OCA Magazine:  Tell us about yourself and your work/creativity

Khalida Abdulkhakovna: My life was such that literature was my teacher. Our class teacher, Lidia Afanasyevna Vorobyova, was a teacher of Russian language and literature. She managed to develop in me a love of fiction. I was very fond of writing essays, and on any topic. Probably, it was important for me to Express my opinion and my attitude to the given topic. I remember even sending some essays to the regional competition.
I wanted to go to drama school. I don’t know why. But in my 15 years I was not allowed to leave home and I finished 10 classes and went on my first trip to the Crimea on my own. On the train, I met people who advised me to read interesting books.
I don’t remember if I found all these books or not, but at the age of 17 I became the head of the village library. Then I saw that not only I live in the world of books, but there were many readers in the village. My duties included educational work, I went to the farm every day, hung out lightning
bolts. Here my literacy in the Russian language and ability to Express my thoughts correctly came in handy. But the twists of fate are unpredictable.
My Universities were held in Kazan. There in the mechanics and mathematics he studied my sister. Probably, I was very Executive, and mathematics is a mandatory subject, so our school math teacher, Mars Abdrashitovich, had some hopes for me that I would follow in his footsteps.
When I arrived in Kazan, I found out that the entrance exams were already over. My mother’s friend advised me to go to work in a factory. Youth accepts everything with joy, we can do everything. At the factory, she worked as a Turner, and in the evenings studied at University preparatory
courses. So I enrolled at MSU, and graduated in 1984.  Literature, Russian language and mathematics came together in my professional activity when I worked in the system of SPO of the Ministry of education of the Samara region. Information technologies were just beginning to be introduced in the field of education and needed specialists who knew different programs. Then I created my first website of our technical school. It was interesting. We worked with a colleague, a history teacher, on the content of the site in the evenings. We had such a noble creative tandem. We sent our work to various competitions, received awards and were happy with our success.
OCA:  What is “Eurasianism” for You?
KA: Books have always been a mystery to me, I wanted to reread everything at once. Then somehow everything came together: literature, authors, Internet resources. And so, perhaps, Eurasianism was born in my soul just then. I have collaborated with booksellers, so to speak, from Germany. I supplied books for the Bavarian library. The book about Crimea, the Crimean Tatars, the history of Crimea-all this was very popular. Our cooperation stopped when the Crimean spring came. My colleagues from Bavaria ended their relations with me, taking the side of Ukraine.
Although, since school, I loved to be friends and always corresponded with girls from other countries. I remember the name of the girl from Czechoslovakia Dunk Masia. Then at the University we studied together and were friends with Cubans and Germans, lived in the same hostel.
I always studied and improved. I was interested in any case. Faced with social activities. I should have sent articles about the work done. I wrote for the website “world Congress of Tatars”. She worked as a journalist At the center for the protection of citizens’ rights, was a representative of the world  Tatar news Agency, ran the Republic of Crimea page, and collaborated with the Tatmedia news Agency. It was almost a volunteer job. Then we created a media Center named after Ismail Gasprinsky at the Committee on ethnic Affairs. There I worked as a lead editor of “Our
Crimea” and also the editor of the “Hoffnung”, which is printed on RNKA the Germans of Crimea.
In parallel, she was engaged in social activities. Perhaps my Eurasianism began when I arrived at Kazan airport at three o’clock in the morning, as the head of the delegation of Tatar women of Crimea to the world Congress of Tatar women, I met a delegation from France and some other Russian cities. Little Galia from Paris in a red kerchief sang the song “and Tugan tel, and
matur tel”. Of course, we all picked it up. At some point, everyone merged in this song with their love for their native origins. It seemed that here, at the airport, at three o’clock in the morning, was the place to Express our solidarity, our feelings, our attitude to each other and to our people. After all, many spoke English and Tatar, and did not know Russian. But most importantly, we were United by our native language. In the autumn of the same year, I was again invited to Kazan for the first international women’s Congress. There was a proposal to create an organization “women of Crimea” in Crimea. So I became the Director of the Regional public organization International center of culture and creativity “women of Crimea”. Members of our organization are women-
representatives of different nationalities. Our goal is to consolidate the women of Crimea for active social activities, preservation and development of national cultures and traditional family values. (for more information, visit: http://womencrimea.org/)
I cooperate with the magazine “Union of nationalities”, I am a member of the Union of journalists of Russia, I constantly maintain the website of the NGO “Interethnic center of culture and creativity “Women of Crimea”. My training at the Russian presidential Academy of national economy (Ranepa) under the program “Reputational technologies in state and municipal management” was the final step in improving my skills. I am currently working on the publication of the book “the Saga of a strange woman” by my friend and like-minded Adolina Gordon. Adelina lives in Lower Saxony, the city of Quakenbrück, Germany. We met her when I was working in the magazine “Our Crimea”. Then she came to the international Crimean women’s Congress “Blooming almond”, which we hold in Crimea every year. My Eurasian friends include journalists, artists, writers, artists, and even a ballet master. There are no boundaries for creative interaction.
OCA: What are your favorite artists?
KA: At different ages, everything is interpreted differently, and through the creativity of others, we are simply filled with the spirituality that opens up new ways of development for us. Of course, there are idols whose energy flows into our blood, becomes our part, with which we live on. I Love
Chekhov, Ivan Efremov, George Sand, Larisa Rubalskaya, George OTS, Muslim Magomayev, Luciano Pavorotti, Tchaikovsky, Mikhail Zadornov. The list goes on indefinitely.
OCA: Have you participated in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?
KA: Yes, I have twice participated in ETG events that took place in Crimea. The first time I met Marat Akhmedzhanov was during a photo exhibition in Yalta. For the second time, we met with Megan Werner at the Zhukovsky library in Simferopol. Now we have become closer through online conferences.
OCA:  What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to You and how has it influenced Your work?
KA: ECG for me is first of all new interesting people, an opportunity to find your audience of fans on a global scale. You know, if you’re always among the roosters, you can’t help but crow . In good sense. I feel the team spirit, goodwill, interest in creativity and the prospect of growth here. I admire the ability to organize everything, keep up with everything. It is very difficult to successfully develop an organization in just a few years. There are no analogues of our Guild in the whole world.
OCA: Do you have a personal project that you would like to talk about?
KA:  There is a wonderful project “international Crimean women’s Congress “Blooming almond”, which I am the initiator and organizer of. It is held annually in Crimea. The highlight of the
event is the planting of the almond alley “Peace and harmony”. When women of different Nations from different countries plant trees together, give rise to a new life in nature, this is the Foundation of the future of our planet Earth. There is an idea to spread the experience in different countries. If we plant almonds in Crimea, other countries also have their own symbols of nature. It would be great if our Guild initiated such a tradition.
OCA: What projects have you participated in and what projects do you plan to participate in?
KA: My dream is to publish Lina Gordon’s book “the Saga of a strange woman”. I am its editor, and I really want to participate in the International literary festival.
OCA:  What would you wish to the members of the Guild, just starting their creative path?
KA: Be bold, truthful, sincere, never change yourself. And, of course, great success in your chosen work and always remember your roots. We are strong in unity with our people.

