The Thirty Boys / Ottuz Oghul. 2022 A film by Mukaddas Mijit Uyghur communities in Kazakhstan occupy an uneasy space, one eye towards the growing ethnic nationalism of their host country, one eye towards China’s ongoing policies of securitisation, incarceration and cultural erasure in their homeland. This film documents the attempts made by Uyghurs in
by Rachel Harris Alongside the meshrep revival in Kazakhstan, a less well-known women’s chay revival has flourished. It has focused on the same goals of education, cultural revival, social cohesion and mobilisation, and often works in tandem with men’s initiatives at local level. Like meshrep, chay gatherings (essentially tea parties) assume complex ritual and social meanings
Rachel HarrisAugust 2020, Kazakhstan The town of Zharkent, or Yerkent in the Uyghur pronunciation, lies in southeast Kazakhstan, near the Chinese border crossing and trading centre of Khorgas. It is an important centre for Uyghurs, many of whom arrived from the neighbouring Ghulja region of the Uyghur homeland (Xinjiang) in the late 1950s. The Yerkent
Rachel Harris August 2020, Kazakhstan Kayrat, or Gheyret in the Uyghur pronunciation, is a small town in southeast Kazakhstan, which lies an hour’s drive east from Almaty. The town is 80% Uyghur, but it is home to many different ethnicities: Kazakhs, Russians, Turks, Azarbaijans and Germans, though many left after independence, even a few remaining
