This year marks 30 years since the establishment of twinning relations between the cities of Shymkent and Stevenage. As part of the strengthening of educational and cultural relationships, as well as the development of bilateral cooperation between cities, at the initiative of the publishing house “Hertfordshire Press” the book “City Blooming for 2200 Years” was […]
Category Archives: UK
OCA PEOPLE: SHAHSANEM MURRAY
Shahsanem is a writer, film critic, translator, international business, tourism,. In 2001 she moved to Scotland, married. I work in Edinburgh. Writer and translator. I work in a private company and do creative work in my spare time. I participate in Literary Festivals organized by the OCA Magazine team. I promote the Culture of the […]
OCA PEOPLE: JOHN FARNDON
John is an author, playwright, songwriter and poet, and chairman of the Eurasian Creative Guild. He is the author of over thousand books on many topics, and has been shortlisted for the Young People’s Science Book Prize five times. He is also a translator of literature from Russia and Central Asia. He was joint winner […]
OCA PEOPLE: GARETH STAMP
Gareth is originally from the UK, with Welsh routes and heritage. He originally trained as a designer and then, over thirty years ago, he found his passion for education, both teaching shared ideas and learning new things every day. He worked in Kazakhstan for nearly nine years in a wide variety of educational settings; from […]
OCA PEOPLE: MICHAEL DANIEL SAGATIS
Michael Daniel is a British independent researcher, composer and filmmaker with Baltic & Slavic roots. He created an intergenerational memory project “Józefa’s Letters” that’s been widely exhibited throughout the Eurasian space. In 2019, he made and co-scored the documentary short film “Józefa’s Letters” which has received 9 official film festival selections. Visit: https://vimeo.com/michaelsagatis OCA: Tell […]
OCA PEOPLE: ANASTASIA FOX
Founder of CIC ” Communities Art of Life” Humanitarian, NLP Master practitioner certificate Coach, Public speaker, Well-being Mentor / Coach, Performed in NHS High-security hospitals – art therapist. Farmer Olympic athlete – the Moscow Olympic Game 1980 Survivor of severe child abuse and domestic violence I was born in Latvia into the times during […]
Khojaly – A Tragic Artistic Inspiration
February 1992 saw the single worst atrocity committed during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Khojaly Massacre took the lives of 613 civilians. The death toll included 106 women, 63 children and 70 elderly people. Despite this tragedy, and many other instances of unimaginable brutality, Azerbaijan always looks for peaceful resolution of this unresolved conflict. This has […]
INTERVIEW: IHOR KYZYM, AMBASSADOR OF UKRAINE TO BELARUS
WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM OCA#35 SUMMER 2020 As Ukraine continues to look towards the EU for its future, OCA Magazine met with the Ukrainian Ambassador to Belarus, in order to find out more about the European geopolitical direction of the country, as well as the development of Ukrainian-Belarusian relations. OCA: What is the regime of work of your embassy during […]
EURASIANIASM — FROM LITHUANIA TO LONDON
OCA #35 SUMMER 2020 WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM interview prepared by Saniya Seilkhanova INTERVIEW: ALDONA GRUPAS Born in Riga, Latvia, to Lithuanian parents, Aldona Grupas later moved to Klaipėda in Lithuania, before resettling in the UK, where she embarked on a geriatric-nursing career. She has written books for Lithuanians who move to the UK to help them […]
Azerbaijanis around the world celebrate their National Day on May 28
Establishment of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on 28 May, 1918 was a glorious page in Azerbaijani history. Committing to principles of democracy and secularity, ADR was the first parliamentary republic in the Muslim East, granting women the right to vote before most western democracies. ADR fell in April 1920 after Bolshevik invasion. Nevertheless, it laid the […]
THE RESULTS OF THE THIRD EURASIAN CULTURE WEEK IN LONDON-2019
From October 1st to 6th 2019, Great Britain, attracted artists, artisans, writers, filmmakers and art-lovers to its capital. Attendees enjoyed the creativity and culture of the Eurasian region through exhibitions, films, and creative meetings. Eurasian Culture Week was organised by the Eurasian Creative Guild (London), with the support of Premiere Cinemas Romford, The Mercury Shopping […]
TEDX LAMBETH DEBUTS WITH SOVIET THEMES
TEDxLambeth officially debuted on Friday 11th October 2019 at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in London, UK, attracting 70 attendees from all over the globe including New York, Trondheim and Almaty. A year in the making, this gathering brought together 12 remarkable speakers and performers, not to mention […]
THE BRITISH MAP OF “RUSSIAN” PLACES
The map of Russian places in Great Britain, originally developed on the basis of the free Google Maps service in 2015 for the website of the Russian Embassy in London, has now become the most complete and clear illustration of the deep historical ties between Russia and the United Kingdom. At the time of launch, […]
FIRST ECG FILM FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS NEW TALENT