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your creative activity

Gulzhan Kaldybaeva : After graduating from the Alma Art College, I have worked almost all of my life in the field of culture – in the leading museums of Kazakhstan. I chose to work as a restorer. It was interesting for me to study and bring various works of art back to life. In general, working as a restorer is very noble, I preserve the works of famous artists for future generations. Sometimes, in my free time, I do painting. I went to the “Plain Air”, and I gave out my works to my friends and relatives as a gift.

OCA: What style do you paint in? What influenced your style?  

GK: I draw using the style of impressionism and romanticism. These styles are very lively, and convey the play of light and shadows, emotions. Recently I have been experimenting a bit with abstraction. I love the impressionists. They made it possible to most vividly and naturally depict all the variability of the real world through the prism of the impressions and emotions of the artists. Impressionist works are filled with positive emotions, there is no place for gloom and heavy thoughts, there is only lightness, joy and beauty of every moment, sincerity of feelings and frankness of emotions.

OCA: Who are your favorite artists?

  GK:   When I was a student there were artists who had a strong influence on me such as El Greco, E. Monet, Van Gogh, P. Cezanne, O. Renoir, P. Gauguin. Now there are many good artists around the world who inspire me, including those from Kazakhstan and Central Asia. I also love classical and Russian paintings.

OCA: What is your favorite piece of art and why?

GK:  I can’t say what my favourite artwork is. However, when someone asks me such a question, I instantly imagine Van Gogh’s paintings created in Arles. His series is “Sunflowers”, “Red Vineyards in Arles”, “Starry Night”. They are very emotional, lively, deeply intimate and temperamental. His works are immortal, and his name will forever remain in the history of not only painting and world art, but also humanity.

