The project
The MAJIC project aims to explore the links between the arts, memory and social justice in Central Asia, by fostering dialogue between researchers engaged in artistic practice and artists from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. Over the past decade, artistic practice in the region has become a key forum for reflection on social inequalities, marginalised memories and the future of social justice.
The project is structured around three key areas:
- Artists, memory and the imagination;
- The arts and social movements;
- International mobility and exchanges between academic research and artistic creation.
MAJIC aims to strengthen the links between the artistic and academic worlds by:
- Promoting knowledge derived from artistic practices (music, visual arts, literature, performance);
- Diversifying the forms and methods of disseminating academic knowledge;
- Creating spaces for collective reflection on social justice, bringing together artists, researchers and cultural mediators.
The MAJIC team
Lucia DIRENBERGER
Lucia Direnberger is a research fellow in sociology at the CNRS, based at the French Institute for Central Asian Studies (IFEAC). Her work focuses on power relations and imperialism, particularly in Central Asia. She is particularly interested in minority practices and the production of knowledge within various social spheres (work, reproductive health and the arts).
Elodie N. BEHZADI
Elodie N. Behzadi, maîtresse de conférences en géographie à l’Université de Bristol, School of Geographical Sciences
Altyn KAPALOVA
Altyn Kapalova, chercheuse et directrice du département Cultural Heritage and Humanities (CHHU), University of Central Asia Bichkek
Diana T. KUDAIBERGEN
Diana T. Kudaibergen, maîtresse de conférences en études politiques et sociales sur l’Asie centrale, University College London
Dilda RAMAZAN
Dilda Ramazan is a Kazakhstan-born curator and PhD candidate at Paris’ Sorbonne University. Her research and curatorial interests focus on contemporary art of independent Central Asia. She is member of DAVRA and serves on the editorial committee of Marges, revue d’art contemporain, the Kazakhstani section of AICA, and the advisory group at Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.
Karim HAMMOU
Karim Hammou is research fellow at the CNRS, director of the Centre for Sociological and Political Research in Paris (CRESPPA). His current researches explores the role of the memory of collective violence and social struggles in artistic creation, the sociology of commodification of minority status in cultural industries and the transnational circulation of hip-hop.
MAJIC 