From 6th to 10th June 2019, Premiere Cinemas in Romford, London became the centre of attention for directors, producers, actors and designers from Eurasian countries. As part of the third ‘Romford Film Festival’, for the first time, the ‘ECG Eurasian Film Festival’ (London) featured alongside it as a contributing partner. Founded in 2017 by British […]
“VIKING EXTRAORDINAIRE” – Sölvi Fannar
“Viking Extraordinaire”, Sölvi Fannar, doesn’t believe in following just one career path, in fact he has actively pursued several. He has acted in films, played music professionally, modelled, been a sports athlete, dabbled in poetry, and even spent time as a health professional. Recently, he is better known for his work in films, especially working […]
ANIMATION IS KEY TO DEVELOPING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
As many parents believe that watching cartoons is either harmful or not of much use, nowadays, it has become fashionable not to show them to children. This opinion, however, does not hold true; good animation can contribute to the formation of a child’s personality, because high-quality cartoons, as with books and movies, help to develop […]
MAKING AFGHAN CHILDREN SMILE
Warakai is the daughter of Kharakai, the talking rabbit on the BBC radio who, during the brutal war of the 1990s, stole the hearts of Afghans. If I can say so, I knew her very well. And in case you haven’t heard, Warakai and I will co-present the new BBC Pashto children’s bedtime stories TV […]
OPEN EURASIA 2019 CONTEST ANNOUNCED!
Open Eurasia is an international creative competition, now in its eighth year, which brings together creative people from all over the world. Writers, poets, translators, illustrators, videographers and publicists will be competing for a number of awards with a total prixe fund of $31,000. The winners’ money will towards design and print costs for books […]
FESTIVAL OF EURASIAN FILMS WILL BE HELD IN LONDON
In June 2019, the Eurasian Creative Guild launches the first festival of Eurasian films in London, the ECG Film Festival, which will be held as part of the Romford Film Festival. ECG Film Festival is a platform to promote Eurasian region cinema, bringing it to the English-speaking world! The Festival will introduce those in the […]
BEHIND THE DEVIL’S DANCE
Interview with award-winning author Hamid Ismailov Hamid Ismailov, is not an unknown figure in UK literary and broadcasting circles. Having worked with the BBC for many years to help bring Uzbek and Central Asian news to the fore, he is known for being a reflective and passionate supporter of bringing Central Asian authors to […]
A Celebration of Afghan Culture in London
On the 19th August, we saw a truly authentic reflection of vibrant Afghan culture. Singers and dancers brought the energy to Hounslow’s excitable residents whilst a range of international cuisines added to the festivities. A Taekwondo club, managed by two Afghan brothers, demonstrated the skill and discipline of their students, whilst fairground lights and Afghan […]
Uzbekistan’s Zara King Gracefully Conquers MISS USSR UK 2018
MISS USSR UK is a fascinating show, with the contestants from all the different countries of the former Soviet Union, organised by Russian entrepreneur and founder, Julia Titova. The international beauty pageant MISS USSR UK, now in its sixth successive year, is gaining popularity more and more in London and beyond. After ten finalists competed […]
BRITAIN AND TURKMENISTAN
I write this looking out over the foothills of the Kopet Dag, which are lightly frosted with snow, a week after the Turkmenistan UK Trade and Industry Council (TUKTIC) in London: a good time to reflect on the relationship between our two countries. TUKTIC alternates between Ashgabat and London. It takes place at approximately 18 […]
A Sparkling Success “I love pearls for their colour and lustre and they are very tactile”
In an interview with OCA magazine, jeweller Gulsara Davis, a linguist by education, but according to her nature a creative personality, tells of her life in London, to where she moved from Bishkek a couple of years ago and how she is fascinated by the creation of pearl jewellery. OCA: Tell us a little about […]
EDUCATION IS A CORNERSTONE OF SUCCESS
Panoba Executive Lifestyle Services specialises in education, property, relocation and events services for the discerning overseas executive. The London-based firm works with a network of esteemed partners to offer a five-star British lifestyle management service to its ranks of international customers. Directors Debbie Gispan and Nicky Sakpoba explain to OCA the crucial importance of knowing […]
To people like you I can say that I’m Uzbek
It’s a Sunday at the end of one of the many busy weeks working on the new BBC Uzbek TV programme for Afghanistan’s Uzbek-speakers. I am on a shopping trip to the bustling East Street market in South London, where fresh fruit and vegetables are in abundance and sold for almost nothing. Known as a […]
Turkmenistan-an emering force in sport
Multi-sport games such as the Olympics are familiar to us all. Every four years the eyes of the world focus towards a major city such as London, Rio or Beijing as the finest athletes on the planet pit their skills in a media-frenzied cauldron of sporting excellence. Such games formats are not unique to the […]
EURASIAN CREATIVE GUILD: 3 MONTHS AROUND THE WORLD
