Voices On Cental Asia

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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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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15 min

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…

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15 min

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

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

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…

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10 min

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

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

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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8 min

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

August 2, 2022

Over the past few years, there has been a marked increase in the volume of content on the topic of how to be a “true Kazakh woman.” Among the most…

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

Barzu Abdurazzakov as a Lone Voice of the Tajik Creative Intelligentsia

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

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

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

In case you missed it

A Brief History of Collecting Abr Clothing from Uzbekistan

Is Central Asia Moving Beyond Russia? An Interview with Johan Engvall

Why Is Job Insecurity So Widespread in Independent Uzbekistan?

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

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

Early Soviet Modernization in the Lives of Kazakh Women

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

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

In case you missed it

A Brief History of Collecting Abr Clothing from Uzbekistan

Is Central Asia Moving Beyond Russia? An Interview with Johan Engvall

Why Is Job Insecurity So Widespread in Independent Uzbekistan?

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

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

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