History Archives - Voices On Cental Asia

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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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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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…

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9 min

History

From Stalinabad to Dushanbe: How Has the City Changed? An Interview with Gafur Shermatov

March 25, 2021

Since 2010, Tajik historian and journalist Gafur Shermatov has been writing a column entitled “Old Town” for the online news site “Asia-Plus” in which he covers issues related to the…

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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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11 min

Along the Route of Samuil Dudin’s Expedition: Clothing, Yurt and Decorative-Applied Art of the Kazakhs of the late 19th Century

February 3, 2021

A talented ethnographer, photographer, traveler, collector, artist, and researcher of the history and culture of Central Asia, Samuil Dudin (1863-1929) made his first expedition in 1891. Dudin was a participant…

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9 min

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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17 min

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.…

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7 min

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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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

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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9 min

The Mystery of Kyrk-Kyz: From 40 Women-Warriors to the Warriors of Light

January 16, 2020

A mysterious castle in Uzbekistan’s Surhandarya bears the name of Kyrk-Kyz, meaning “40 girls.” Was this a sanctuary of legendary women-warriors, or was it home to a group of Sufi…

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12 min

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…

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

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

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

From Stalinabad to Dushanbe: How Has the City Changed? An Interview with Gafur Shermatov

Urban Planning in Bukhara in the Early Post-Revolutionary Years

In case you missed it

The Comfort Zone of the Artist Alexander Barkovsky

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

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

Regionalism and Regional Order in Central Asia: An Interview with Filippo Costa Buranelli

Along the Route of Samuil Dudin’s Expedition: Clothing, Yurt and Decorative-Applied Art of the Kazakhs of the late 19th Century

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

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

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

Petroglyphs of Kazakhstan

In case you missed it

The Comfort Zone of the Artist Alexander Barkovsky

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

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

Regionalism and Regional Order in Central Asia: An Interview with Filippo Costa Buranelli

ALZHIR – A Place of Remembrance

The Mystery of Kyrk-Kyz: From 40 Women-Warriors to the Warriors of Light

Destructing Soviet Architecture in Central Asia

Regionalism and Regional Order in Central Asia: An Interview with Filippo Costa Buranelli

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

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

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

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