The Eurasian Creative Guild (London) is a public non-profit organization which serves to unite creative talents around the world. Between January and March, the representatives of the ECG visited; Almaty, Astana, Bishkek, Dublin, Edinburgh, Kiev, London, Minsk, Nicosia, Oslo, Paphos, and Paris. During these visits, members in each of these locations discussed the Guild’s projects; […]
Settling down to Belarussian life- Post sanctions. Interview with the United Kingdom Ambassador to Belarus
Ms. Gibb is Her Majesty’s Ambassador United Kingdom in Belarus (Since January 2016). OCA: You’ve spent almost a year in Belarus now. What have you seen so far and how do you find the environment you find yourself in? Do any parts remind you of Britain? FG: I’ve been here just over nine months. I arrived in […]
David Parry Makes Historic Kyrgyz Visit
David Parry, the Chairman of Eurasian Creative Guild (London) made his first visit to Kyrgyzstan from 13th till 23rd of September, 2016. On September 18th, famous British poet, playwright and member of the Royal society of Arts, presented his book The Grammar of Witchcraft at the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. […]
Interview with the Ambassador of Kazakhstan
to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, H.E. Mr. Erzhan Kazykhanov WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM #23 AUTUMN 2016 Formerly Assistant to the President of the Republic of Khazakstan in 2008 and 2012-2014, His Excellency Mr Erzhan Kazykhanov has been privy to many of the recent developments in Kazakhstan’s political and economic arenas. Amongst a number […]
YOUNG TALENTS OF KAZAKHSTAN CONQUER LONDON
OCA #22 SUMMER 2016 WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM Maide Akan is a young writer, illustrator and eco-designer of Astana, Kazakhstan. She is just 11 years old and composes, writes and illustrates stories about Aysu who is a brave Kazakh girl who not only loves nature and animals, but also leads a bitter struggle with the environmental problems of […]
WARWICK BALL
OCA #22 SUMMER 2016 WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM Despite being far from their motherland, Kazakh students in the UK are among the first to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Thus, the alliance of Kazakhs abroad “KazAlliance” organised an annual spring ball at Warwick University, one of the top universities in the UK. […]
FLAGS OVER BERLIN TRUTH WIL COME OUT
OCA #22 SUMMER 2016 WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM First ever Kazakh-British feature film has officially been hatched this spring with a working title ‘Flags over Berlin’. It’s a Second World War spy-flick with loads of action scenes, espionage, suspense, and … Love! We had a sneak preview of the first paragraphs of the film’s extended synopses courtesy of […]
BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO KYRGYZSTAN
OCA #22 SUMMER 2016 WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM INTERVIEW: ROBIN ORD-SMITH From the age of just 14, Robin Ord-Smith has known that he wanted to be a diplomat, representing British interests abroad. His love of languages, culture, history and politics combined to serve him well in his ambitions and he joined the Foreign Office in 1989 after studying […]
REMINISCING AROUND A DASTARKHAN IN LONDON
OCA #21 SPRING 2016 WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM A special event with a truly Central Asian flavour of music and dance was held in London in December. The event was aimed at providing an informal and enjoyable occasion for students and researchers following Central Asian Studies at London Universities as well as for anyone else with a love […]
MAKING IT TO THE TOP
OCA #21 SPRING 2016 WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR RASHID SHADAT Uzbek actor, Rashid Shadat talks to OCA’s Aleksandra Vlsasova about his life as an international actor. 2015 saw him involved in many well known films and television programs, including 24 (TV series), Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Now You See […]
IV OPEN EURASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA BOOK FORUM & LITERATURE FESTIVAL – 2015
OCA #21 SPRING 2016 WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM For the fourth year running, the international literary festival and forum “Open Eurasia and Central Asia Book Forum & Literature Festival – 2015”, organised by the publishing house “Hertfordshire Press” together with the Yunus Emre Institute London Turkish Cultural Centre and “ORZU Arts” theatre was held from 6th to 9th […]
UIGHURS: BETWEEN CHINA AND CENTRAL ASIA
OCA #21 SPRING 2016 WWW.OCAMAGAZINE.COM Text by Rustam Qobil,journalist, BBC Central Asian service It was March, and a whole neighbourhood on the outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s biggest city and former capital, was once again preparing for the spring festival of New Year. Men were handling outdoor tasks while women were chopping carrots for pilaf, the […]
CATBIG Hosts Central Asian Ambassadors
On 6th July 2015 British Expertise International held a meeting dedicated to the economic, political and commercial situation in the Central Asian countries. The guests of honour at the event were the British Ambassadors to Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Alexandra Hall has been British Ambassador to Georgia since September 2013. Alexandra spoke to CATBIG members […]