Can Perform in One Place)By Dr. Laurel Victoria…
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  • 9 min
  • Society

Mosque Diplomacy in Central Asia: Geopolitics Beginning with the Mihrab

  • December 16, 2020
In Islamic states or in countries with predominantly Muslim populations, mosques are one of the forms of nation-building. They serve as a means to visually demonstrate the attitude of the…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 6 min
  • Culture

Tajik Gahvora: Harmful Tradition or Useful Childrearing Device?

  • December 9, 2020
For centuries, Tajik families have used a “gahvora” (cradle) to contain babies. The gahvora is one of the oldest traditions in child care and it is still preserved in the…
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  • 6 min
  • MOZAIKA

Is There Future for the Ilkhom Theatre?

  • November 13, 2020
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…
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  • 7 min
  • Contemporary art

Genghis Khan, Kok-Par and Other Stories of the Great Steppe by Said Atabekov

  • November 3, 2020
“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…
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  • 7 min
  • Contemporary art

Central Asian Non-Conformist Art in Norton Dodge Collection

  • October 20, 2020
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…
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  • 15 min
  • Culture

Women’s Perspective and the Central Asian Cinema

  • September 30, 2020
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,…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 9 min
  • Culture

Sweat, Blood and Central Asian Dance

  • September 10, 2020
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…
View Post
  • 16 min
  • Culture

Khorezm Lazgi: The Sunniest Dance on Earth

  • August 3, 2020
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…
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  • 10 min
  • Fieldwork

Law and Custom in Central Asia: An Interview with Judith Beyer

  • July 24, 2020
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…
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  • 7 min
  • Contemporary art

Uzbekistan Without Graffiti: Censorship Against Street Art

  • July 21, 2020
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…
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  • 7 min
  • Contemporary art

Through the Eyes of an Artist: Art Quarantine by Vyacheslav (Yura) Useinov, Bobur Ismoilov and Anna Ivanova

  • July 17, 2020
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…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 12 min
  • Current affairs

Would Uzbekistan be the First Nuclear Power and Technological Leader in Central Asia? An Interview with Margarita Kalinina-Pohl

  • July 9, 2020
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…
View Post
  • 9 min
  • Culture
  • History

Ali Shir Navayi and the Rich World of Turkic-Persian Poetry. An Interview with Nicholas Walmsley

  • July 3, 2020
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…
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  • 13 min
  • Contemporary art
  • Society

Feminism and Central Asia – What Went Wrong?

  • June 25, 2020
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…
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  • 16 min
  • Culture

A Look into the Soviet Past of the Central Asian Cinema with Cloe Drieu

  • June 18, 2020
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…
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  • 11 min
  • Society

On the Uzbek media development: An interview with Nikita Makarenko

  • June 12, 2020
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…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 11 min
  • Photo

Central Asia is Slowly Reopening After a Tight Lockdown. Street Photos from Four Cities

  • June 2, 2020
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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  • 9 min
  • Infographic

Refugees from Сentral Asia and in Central Asia

  • May 27, 2020
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…
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  • 8 min
  • Current affairs

The Worsening of US-Chinese Relations and the Echo in Central Asia. An Interview with Raffaello Pantucci

  • May 18, 2020
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…
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  • 12 min
  • Contemporary art

Art Bazar! A New Initiative for Central Asian Artists to Create An Online Marketplace for Contemporary Art

  • May 11, 2020
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…
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  • 17 min
  • Fieldwork
  • History

Panjikent, the Central Asian Pompeii. An Interview with Pavel Lurje

  • May 7, 2020
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.…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 7 min
  • Fieldwork

The Image of the Snow Leopard in the Archaeological Records of Kazakhstan and its Instrumentalization in Modern-Day Political Agendas

  • April 24, 2020
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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  • 11 min
  • Culture

How Alerte Héritage Protects the Cultural Heritage of Central Asia

  • April 17, 2020
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…
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  • 9 min
  • Culture

What do Theaters in Tajikistan Tell Us?

  • April 1, 2020
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,…
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  • 8 min
  • Books
  • Fieldwork

Nomads and Soviet Rule: Central Asia under Lenin and Stalin. An Interview with an Author

  • March 10, 2020
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…
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  • 7 min
  • Culture
  • History

Сarpet Propaganda: From Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan. The “Echo of Soviet Azerbaijan” Exhibition

  • February 28, 2020
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…
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  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 10 min
  • Culture
  • Society

Tajik Fashion and the Challenges of Achieving an International Breakthrough

  • February 17, 2020
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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  • 9 min
  • History

Petroglyphs of Kazakhstan

  • February 14, 2020
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…
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  • 8 min
  • History
  • Photo

ALZHIR – A Place of Remembrance

  • January 31, 2020
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…
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  • 8 min
  • Contemporary art

Contemporary Art in Central Asia: An Interview with a Curator

  • January 24, 2020
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…
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  • 10 min
  • Culture

How Ikat Accompanied History in Central Asia

  • January 9, 2020
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…
In case you missed it
  • Central Asia in Modern Times: Architecture, Women, and Freedom. An Interview with Edda Schlager
    • 04.11.22
    • 13 min
  • Between the Aral and Caspian Seas: The Magnificent History and Archeology of Turkmenistan
    • 08.11.22
    • 17 min
  • Music and Women in Afghanistan and Central Asia: An Interview with Razia Sultanova
    • 14.11.22
    • 19 min
  • The Mongols and the Modern International Order: An Interview with Ayşe Zarakol
    • 05.12.22
    • 15 min
View Post
  • 12 min
  • History
  • Photo

Destructing Soviet Architecture in Central Asia

  • December 13, 2019
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…
View Post
  • 7 min
  • Culture

Kazakh Graphic Illustrations of Evgeny Sidorkin

  • November 15, 2019
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…
View Post
  • 4 min
  • Society
  • Video

WILDNESS. About Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan

  • June 24, 2019
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…
View Post
  • 10 min
  • Culture

Barzu Abdurazzakov as a Lone Voice of the Tajik Creative Intelligentsia

  • February 15, 2023
Barzu Abdurazzakov (1959) is a famous Tajik playwright and theater director. Made an Honored Artist of the Republic of Tajikistan in 2001, he has since 2009 lost favor with the…
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  • Barzu Abdurazzakov as a Lone Voice of the Tajik Creative Intelligentsia
    • 15.02.23
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  • War, Post-War, and Peace in Eurasia: An Interview with Jesse Driscoll
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    • 23 min
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Recent Posts
  • Zoroastrianism and Islam: How They Interacted, Clashed, and Accommodated One Another. An Interview with Andrew Magnusson
  • Want to Understand Industrialization in Resource-Rich Countries such as Uzbekistan? Read Marx (and Iñigo Carrera)
  • Saints, Scholars, Poets, Jurists, and Politicians of the Sufi Hidden Caliphate: An Interview with Waleed Ziad
  • War, Post-War, and Peace in Eurasia: An Interview with Jesse Driscoll
  • Barzu Abdurazzakov as a Lone Voice of the Tajik Creative Intelligentsia
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  • "Моральная география" Кыргызстана: Мазары, джайлоо и советская гидроэлектростанция (фотографии) - Central Asia Analytical Network Central Asia Analytical Network on Iconic Places in Central Asia. The Moral Geography of Dams, Pastures and Holy Sites explained by Jeanne Féaux de la Croix
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