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A Repository of Emerging Forms of Uyghur, Han And Kazakh Art And Politics
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Abdukerim Abliz / Abdulla / Ablajan Awut Ayup / Art / camps / Central Asia / Children / China / Chinese / Comedy / Education / Film / Folk Music / gender / Han / History / Hotan / Islam / Islamophobia / Kashgar / Kazakh / Kazakhstan / Masculinity / Migrants / Migration / Music / Möminjan / Perhat Khaliq / Photography / Poetics / Poetry / politics / Pop Music / Pop Star / Prison / Reeducation Camps / Sufi / Urban / Urumchi / Urumqi / Uyghur / Xinjiang / Xinjiang Style / Youth
  • Now Is the Moment for Global Solidarity with China’s Ethnic Minorities

    by Guest Contributor

    President Xi Jinping wants to be leader for life, but brave Chinese citizens continue to speak out against the increasingly authoritarian rule. We must stand with them. DEENA GUZDER October 6, 2022 President Xi Jinping is on the verge of securing an unprecedented third term as the leader of the world’s most populous country, the People’s Republic of China. On October 16th, the Communist Party...

    October 6, 2022
    comments 0
    Han Perspectives
  • Between Islamophobia and homophobia: Life as an LGBTQ Uyghur in China

    by Sam Tynen

    I had a friend who was a medical doctor. He was gay and he was Uyghur, like me. We knew he was HIV positive about a year ago, but he never took any antiviral drugs because he didn’t want his family to find out. Last month, very suddenly he got sick and died just like that — complications from AIDS. His family didn’t even...

    July 18, 2022
    comments 0
    History
  • Requiem For The ‘Living Dead’: Ten Years After 7/5

    by Darren Byler

    Like a frightened flock of sheep, the people’s erratic dreams dividing unbroken Heavenly Mountains: A borderland Great Wall, a natural Wailing Wall Those unrecognized souls are the mud and night of other souls Only the cries of dreams, the tears on faces, like an expression of the heart, need no translation. 像惊恐的羊群 人们时断时续的梦境 隔着一座绵延千里的天山: 一座边地长城,一堵大自然哭墙 那些不被认识的心灵 是另一些心灵的泥淖和长夜 只有梦中的呼救、脸上的泪痕 像内心的表情,毋须翻译 — Shen Wei, an excerpt...

    July 5, 2022
    comments 0
    History
  • Uyghur voices in Istanbul

    by Rachel Harris and Aziz Isa Elkun

    It was Mother Tongue Evening (Ana til kechisi) at the Nuzugum Family and Cultural Organization for exiled Uyghurs in Istanbul. Over a hundred fully veiled women, and a handful of men, squeezed into a concert venue kindly provided by the Zeytinburnu municipal government. Several hundred children ran up and down the stairs brandishing light blue balloons printed with the crescent moon and stars of...

    June 8, 2022
    comments 0
    Art
  • The Legacy of the Uyghur Rock Icon Ekhmetjan

    by Darren Byler

    People still remember where they were the day Ekhmetjan[1] died. It was Thursday, June 13, 1991. He was only 22 years old. As is common with the death of an icon, many people refused to believe he was gone. Instead rumors spread that thugs from a rival disco had knifed him in a back alley or that he had faked his death and gone...

    March 27, 2022
    comments 2
    Celebrity, Music
  • Why Xinjiang is an internal settler colony

    by Darren Byler

    The transformation of the Uyghur-majority lands of Southern Xinjiang known as Alte Sheher, or the Six Cities, came in waves, first in the 1950s when systematic political changes to Uyghur and Kazakh social life began, and then in the 1990s when resource extraction infrastructure, industrial farming, Han settlers, and the Chinese market changed all aspects of Uyghur life. An elderly Uyghur farmer in Khotan I...

    March 17, 2022
    comments 0
    History
  • ‘Ethnic extinction’ in northwest China

    by Darren Byler

    “That’s right. Since I’m from Southern Xinjiang I know that I’ll never be able to find a job,” Kaiser told the Han taxi driver in Mandarin. “If you don’t have connections, you won’t even be considered for jobs. This country doesn’t serve the needs of the ‘common people.’” Kaiser used the term “lǎobǎixìng 老百姓” — or “old 100 names” — to refer to the...

    February 14, 2022
    comments 0
    Han Perspectives
  • The Reciter: A Uyghur family’s pride — and downfall

    by Darren Byler

    It took him three years, but finally, at the age of 14, Nurali recited the entire Quran. This, he remembers, was one of the happiest days of his mother’s life. Over the phone she told him how proud she was. How he had brought so much joy and honor to his family. He was a living Quran, his life itself part of a sacred...

    December 29, 2021
    comments 0
    Uncategorized
  • The Elephant in the XUAR: III. “In accordance with the law”

    by Gene A. Bunin

    An excerpt from the appeal letter of Kazakh student Bagdat Akin, written after over two years in custody. (Drawing by @YetteSu.) Gene A. Bunin This is the third in a series of three articles highlighting the massive expansion of the prison system in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region that has taken place in recent years. The prisons have been running in parallel with the...

