Category: Interview
Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir: “Housing is the Mongolian dream – and nightmare”
Mongolian filmmaker Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir discusses Ulaanbaatar, the country’s apartment obsession, masculinity, spirituality and her determination to show a modern Mongolia beyond stereotypes of nomads, horses and the steppe. [...]
On a disappearing Kyrgyz glacier, seven women learn to read the ice
Seven women joined glaciologist Gulbara Omorova on Kyrgyzstan’s rapidly retreating Adygene glacier. Their expedition is now becoming part of a documentary about science, climate change and the women working to… [...]
‘I am a German from Kazakhstan’: Lena Wolf on deportation, memory and finding home
Lena Wolf, a German from Kazakhstan, reflects on her family’s deportation, Soviet-era Russification, migration to Germany and the search for identity across generations. [...]
Dotor Khuree: “We want to make Mongolian music with contemporary instruments”
Dotor Khuree blends Mongolian musical traditions with contemporary instrumentation. The Ulaanbaatar band discusses its latest EP, musical identity and Mongolia’s independent scene. [...]
Janina Arsenjeva: “Finding a problem doesn’t mean reform has failed”
Disability rights are gaining ground across Central Asia, but progress remains uneven. Janina Arsenjeva discusses what is changing, who is still being left behind, and why finding problems can itself… [...]
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Share Happiness, build an industry: Lola Animation’s Uzbek animation story
Producer Azimjon Rahimjonov speaks to Novastan about Lola Animation, the making of Share Happiness, the rapid growth of Uzbekistan’s animation sector and the ambition to bring Uzbek-created films to international… [...]
From Tashkent to the international stage: Diana Skobina brings Uzbek music to new audiences
From Tashkent to international concert halls, pianist Diana Skobina reflects on her Uzbek musical roots, classical training, life in the United States and her ambition to bring Central Asian repertoire… [...]
“The idea of having choices was so new”: Oyungerel Tsedevdamba on Mongolia’s democracy 36 years later
What has Mongolia made of the democratic promise of 1990? Oyungerel Tsedevdamba reflects on corruption, women, youth, local democracy and historical memory. [...]
When reform reaches everyday life: Lessons from Uzbekistan and Mongolia
What makes reform work beyond laws and strategies? Former UNDP Resident Representative Matilda Dimovska reflects on public services in Uzbekistan, social inclusion and Mongolia’s green transition. [...]
Beyond the ‘Graveyard of Empires’: Rethinking the Afghan State
Support Novastan, the European Central Asia magazine By supporting Novastan, you are supporting the only English, French and German-language media specialising in Central Asia. We’re independent and we need your… [...]
Bruce Pannier: “Central Asians never viewed their region as Russia’s backyard”
From photocopied Central Asian newspapers in the 1990s to YouTube investigations and exile media today, Bruce Pannier traces how journalism in the region has changed - and why independent voices… [...]
“I survived things. But I also built things”: Nilofar Ayoubi on Afghan women, exile and resistance
From living publicly as a boy in Kunduz to becoming an entrepreneur, journalist and women’s rights advocate, Nilofar Ayoubi has experienced Afghanistan’s gender restrictions from radically different perspectives. Now in… [...]