Faces of Tajikistan

We meet musicians, craftsmen and artists in their surroundings, their villages, which are the source of their inspiration. We document their work as well as traditions and everyday culture in the country.

Following the social-anthropological approach, an overall cultural picture is to be created based on individual subjective perspectives, a lively and important contemporary document of a rapidly changing culture in image and sound.

Our route takes us to the capital Dushanbe, the handicraft town of Istaravshan, the northern city of Khujand, to Panjakent with its famous Suzani embroidery and to Kulob known for its Chakan embroidery and Falak chants.

After the trip, we develop multimedia lectures with various thematic focuses, in which handicrafts, musical instruments and works of art of our Tajik partners and friends are shown.

A high-quality photo book is also to be created. The lectures will be shown for the first time at the Tajikistan Festival of the KultEurasia association in October in Vienna.

We want to research and document a country and its culture, but not from an exclusively European point of view. Our Tajik partners have been closely involved in the creation of Faces of Tajikistan from the very beginning. Together with them we want to travel the country and take time for the people whose work we document, to listen to them and to get to know and understand their perspective.

We have several target groups in mind for this project. First of all, it is the people we meet and with whom we want to enter into a mutually enriching dialogue. Then, of course, there are also all those interested in the culture of the Central Asian country, as well as people from Tajikistan, for whom the promotion, preservation and documentation of the rich culture of their home country is important. Also generally anyone who cares that an ancient culture is documented and preserved. And last but not least people, to whom we can bring through our work a country, a region and its culture closer.

The Central Asian region is still a blank spot on the map for many people. Tajikistan, which is culturally rich and impressive with its high mountain landscape, is rarely the focus.

Do you think, like us, that this breathtakingly beautiful and lovely country deserves more attention and that its ancient culture should also be documented for the future? Then support us in making a contribution to precisely this and in strengthening the cultural workers who are committed to the preservation and further development of the rich culture of the country.

With the crowdfunding, we will give appropriate financial recognition to the cultural center in Dushanbe, the women's cooperatives in Khujand and the various artists, craftspeople and musicians we meet for their contribution to the realization of this documentary, thereby promoting their work.

We also want to acquire some of their works for documentation purposes. We bear all other costs of the trip ourselves. The more support we get, the more generously we can ourselves contribute to the cultural work of our partners in Tajikistan.