    April 19, 2021
    comments 2
    Social Analysis
  • ‘Truth and reconciliation’: Excerpts from the Xinjiang Clubhouse

    by Darren Byler

    On Saturday, February 6, two days before it would be banned across China, the social media app Clubhouse had a defining moment. As numerous news outlets have reported, a room called “Is there a concentration camp in Xinjiang?” attracted a brief flourishing of speech and free discussion among Chinese people in the era of state censorship. As noted in an episode of the Sinica Podcast with several of...

    March 28, 2021
    comments 0
    Han Perspectives

Recent Highlights

October 6, 2022

Now Is the Moment for Global Solidarity with China’s Ethnic Minorities

President Xi Jinping wants to be leader for life, but brave Chinese citizens continue to speak out against the...

by Guest Contributor
comments 0
July 18, 2022

Between Islamophobia and homophobia: Life as an LGBTQ Uyghur in China

I had a friend who was a medical doctor. He was gay and he was Uyghur, like me. We...

by Sam Tynen
comments 0
July 5, 2022

Requiem For The ‘Living Dead’: Ten Years After 7/5

Like a frightened flock of sheep, the people’s erratic dreams dividing unbroken Heavenly Mountains: A borderland Great Wall, a...

by Darren Byler
comments 0
June 8, 2022

Uyghur voices in Istanbul

It was Mother Tongue Evening (Ana til kechisi) at the Nuzugum Family and Cultural Organization for exiled Uyghurs in...

by Rachel Harris and Aziz Isa Elkun
comments 0

Han Perspectives

Now Is the Moment for Global Solidarity with China’s Ethnic Minorities

Published by Guest Contributor

President Xi Jinping wants to be leader for life, but brave Chinese citizens continue to speak out against the increasingly authoritarian rule. We must stand with them. DEENA GUZDER...

October 6, 2022
comments 0
Han Perspectives

‘Ethnic extinction’ in northwest China

Published by Darren Byler

“That’s right. Since I’m from Southern Xinjiang I know that I’ll never be able to find a job,” Kaiser told the Han taxi driver in Mandarin. “If you don’t...

February 14, 2022
comments 0
Han Perspectives

‘Truth and reconciliation’: Excerpts from the Xinjiang Clubhouse

Published by Darren Byler

On Saturday, February 6, two days before it would be banned across China, the social media app Clubhouse had a defining moment. As numerous news outlets have reported, a room called...

March 28, 2021
comments 0
Han Perspectives

‘The atmosphere has become abnormal’: Han Chinese views from Xinjiang

Published by Darren Byler

In 2019, when Meng You, an international student from China who is currently in North America, went back to see her family in Xinjiang, one incident really stood out to...

January 25, 2021
comments 4
Han Perspectives

About

The Art of Life in Chinese Central Asia is edited by Dr. Darren Byler (Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University) in collaboration with Uyghur, Han and Kazakh writers and other scholars. The site is focused on emerging forms of art and politics in Northwest China and Central Asia. Based on years of ethnographic fieldwork in the migrant communities of Ürümchi, this site exists to provide a decolonial space for Xinjiang artists, film-makers, writers, musicians and poets to share what is happening to their homelands. It is here to amplify the stories of migrants who come to city in search of ways of living otherwise.

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Top Stories and Features

  • Why are Uyghurs so Good at English?
    Why are Uyghurs so Good at English?
  • The Elephant in the XUAR: III. “In accordance with the law”
    The Elephant in the XUAR: III. “In accordance with the law”
  • The Uyghur Restaurant Chain Herembağ comes to America
    The Uyghur Restaurant Chain Herembağ comes to America
  • Love and Fear among Rural Uyghur Youth during the “People’s War”
    Love and Fear among Rural Uyghur Youth during the “People’s War”
  • Gene A. Bunin: How the “Happiest Muslims in the World” are Coping with Their Happiness
    Gene A. Bunin: How the “Happiest Muslims in the World” are Coping with Their Happiness

Interviews

February 8, 2021

An Interview with Gene Bunin of the Xinjiang Victim Database & Uyghur Pulse

This interview between Gene Bunin and Matt Dagher-Margosian first appeared on the website Asia Art Tours. It is reprinted here...

by Gene A. Bunin
comments 0
January 18, 2021

Ben Mauk on Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, China & Violence

This interview between Ben Mauk and Matt Dagher-Margosian first appeared on the website Asia Art Tours. It is reprinted here...

by Guest Contributor
comments 0
October 26, 2020

An Interview on Xinjiang w. Yi Xiaocuo of the “Camp Album” Project

This interview between Yi Xiaocuo and Matt Dagher-Margosian first appeared on the website Asia Art Tours. It is reprinted...

by Yi Xiaocuo
comments 0
September 13, 2018

Uyghurs, Kazakhs and the Chinese “De-extremification” Campaign: Interview with...