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?

GK:   I took part in a meeting of the Guild participants with Marat Akhmedjanov at the end of 2019 in Almaty, where I was awarded a certificate of the Guild. I have not yet participated in other events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London). I found out about the Guild through my Facebook friends, ambassador and artist Marlan Nysanbaev and joined the Guild in 2020. I met a lot of creative people, this gives me support and allows me to develop my creativity. I would like to participate in all future art projects. The next project is  “Top 25 Artists”, which will be held this year.

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

GK:  “Eurasianism” is the relationship between East and West, settling life and peace between people of different nationalities and religions, their cultural development and cooperation. Europe and Asia need dialogue for mutual understanding and respect between the peoples living in it. Consequently, the role of the Eurasian region and its influence on political processes in the world are increasing every day. The basic idea of Eurasianism is the idea of self-knowledge of culture and its development.

OCA: What would you advise for people who’re just starting their journey of creativity?

GK: To people who begin their career, I would advise working on themselves constantly, to observe, study their own self and the world around them, and not lose hope! Don’t waste precious time, don’t lose your inner strength.

OCA: How do you generally feel about art in the countries of Eurasia?

GK:  Art in Eurasian countries is united by one common desire: to bring together such a diverse modern world with true beauty and creativity that knows no boundaries. This is an example of cultural diplomacy that exists in order to create mutual trust between countries and people. Artists, writers, musicians, poets realize that this is art without borders. 

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your activity / work

Ilona Reeves: I am a musician, social activist, teacher and writer. Since my early childhood, I have loved and have been very much attached to the world of literature, but life brought me into the field of music. I graduated from the Belorussian Academy of Music. Being a Member of the society of Music figures of Belarus I have written the songs, lyrics and several scenarios for kids whom I was teaching those days. On the other hand, many years of work (14 years) in the Gulf countries have largely influenced my personality. Gradually I was getting ready to open a new page in my professional career. Over the last few years, I have devoted myself completely to the literature and my children.

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

 IR: “Eurasianism” – as a writer I understand this word as an endeavour to emphasize the common unity of the continent. Throughout the history of the Silk Road, its routes are an important link in building dialogue, trade, interaction, the exchange of experiences of various peoples and cultures. Of course, there are always many contradictions in that but this is already a question of the geopolitics of a particular country or nation.

OCA: Who are your favorite artists?

IR: Speaking of my favourite artists, first of all, I have to mention the art of Pushkin, Picasso, Shakespeare and Andersen. The list may be too long I guess… Undoubtedly, the heritage of these prominent artists has formed a fundamental layer in modern culture. Among my favourite contemporaries is Leonardo DiCaprio (  American actor, producer and environmentalist). His art of acting as well as the things he has done in protecting animals and nature has been an enormous source of inspiration for me. And the apple of me eye  is  Elon Musk, the most successful entrepreneur of the Silicon Valley with whom I was honored to talk to quite recently. These are the people you want to write books about.

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?

IR: I did take part in some  events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London). At the end of summer 2018, I found a writers’ contest  on the internet. Then I realized the same platform offers a professional internship as well. I filled in the intern form and was acquainted with the ECG.        I really enjoyed meeting many wonderful writers and members of the society during my internship. The curator of the department I went in was M.I.Akhmedjanov, the Vice-Chairman of ECG. It’s like I saw the life of the company from the inside. It was a good experience to improve my professional skills. During an internship, I sent my artwork “The Tales of The lost Forest “ to the Open Eurasia Contest and to my great joy I became an awarded writer! There was an amazing week of Open Eurasian Literary Festival & Book Forum in Thailand. We were given a lot of inspirational and positive moments which are yet  in my heart . Last summer,  Belorussian poets and writers , members of the  ECG, had an honor to take  part in the Great British Festival held in  Minsk . It was quite a massive  event where we introduced our art to an audience. The town of Minsk turned into a part of Great Britain. I was presenting my book of tales “The Children of The Sun “ as well as the interests of the guild. You know, the thing  I like best in   the Eurasian Creative Guild – is  giving  people of the large list countries the good chances  and needful instruments for career growth. If you are strong enough – you will succeed. If you really have an interesting project or product –you will succeed.

OCA:  Do you have any personal projects that you would like to talk about?

