Music from Central Asia

Link TV offers stunning documentaries on music from Central Asia, part of a project of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (Aga Khan Trust for Culture) and the Smithsonian Institution Centre for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

See for example mountain music from Krygyzstan, a documentary on Badakhshan Ensemble from the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, the Shashmaqam style of court music, and on the Afghan rubab player Homayun Sakhi, among many others. Well worth a watch!

Thank you very much to Zayra for alerting us to this.

Challenges for the Study of post-Soviet Islam - Professor John Schoeberlein

On 7 May Professor John Schoeberlein, Director of the Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University presented at the Institute for Ismaili Studies, on the Conceptual Challenges for the Study of post-Soviet Islam. The discourses surrounding Islam in Central Asia, and the way it is percieved and constructed by scholars, governments and the mass media were discussed. It was noted that the majority of literature on Islam in Central Asia relates to whether it is dangerous/radical or not.

We welcome other comments and impressions from those who attended Dr Schoeberlein's presentation.

For more information on Professor Schoeberlein please the Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus website. This website also hosts the Central Asian Studies Worldwide network, a rich source of information on research projects, resources, tools and academics involved in research on Central Asia.