Life & Culture - The Times Of Central Asia

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Nobel Prize in Literature

Uzbek Writer Hamid Ismailov Appears in Bookmakers’ Odds for 2026 Nobel Prize

British bookmaker Ladbrokes gives Uzbek writer Hamid Ismailov odds of 33/1 for the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Ladbrokes list also includes Haruki Murakami, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and J.K. Rowling. Bookmakers’ odds, however, have no connection to the Nobel Prize’s official nomination process. Details of nominations are kept secret for 50 years, and the literature laureate is selected by the Swedish Academy. The 2026 laureate will be announced on October 8. This year’s Nobel Prize carries an award of 12 million Swedish kronor, or about $1.2 million. Ismailov was born in 1954 in Tokmok, in what is now Kyrgyzstan, and grew up in Uzbekistan. He was forced to flee Uzbekistan in 1992 after coming under pressure from the government of then-President Islam Karimov over his writing and political views. His works were subsequently banned in the country. He settled in the United Kingdom and went on to work for the BBC World Service for 25 years. Ismailov writes principally in Uzbek and Russian. His international profile has grown through English translations of novels including The Railway, The Dead Lake, and The Underground. His novel The Devils’ Dance, translated from Uzbek by Donald Rayfield with John Farndon and published by Tilted Axis Press, won the EBRD Literature Prize in 2019. In 2025, Ismailov’s We Computers: A Ghazal Novel, translated from Uzbek by Shelley Fairweather-Vega and published by Yale University Press, was named a finalist for the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature. The novel draws on Persian poetic traditions and literary history to explore artificial intelligence. Its story centers on a French poet and his Uzbek translator, who experiment with a computer program capable of analyzing and generating literary texts. The Nobel Prize in Literature, first awarded in 1901, went to Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai in 2025.

Korean Heritage

K-PARK: A Space for Memory, Gratitude, and Cooperation

In the history of every nation, some places come to mean more than their architecture, squares, or parks. They become part of a country’s collective memory, preserving the experiences of previous generations while looking toward the future. K-PARK, an international cultural and business center under development in Alatau City, is designed to be such a space. The foundation stone was laid on September 12, 2025. The project was initiated by the Association of Koreans of Kazakhstan and is timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the Korean presence in Kazakhstan, marked in 2027. K-PARK is the first investment project in this new city, weaving the history of one of Kazakhstan’s ethnic groups into the fabric of a city still being built. Memory of an Arduous Journey The history of the Koryo-saram in Kazakhstan is inseparable from the tragic deportation of 1937, when most were forcibly relocated from the Soviet Far East to Central Asia. For the first generation of deportees, Kazakhstan was an unknown land to which they arrived against their will. Over subsequent generations, the Koreans of Kazakhstan became an integral part of the country’s society, contributing to agriculture and industry as well as to science and medicine. They became active in education and culture, in business and civic life. The approaching 90th anniversary is an opportunity to reflect on this journey, and K-PARK is designed to give that memory a spatial form. Plans include a memorial of gratitude to the Kazakh people and a Garden of Identity. A dedicated Koryo-saram area would use historical reconstructions and a traditional Korean hanok house to tell the community’s story; museum and exhibition spaces would offer further context. Gratitude as a Component of Historical Memory The collective memory of Kazakhstan’s Koryo-saram community preserves many stories from the early years following the deportation, including accounts of harsh living conditions and of help from the local population. The project’s creators describe K-PARK as a symbol of respect and gratitude toward the Kazakh people and Kazakh land. Remembering the deportation therefore has another dimension: the solidarity of those who helped the displaced and the capacity of different peoples to coexist. K-PARK seeks to preserve the memory of a traumatic past and show how an ordeal endured can become a foundation for mutual respect and constructive action. From Ethnic Park to Open Public Space K-PARK is not intended to be solely a Korean ethno-cultural site. The planned cultural and business center will accommodate conferences and exhibitions. Its library and interactive museum would offer other ways to encounter the community’s history. Outside, a 5,000-seat amphitheater and sports and children’s playgrounds would provide space for performances and recreation. The official concept also envisions public events and international gatherings. For Koryo-saram, it can serve as a place to preserve historical memory and pass it on to new generations. For other Kazakhstanis, it offers a space to learn about the history of the country’s Korean community and its place in Kazakhstan’s wider history. In September 2026, Yuriy Tskhay, chairman...

