Sounds of Contamination: Environmental Narratives in Galya Bisengalieva’s Music about Liberation from Soviet Nuclear Legacy

• In Event: Representation of Nuclear Threats and Disasters in Literature, Film, Music, and Video Games

Abstract

This paper focuses on Polygon, the second album by London-based Kazakh composer and violinist Galya Bisengalieva, released in 2023. The album addresses the environmental ramifications stemming from the nuclear tests conducted at the Semipalatinsk Test Site between 1949 and 1989 in the steppe in northeast Kazakhstan. Through a close reading of the album, I will examine the contribution of contemporary musicians and their artistic dedication to addressing the persistent impact of the Soviet nuclear legacy on the environment.

Author

• Anya Shatilova, Wesleyan U