Category: Kazakhstan
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. [...]
‘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. [...]
Kazakhstan’s AI Ambitions Face an Energy and Water Test in Ekibastuz
Kazakhstan wants to turn Ekibastuz into a major hub for AI computing. But as its Data Center Valley could eventually reach 1 GW, questions are mounting over electricity, water and… [...]
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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“Ghérip-Senem”: The visualization of Persianate poetic symbolism in Uyghur cinema
Diego Benning Wang explores how the 1981 Uyghur film Ghérip-Senem turns a shared Persianate-Turkic romance into distinctly Uyghur cinema through poetry, music and visual symbolism. [...]
South Korea’s Central Asia strategy is regional in form, bilateral in practice
South Korea has elevated ties with Central Asia to summit level. But experts tell Novastan that the real test lies in investment, local value creation and cross-border cooperation - not… [...]
“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. [...]
Keeping the heat in: Mongolia’s overlooked answer to Ulaanbaatar’s air pollution
In Ulaanbaatar's ger districts, poorly insulated homes consume enormous amounts of energy during Mongolia's long winters. After eight years of retrofitting detached houses, GERES explains how insulation, green finance and… [...]
From Development Partner to Strategic Supplier: What Seoul’s First Central Asia Summit Really Signals?
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… [...]
“River Dreams”: A river, 100 women and a portrait of Kazakhstan
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… [...]