Memories, Arts, and Social Justice in Central Asia (MAJIC)

Exploring the links between arts, memory and social justice in Central Asia
pikoso.kz
pikoso.kz
© pikoso.kz
2025 laureate project of Arts programme "Worlds in Action, Worlds in Reflection"

The MAJIC project explores the powerful connections between art, memory, and social justice in Central Asia, with a focus on fostering dialogue between researchers involved in artistic practices and artists from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.

Over the past decade, artistic practices in the region have emerged as vital spaces for reflecting on social inequalities, marginalized histories, and envisioning futures rooted in social justice.

The project is organized around three key themes:

  1. Artists, Memory, and Imaginaries;
  2. Arts and Social Movements;
  3. International Exchanges and the Intersection of Academic Research and Artistic Creation

Through this initiative, MAJIC aims to bridge the gap between the artistic and academic worlds by:

  • Valuing knowledge drawn from artistic practices (including music, visual arts, literature, and performance);
  • Expanding the ways academic knowledge is shared and disseminated;
  • Creating collaborative spaces for collective reflection on social justice, bringing together artists, researchers, and cultural mediation professionals.
Project coordinator

Lucia Direnberger is a  fellow researcher at the CNRS in sociology at the French Institute for Central Asian Studies (IFEAC). She works on power relations and imperialism, particularly in Central Asia. She is particularly interested in minority practices and knowledge production in different social spaces (work, reproductive health and the arts).

Lucia Direnberger
© Lucia Direnberger
Project members
  • Elodie N. Behzadi
  • Altyn Kapalova
  • Diana T. Kudaibergen
  • Karim Hammou
  • Dilda Ramazan

Activities

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Actualité

Laureates 2025 | Arts Programme

Discover the 2025 laureates projects of the Arts Programme
Published at 17 December 2025