IR: This winter,  the ECG announced an international  social project “Resolution “ which I cared for tremendously. The goal of the project – a call to action in the  name of protecting our planet. A musical project that was created to attract the attention of world leaders to environmental disasters and global climate crisis. In a duet with the ex-soloist,   Pesnyary ensemble, we made our version of  the “Resolution ” song. Besides that , in cooperation with John Farndon, a British writer and poet, an  article about the “Resolution ”  project and climate  change problems were launched for science magazine in Belarus.  Some things were pretty hard to achieve but we have done it. I love our planet and our nature, in my every fairy tale you can feel it. And if there is a thing I can do for our planet, for our kids and their future be sure I will make that thing happen. Of course there are moments in life where you want to surrender, but if you find your truth you will be a winner.

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how did it affect your creativity / activity? 

IR: I really love the ECG. I thank it for uniting people through art and through love for that art. I wish you can discover more and more treasures on the path  called “The Great Silk Road.”

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your activity/work

Caroline Walton: A Londoner born and bred, I am a Russian to English translator and editor. Translation is more than just knowing two languages – the translator has to be able to write well in their own language. I am also an author of books on Russia, Ukraine and the countries of the former Soviet Union. My books have been published in The UK and the US and have won several awards.

I set up my company, Sirin Books, to help Eurasian authors prepare their work for publication in English. We offer advice, translation, editing and liaison with publishers such as Hertfordshire Press. I have translated and edited for Azerbaijani, Crimean Tatar, Kazakh, Bukharian Jewish, Russian and Ukrainian authors – all of whom have opened windows onto their cultures for me and for their western readers.

I first became interested in Russia in my teens, through reading Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I lived in Russia for a while in the early 90s and wrote a book about the experience. I write mainly non-fiction, true stories about people’s lives. For example, in 1999 I went to St Petersburg to speak to the survivors of the siege of Leningrad, specifically, people who had been singers, actors, artists, and musicians. How did their creativity enable them to transcend their circumstances? Their answers changed my life and can be read in my book The Besieged – a story of survival (Biteback Books).

My latest book My Cossack Family – meetings with remarkable people in Russia and Ukraine is a further exploration of how people were able to survive famine, the Gulag, war and nuclear disaster. The tragedies in Soviet history have been well documented; I look at the positive sides, at what can be learned. In the light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the messages of the subjects of my book are all too relevant today. 

The book can be ordered from sirinbooks@gmail.com

My website is www.sirinbooks.com

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

CW: I love the word ‘Eurasia’. From the perspective of this small island it brings images of grassy plains, baking desserts, stern mountain ranges and fabulous cities, homes to a myriad of different cultures. Eurasianism is a bridge that spans these cultures, bringing them together while celebrating their uniqueness.

OCA: Who are your favourite artists?

CW: For me art must point to deeper spiritual truths. I love mugham music for example, and the textile art of Uzbekistan, early Russian icons…

In the ECG it has been a great privilege to meet not only writers but also Eurasian women and men who work in all kinds of media. For example I love Guli Bost from Kyrgyzstan and her felt art. I would never have believed it to be possible to create such beauty with felt.

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?

CW: I meet regularly with ECG members in London and attend ECG literary festivals. 

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how did it affect your creativity / activity?

CW: The ECG is a brilliant concept. Besides introducing me to the art and literature of many different countries in the region it brings enormous possibilities for meeting fellow creative people, women and men whom I might not encounter in the normal course of life. 

OCA: Do you have any personal projects that you would like to talk about?

CW: At the moment I am working on getting my books translated and published in Russia. I would be happy to have them translated into other languages of the region too.

OCA: What projects have you participated in and in which do you plan to participate?

CW: The literary festivals. In October 2019 the ECG held a launch for my latest book My Cossack Family – meetings with remarkable people in Russia and Ukraine (Sirin Books). The responses of members of the audience were very moving. They reminded me of why I write.

OCA: What would you wish for the members of the ECG, just starting their career?

CW: Believe in yourself, your talent and inspiration. Keep to your path. Stay true to your heart. 

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your creative activity

Zaure Torekhan: My name is Zaure Torekhan, I am a writer and screenwriter, author of youth books and writing courses from Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan.

My career began in 2014, when I wrote my debut fantasy “Amina Turan in the Nomad World”. In the same year, with the first 8 chapters of this book, I won the national literary competition “Altyn Kalam”. Already in 2019, a fantasy novel about the adventures of Amina Turan took 3rd place in the OEBF International Literary Competition in Brussels, which was organized by the Eurasian Creative Guild.