Central Asian Music

Put the Needle on the Record: Anvar Kalandarov on Rescuing Soviet Central Asia’s Lost Sounds

For decades, some of Soviet Central Asia’s most inventive recordings survived in an awkward limbo. The music existed, but often on ageing vinyl, scattered tapes, private collections, and copies traded amongst collectors at increasingly extortionate prices. The musicians themselves could be difficult to trace, while the legal ownership of recordings made under the Soviet system was rarely straightforward. Tashkent-based archivist, collector, and producer Anvar Kalandarov has made that ambiguity part of his work. He runs Maqom Soul Records, an Uzbek label devoted to bringing overlooked Central Asian recordings back into circulation. His work ranges from Soviet-era jazz and Uyghur folk rock to music that resists easy classification altogether. [caption id="attachment_57434" align="aligncenter" width="1740"] Anvar Kalandarov holding Synthesizing the Silk Roads; image courtesy of the subject.[/caption] Kalandarov was one of the curators behind Synthesizing the Silk Roads: Uzbek Disco, Tajik Folktronica, Uyghur Rock & Tatar Jazz from 1980s Soviet Central Asia, released by Ostinato Records in 2024. The Times of Central Asia previously traced how wartime evacuation, Soviet recording infrastructure, and Tashkent’s role as a Silk Road crossroads helped create the unusual musical environment captured on that compilation. His more recent projects include Digging Central Asia: Musical Archaeology Along the Silk Road, a collection spanning recordings from the 1970s to the early 1990s, and Maqom Soul’s reissue of Oleg Gotskozik Quintet’s Oriental Suite. Originally issued by Melodiya, the Soviet state record label, in 1979, Oriental Suite fused jazz with Central Asian modal ideas and was recorded at Tashkent’s Gramrecord studio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTQgbjMNO74 The work is a fusion of archaeology and restoration, with the twists of a mystery story. Kalandarov spoke to The Times of Central Asia about how these recordings are found and given a new lease on life decades after they were first made. TCA: When you decide to reissue a Soviet-era Central Asian recording, where does the process usually begin, and how do you locate the best surviving source material when original masters may be scattered or missing? Kalandarov: It’s different every time. Sometimes I come across the music first; it catches my attention, and only then does the real work begin - finding out who recorded it, where the musicians or their families are today, who holds the rights, and whether the original recordings still exist. In a way, every project becomes a small detective story, because you’re often looking for something that most people have already forgotten about. It’s the same with master tapes. Some recordings have survived in our state archives, while others are still with the musicians or their families, and sometimes you have to look for completely different sources. Of course, the ideal situation is to find the original master, but that isn’t always possible. Tracking down the best surviving source can become a major part of the reissue process itself. [caption id="attachment_57431" align="aligncenter" width="1460"] Anvar Kalandarov; image courtesy of the subject.[/caption] TCA: How difficult is it to establish who holds the rights to these recordings today, particularly when musicians, composers, Soviet state labels, archives, and...

Archaeological Heritage

Paleolithic Sites and Pamir Petroglyphs Added to Tajikistan UNESCO Tentative List

Tajikistan has added two groups of archaeological sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List: Paleolithic sites in southern Tajikistan documenting early human occupation, and petroglyph complexes in the high-altitude Pamirs. Tajik authorities announced the additions on September 21, although both entries were submitted to UNESCO on June 19, 2026. The first group comprises Kuldara, Lohuti, Obi Mazor, and Khonakho in the Khovaling district of southern Tajikistan’s Khatlon region. UNESCO describes the archaeological complex as one of the most significant Paleolithic heritage areas in Central Asia. The sites provide evidence of early human occupation and adaptation to mountainous and semi-arid environments and help researchers study the dispersal of early human populations across Eurasia. Kuldara is particularly significant. According to UNESCO, the site preserves cultural layers dating to the Lower and Middle Paleolithic periods and has yielded numerous stone tools. Together with the neighboring sites, the complex documents different stages of early human history and changes in stone-tool technology. The second group lies nearly at the opposite end of the country, in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), which covers much of eastern Tajikistan and the Pamirs. The nomination includes five petroglyph complexes: Langar, Darshair, Shakhta, Nayzatash, and Bakhmaljilga. The rock carvings were created over thousands of years, from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods through the Bronze and Iron Ages and into the medieval period. They depict ibex, argali sheep, deer and predators, as well as human figures, hunting scenes, symbolic compositions, and geometric motifs. The hunting scenes and other images give archaeologists a record of life in high-mountain communities. They also document cultural contacts in the Pamirs, a region that has long stood at a crossroads between Central, South, and East Asia and the Iranian cultural sphere. UNESCO's Tentative List is an inventory of properties a country intends to consider for future nomination. A property must first appear on that list before the country can formally nominate it for World Heritage status. With the two additions, Tajikistan now has 18 properties on its Tentative List. Five properties in the country are already inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. They include Sarazm, a settlement dating from the fourth to the third millennium BCE near Panjakent; the Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal in southern Tajikistan; and Tajik National Park, which encompasses a vast area of the Pamir Mountains. Archaeological finds in southern Tajikistan include a royal seal from the Kushan period. Around two millennia ago, the Kushan Empire extended across parts of present-day Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India.

