A young child is standing in a dim and cramped train car. His grandfather is reciting a prayer in Hebrew, while the young boy, Sashka, is trying to hand him water. As…
Category: Book/Event Reviews
Posts wirtten as Book/Event Reviews
The Satisfaction of Simple Things: A Review of the NOMAD Ethnocenter
I think I’m bad at writing these reviews, because if I liked something I did, I tend to forget the bad parts. Considering this, you might be suspicious of the following review,…
Capes in the Rain: The Immersive Performance of Куда Дальше
Have you ever wanted to own a cape? To walk dramatically through a hallway with a long, flowing piece of fabric flying behind you? But you’ve been left wondering: Is this really…
I Fell in Love with Jamilya
Reviewing Jamilya, by Chingiz Aitmatov, is like reviewing The Brothers Karamazov. I’m 22 and I’ve written about three reviews since high school, and I am tasked with giving my thoughts on a…
Learning about love through Jamila
Do you remember being 16? Do you remember all of the opportunities, growing pains, and uncertainties that came with the transition into adulthood? While every adult has navigated the challenges of their…
“Testimonies about Tea” Review: Spilling the Tea
What is your relationship to tea? Do you have specific memories associated with it? Why do you drink tea? Or don’t drink tea? The Hayward Gallery commissioned Anuar Duisenbinov (*note), a Qazaq…
Soviet Artistic Romanticism: Coming of Age on a Kyrgyz Journey
What is the connection between art and love? Is it just through romantic era paintings and nude modeling, or can art pluck the love string deep inside the heart? Chingiz Aitmatov, known…
Why Is It in the Harbor?: Tea, Colonialism, and Identity
Even the simplest drink can have the most significant meaning. Growing up in the United States in a coffee-drinking household, tea was something that the British drank across the pond on fancy…
Where to Next?
In my two months in Almaty, I’ve spent a lot of time walking around the city. However, as the immersive theatrical experience “Where to Next?” showed me, I still hadn’t seen everything…
Review of “Testimonies about Tea”: More Than Just A Drink
Where do you remember drinking tea as kid? In the opening poem from Testimonies about Tea, Aunar Duisenbinov describes a backyard overflowing with life. A building stands in at the back of…
