Bishkek beyond the Posts: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Contemporary City

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

Though often considered as the periphery, our panel centers the contemporary city of Bishkek and its place in global flows—of migrants both to and from Russia (Bilik, Matusevich), of ideas and art (Cisneros), and of information and language (Escher and McDermott). Through the lenses of a variety of disciplines, we investigate the (post) Soviet and (post) colonial relationships and discourses that move through the city. First, we look at migration to and from Bishkek after the war in Ukraine, exploring how Russians fleeing political repression navigate the city and discussing the way newly returned Kyrgyz migrants negotiate relationships with their landlords in Russia. Next, we look to the way in which new media, or internet-based communications technologies, are influencing how Kyrgyz children learn language and perceive their identities as Kyrgyz. Finally, we turn to Bishkek’s burgeoning art scene, to ask how historical narratives of art in the city relate to the role of the Kyrgyzstani artist in the discourse of global contemporary art.

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Ashley McDermott, U of Michigan

Papers

• Trust and Exchange: Navigating Housing at the Boundaries of Russian Citizenship - Jeffrey Bilik, U of Michigan

• Talking 'Like Nastya': Investigating YouTube’s Influence on Language Shift in Bishkek Families - Ashley McDermott, U of Michigan

• Globalization, the Figure of the Artist, and the Bishkek School of Contemporary Art - Marcos Cisneros, UC Berkeley

Discussant

• Alexa L Kurmanov, UC Berkeley