All posts by Guldana Salimjan

Guldana Salimjan is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia. Using feminist, oral history, and memory studies methods, she examines the embodied practice of Kazakh social memory as well as societal changes from socialist collectivization to post-Mao China. Her research interests include performance, anthropology of ritual and oral tradition, indigenous knowledge, and environmental justice. Her work is published in Central Asian Survey.
Anthropology, Art and Power in Eurasia, Economics/Business, Ethnography, Gender, Photo Essay, Research Reports

The Afterlives of Yurt Wall-hangings: Tus Kiiz by Guldana Salimjan, University of British Columbia

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Gendering a Tourist Economy

Ölgii, the capital city of Bayan-Ölgii Province, is a small city that one can stroll all over in just an afternoon. Since falconry’s title of cultural heritage was affirmed by UNESCO, the concept of heritage has been widely accepted by locals. Just as falconry became a vital connection to the Kazakh historical past, natural environment, and traditional culture across Eurasia, handicrafts have also allowed Kazakhs to maintain their identity and traditional knowledge as an ethnic minority in Mongolia, and have become an attribute of “authentic” Kazakhness. While Kazakh men take up the iconic image and profit from falconry as part of ethnic tourism and international spectacle, women have quietly become the backbone of a local informal economy, clearly represented by traditional handicraft production. Continue reading The Afterlives of Yurt Wall-hangings: Tus Kiiz by Guldana Salimjan, University of British Columbia →

Anthropology, Art & Culture, Central Asia

Check out new research on Xinjiang!

Friends please check out the wonderful blog by Guldana Salimjan, “Singing Back to the Steppe: Kazakh Poetry Battles in Contemporary Xinjiang” – originally published at Radii and livingotherwise.com, which are run by fellow colleague Darren Byler, who is writing a series of blogs on ‘The Art of Life in Chinese Central Asia’! Continue reading Check out new research on Xinjiang! →