This success was noticed by the prestigious publishing house of Kazakhstan Almatykitap Baspasy. In 2016-2017, I wrote guidebooks for children “Our beloved City Almaty” and “The Heart of our Motherland – Astana”. It was a huge experience, I met wonderful people, wise mentors, learned a lot about publishing and got a good life experience. All three books published by Almatykitap Baspasy publishing house were exhibited at prestigious book exhibitions in Moscow, Frankfurt, Nur-Sultan, Tashkent and Ashgabat. The guide books can now be found not only in the libraries of Kazakhstan, but even in the library of the US Congress.

My creative activity was more developed in 2017 when I became a laureate of the prestigious literary prize “Altyn Tobylgy” in the nomination “Best Children’s Literature of the Year” with the story “Aisha and Invisible Neighbors”. The literary prize was organized by the Foundation of the First President and the Union of Writers of Kazakhstan. Currently, the book is published in an unusual format in the form of a series book in the IKitapDYKENI. The release of the printed version will be published in autumn 2020.

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

ZT: For me, this is primarily collaboration and communication with creative people from different countries with common interests and the desire to create joint projects. The peoples of Eurasia have much in common, the similar history, culture and mentality. In a nutshell, there are many points of contact, so you can always find an opportunity for interesting creativity. As a writer, I would really like for my books to have readers abroad, I would be happy to receive feedback, questions and comments. Thank you very much OCA Magazine, for your support and the opportunity to tell a wide audience about myself.

OCA: Who is your favorite artist?

ZT:  Each country has its own outstanding figures of art and literature, but if I focus only on the literature of Kazakhstan, I especially respect the work of the great thinker of the Kazakh people Abay Kunanbaiuly, whose 175th anniversary we celebrate this year. I also like reading and re-reading the treatises of the second Aristotle al-Farabi, the military poetry of Makhambet Utemisov, the novel “The Way of Abai” by Mukhtar Auezov, the trilogy “Nomads” by Ilyas Yesenberlin. These are our Kazakh classics, and among creative figures we can especially mention the thoughtful poetry of Olzhas Suleimenov, writer and director Ermek Tursynov, scientist and researcher Serikbol Kondybay.

I would like to thank Marat Akhmedzhanov. Although he is not a writer, he is a unique person who found the strength of will and energy in himself to promote Eurasian literature around the world. This is just an amazingly large-scale idea and its implementation requires incredible efforts. I respect the work of Marat Ismailovich and always try to support him and Eurasian Creative Guild.

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)? For example, did you participate in exhibitions from our organization in the CIS countries, or at the Eurasian Culture Week in London, or the Open Eurasian Literature Festival in Belgium and other countries?

ZT:  The first time I heard about the Eurasian Creative Guild was in 2014, at a cultural event organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan in Almaty. In 2016, I was lucky enough to take part in the Open Eurasia festival in London. The festival program was very interesting, I visited many cities. Among them are the Turkish and Russian cultural centers, the BBC headquarters, top universities in Britain and many other locations. I also enjoy going to formal and informal meetings of the Guild, especially when Marat Akhmedzhanov and his team come to our city. I am always interested to hear the news, look through the books of authors, and talk with people. This allowed me to make new acquaintances and friends in Almaty and Nur Sultan, as well as around the world, and this is great.

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how has it influenced your creativity ?

ZT: The Eurasian Creative Guild is constantly developing. Along with annual festivals and various contests, new creative projects appear that are put forward and offered by the members of the Guild. This makes it possible not only for the development of the Guild as a whole, but also for the growth and communication of creative people from around the world.

As for my artwork, I have great ideas for cooperation. For example, as a winner of a literary contest and a member of the Guild, I hope to publish “Amina Turan in the Nomad World” in English. Also, with the artist Nurlan Abishev, whose illustrations for the book were awarded the 1st place in the “Illustrations” category, I plan to release a whole series of comics, “Nomad World.” 

OCA: Do you have any personal projects that you would like to talk about?

ZT:  Currently, I am working with the animation company ARA Studios on a script for a 26-episode cartoon for preschool children. The customer is the only children’s television channel in Kazakhstan, Balapan. For me, this is a very energy-intensive project, and I do enjoy the creative process. My childhood dream of creating cartoons has finally come true. I hope there will be as many projects as possible in my life, because I really like watching cartoons.

