Voices On Cental Asia

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…

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7 min

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

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

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…

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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

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

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

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…

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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

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…

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

Why We Translate Central Asia While All Eyes Are on Ukraine

Women, Kinship, and Property in Central Asia

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

A Reflection on Gender Studies in Central Asia by Svetlana Peshkova

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

The Treasures of Pazyryk Kurgans in the Hermitage Museum

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

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

Documentary Center in Tashkent Documents Untold Stories and Unfurls Symbolic Meanings

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?

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

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

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