A version of this interview first appeared in the online journal Voices on Central Asia in English and the...

by Darren Byler
comment 1

Art

June 8, 2022

Uyghur voices in Istanbul

September 9, 2019

Friends from Xinjiang: Fight Back with Your Art!

February 23, 2018

Images in Red: Han Culture, Uyghur Performers, Chinese New...

April 26, 2017

Imagining Re-Engineered Muslims in Northwest China

December 17, 2015

Terrifying Uyghurs

‘Saved’ By State Terror: Gendered Violence And Propaganda In Xinjiang

by Yi Xiaocuo

The ongoing atrocities targeting Turkic Muslim peoples in Xinjiang are, in many forms, gendered violence. As the “People’s War on Terror” campaign escalates, Han officials and settlers are removing Turkic Muslim men who they perceive as threats to “security” and “safety,” emptying out a clear path for Han settlers to insert their presence onto Uyghur and Kazakh homelands. This comes at the expense of the women who remain. In the state-initiated “Becoming Families” campaign, Han cadres enter native peoples’ homes and scan for any signs of Islamic piety, or wield scissors to cut off women’s long dresses on the streets. Since 2017, the state has begun to attack Muslim-Han marriage taboos as well as Muslim halal practices as forms of “religious extremism.” Interethnic marriage was forced upon many Uyghur women, an approach that went even further than simply encouraging them with money and other incentives in 2014. Several female survivors from the camps recounted experiences of being forced to take unknown medication that stopped their menstrual cycles. The mass-incarceration has also led to a large population of children, whose parents were detained, being taken into orphanages,...

May 24, 2019
comments 2
Film

History

Between Islamophobia and homophobia: Life as an LGBTQ Uyghur in China

Published by Sam Tynen

I had a friend who was a medical doctor. He was gay and he was Uyghur, like me. We knew he was HIV positive about a year ago, but...

July 18, 2022
comments 0
History

Requiem For The ‘Living Dead’: Ten Years After 7/5

Published by Darren Byler

Like a frightened flock of sheep, the people’s erratic dreams dividing unbroken Heavenly Mountains: A borderland Great Wall, a natural Wailing Wall Those unrecognized souls are the mud and...

July 5, 2022
comments 0
History

Why Xinjiang is an internal settler colony

Published by Darren Byler

The transformation of the Uyghur-majority lands of Southern Xinjiang known as Alte Sheher, or the Six Cities, came in waves, first in the 1950s when systematic political changes to Uyghur...

March 17, 2022
comments 0
History

The Imprisonment of the ‘Model Villagers’

Published by Darren Byler

For the family of sisters Nursiman and Nur’iman, a local work brigade placed a small red plaque with five stars on it to the front gate of their house....

August 10, 2020
comments 0
History, Uncategorized

Editorial

August 12, 2021

The Early Reviews of In The Camps

The August 9, 2021 issue of the literary journal Mekong Review featured a lead review of two new books on Xinjiang,...

by Darren Byler
comments 0
February 13, 2020

Xinjiang Action List

People often ask me what they can do to engage the issues confronting the Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Hui in...

by Darren Byler
comments 0
June 24, 2019

Chinese Student Responses to the Mass Internment of Turkic Muslims

Over the past two years I have spoken at dozens of universities and high schools about the internment of...

by Darren Byler
comments 0
May 10, 2019

Responses to Unanswered Questions at UC Berkeley

Editorial Note: Below is a letter written to Chinese international students at UC Berkeley following an event concerning the mass internment of...

by Darren Byler
comments 5

Social Analysis

Social Analysis

The Elephant in the XUAR: III. “In accordance with the law”

An excerpt from the appeal letter of Kazakh student Bagdat Akin, written after over two years in custody. (Drawing by @YetteSu.) Gene A. Bunin This is the third in...

April 19, 2021
comments 2
Social Analysis

‘Only when you, your children, and your grandchildren become Chinese’: Life after Xinjiang detainment

In early 2020, just as COVID-19 was beginning to sweep across China, I traveled to Kazakhstan to interview Kazakhs and Uyghurs who had recently fled across the border. In...

February 22, 2021
comments 0
Social Analysis

The Elephant in the XUAR: II. Brand new prisons, expanding old prisons, & hundreds of thousands of new inmates

Disciplinary Commission Secretary Yan Bocheng (second from left) during a June 2017 inspection visit to Tumshuq Prison in southern Xinjiang. The prison would start a major facility expansion that...

January 4, 2021
comments 0

Photography

Love and Fear among Rural Uyghur Youth during the “People’s War”

Published by Darren Byler

This is the second of a two-part series that first appeared in Youth Circulations . The series, written by Darren Byler, with photographers Nicola Zolin and Eleanor Moseman, documents how  young  Uyghurs mourn those who...

December 5, 2017
comment 1
Children, Photography

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