The Aral Sea catastrophe has been known since the late 1980s as one of the largest environmental disasters in the world. Once the fourth-largest lake in the world, despite being located on the otherwise arid Eurasian continent, the Aral Sea…
Abilkhan Kasteyev (1904-1972), a Kazakh artist who was born at the dawn of the twentieth century, became the founder of visual arts in Soviet Kazakhstan. Prior to him, Kazakh painting mostly existed in a decorative or applied form. However, the…
Since at least the time of Marco Polo, the Kazakh steppes have attracted many visitors from the West: travelers, diplomats, traders, and researchers. Their notes, books, and memoirs provide invaluable insight into the various epochs of Kazakh culture and history.…
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 in age from 30 to 75) and hailing from all parts…
The Abai Center in Washington, D.C., supports Kazakh culture and cultural studies and aims to increases the American people’s awareness of—and interest in—various aspects of Kazakh culture. In May 2023 it partnered with JSC AltynAlmas on an essay contest for…
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 of Kazakh folklore and people through a variety of techniques,…
English transcript of the video presentation below Today I am going to talk about one particular type of traditional Kazakh clothing: the headdress of a bride, called a saukele. Voronina-Utkina A.A. Watercolor. Saukele – women’s wedding headdress. Kazakhs. Kazakhstan, Karaganda…
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 significant Paleolithic monuments of the world: Semizbugu, Turanga,…
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 and Professor of the Department of History of Kazakhstan at…
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 the legacy they left for modern Kazakh society. Your book…
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 large cities (Bukhara, Samarkand, and others) did not dare to…
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 development of Kazakh dance? In this interview, Anvara Sadykova,…