Stand-Up Comedy

Interview: Kazakhstan’s Dinara Kerey on Borat, the Boundaries of Humor, and International Stand-Up

In just four years, Dinara Kerey has gone from performing at open mics to staging her own stand-up shows across Europe, North America, and Central Asia, including a tour of her solo show Crazy Eurasian. Born in Kazakhstan, she left the country at 17, studied in South Korea and the United States, and now lives in Berlin, where she works in IT and performs comedy in English, Russian, and German. At a show in Vancouver, she found an immediate connection with Kazakhs living abroad. In other rooms, she says, her first jokes must explain that she is from Kazakhstan. The Times of Central Asia spoke with Kerey about cultural boundaries in comedy, Borat’s portrayal of Kazakhstan, the fear of being seen, and the cost of building a career largely on her own. TCA: Dinara, you sometimes perform eight or nine shows a month and have appeared in Kazakhstan, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, though you’ve only been doing stand-up for four years. Do you feel popular? Dinara Kerey: For me, this is just the beginning. My schedule is busy because I want it to be busy. I organize all my shows myself, so it’s entirely up to me. Right now, for example, I’m heading home to Berlin after touring Kazakhstan, where I did an English-language show for 150 people. TCA: Were most of the people in the audience foreigners or locals? Kerey: There were a lot of foreigners, but most of the audience was Kazakh. They were well-educated, English-speaking young people. And there was this funny thing; after the show, a lot of them came up to me and we kept speaking English, even though both sides knew perfectly well that we could speak another language. Maybe some of them just wanted the practice. TCA: What kind of reception do you get back home? And where have you found particularly warm audiences? Kerey: The reception at home is good, especially in Almaty, which is nice. But I’d also single out Vancouver. More than 90 people came to my show there, and around 40 of them were Kazakhs who had been living there for a long time. I’ve lived abroad for 14 years myself, so there was an immediate connection with them, this shared relatability. Pretty much all my jokes landed really well. I guess we have similar backgrounds and look at life from the same angles: as immigrants, as Kazakhs, as Asians, and ultimately as post-Soviet people, or Eastern Europeans, as people tend to say now. All those different parts of me matched up with them. TCA: Did the material resonate with the other Canadians as well? Kerey: Yes. The people who came to my show had similar experiences. They were very well-traveled and had also moved from country to country before finding a place they could call home. I think the difference was especially noticeable because in Canada, more than anywhere else I’ve been, people celebrate their differences. They may be Canadian by passport, but nobody demands...

Asian Games

Kazakhstan’s Yasmina Toxanbayeva Stripped of Asian Games Gold Over Shoes

Kazakhstan’s Yasmina Toxanbayeva crossed the line first in the women’s marathon race walk at the Asian Games in Japan but was later disqualified over her footwear. The Kazakhstan Athletics Federation is challenging the decision, which followed a finding that her shoe model was not on World Athletics’ approved list. She completed the 42.195-kilometer race at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on September 27 in 3 hours, 22 minutes, and 20 seconds. China’s Danzengquzong finished nearly four minutes behind in 3:26:09, while her compatriot Ma Li recorded 3:32:26. According to Kazakhstan’s National Olympic Committee, officials checked the leading finishers’ shoes for compliance with World Athletics regulations. The model worn by Toxanbayeva was not on the approved list. Photographs and information about the footwear were sent to World Athletics, and the medal ceremony was postponed pending a ruling. World Athletics determined that the shoes did not meet its requirements. The Olympic Council of Asia confirmed her disqualification on September 28. The revised standings awarded Danzengquzong gold, Ma Li silver, and Japan’s Yukiko Umeno, who had initially finished fourth, bronze. The Kazakhstan Athletics Federation challenged the decision. It said Toxanbayeva had competed in ASICS shoes, but acknowledged that the specific model she wore was not on the World Athletics approved list. The federation also said her shoes had been inspected before the race and she had been cleared to start. The federation said it had filed a protest and a complaint against the decision and would continue to defend Toxanbayeva’s interests. It also acknowledged its own responsibility for ensuring compliance with competition regulations and technical requirements. World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, maintains a database of shoes approved for competition. Athletes must use an approved model for the relevant discipline. Approval of other shoes made by the same manufacturer does not make an unlisted model eligible. The current Athletic Shoe Regulations were approved on March 19, 2026, and took effect on April 20. A similar footwear controversy had already affected the medal standings at the current Asian Games. Iranian heptathlete Fatemeh Mohitizadeh was disqualified after officials ruled that the shoes she used during the long jump did not comply with World Athletics regulations. Her disqualification moved Kazakhstan’s Alina Chistyakova from fourth to third, giving her the bronze medal. The Kazakhstan Athletics Federation said that regardless of the outcome of its challenge, it would pay Toxanbayeva the prize money she would have received for winning the event from its own funds. “For us, Yasmina is the champion. The Federation will continue to support her,” it said. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, Kazakh cyclist Alexey Lutsenko won the sixth Asian Games gold medal of his career at Aichi-Nagoya, setting a national record for the most Asian Games titles won by a Kazakh athlete.