I also lead a Kazakh group participating in a volunteer literary project together with Hungarian writers. As a result of the project, we intend to release a joint bilingual illustrated collection and a Kazakh-Hungarian dictionary. We are supported by the international literary fund The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in Hungary.

OCA: In which projects / exhibitions do you plan to participate in the future?

ZT:  I’m also involved in scriptwriting. This year I am participating in the ECG Film Festival competition with the script “The House of Silkworm”. This is a fantasy adventure story of a brave student who fights dangerous Time Warriors. The hero must return the Clock of the Universe to its place before the time runs out. In the future, I also plan to write a full-fledged book on the plot of this scenario, not limited to the scope of screen time.

OCA: What would you advise people who are just starting their journey of creativity?ZT:  There are no easy ways, no easy professions; diligence, creative approach, ability to communicate, desire to carry out our plans everywhere. I want to wish them to be active, not afraid to bring their projects to life, to be proactive, persistent and always move forward!

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your activity / work 

Yelena Aslanyan: Born in 1961, father was an engineer, mother is a doctor, by the way, my mother still works as a doctor in a clinic, she was recently awarded an honorary diploma. I live in Yerevan, married, have an adult son and a daughter. My first profession involved programming, I worked in this specialty for more than twenty years and taught in university. My first stories were written twenty years ago, and immediately started being published in “thick” literature magazines. Recognition from readers was followed by the recognition of literary critics. When my “Getashen” story was awarded the Diploma of the joint competition of the Writers’ Union of Armenia and the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, it was called one of the most piercing stories about the Karabakh war, the story was spread over electronic resources (without the author’s knowledge) and was reprinted from one site to another. After my prose passed the test of time, I had to make a choice – it was already impossible to combine my favourite work as a programmer and writer. I chose literature and journalism. For example, an analytical article about Nogales’s book “Four Years Under the Crescent”, first published in “Literary Armenia”, was then published in “Russkiy Vestnik” in Moscow and was a resounding success. 

I am the author of four books and four miscellanies, two of which are international. At the request of the UNHCR I wrote a book «At the crossroads» about refugees. It was a great honour for me to be elected in ECG Corporate Council and to be entrusted with the honourable mission of the Guild Ambassador to Armenia. One of the undoubted creative successes was the novel Three Distichs”, winner of two international literary contests and the ECG film festival in the nomination “Book Trailer”. 

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you? 

YA: For me, “Eurasianism” is my essence: my childhood, the same school’s programmes throughout the space from the Baltic and Sakhalin, Murmansk and Yerevan; my youth with construction teams in Tyumen and on Lake Baikal; our common pain of Afghanistan and the collapse of the USSR; our common Victory in 1945; our common Russian language and the history of our countries, which a interconnected by thousands of threads. By the way, the novel “Three Distichs” can be considered as a literary reflection of the idea of Eurasian integration, because all the heroes of the novel both spiritually and “territorially” belong to the space that gave birth to them, a single Eurasian space, which determines the affinity despite the post-Soviet borders. 

OCA: What are your favorite artists? 

YA:Lewis Carroll, Mikhail Bulgakov, opera conductor Konstantin Orbelian 

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)? 

YA: I organized the Meeting of the Eurasian Creative Guild in Yerevan in 2019, it was a huge success and widely covered in the media. Also, I took part in the book forum and festival Open Eurasia in Brussels. 

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how did it influence your creativity / activity? 

YA: The Eurasian Creative Guild gave me wings and allowed me to get off into the world of big creativity. So, I entered the world of cinematography thanks to the ECG & Romford Film Festival. I met professional directors and producers, it was amazing. And this year I took part in the film festival with two nominations, nomination “book trailer” and the new for me “music film”. Of course, the creation of a musical film dedicated to the creativity of Cyril Scott was a completely new experience, which means a new facet in my creative life. 

OCA: Do you have any personal projects that you would like to talk about? 

YA:I would like to tell about the “The Daughter of a Kurd” project, which includes two stages: publishing the book “Kurdish Daughter” in four languages (Armenian, Kurdish, Russian and English), and a presentation in Yerevan, Moscow and Los Angeles (because there are many Armenians). The events described in the book take place in January 1990, a symbolic time for all those who lived at that time in the USSR. And the fate of the main character Anahit is a bridge from the past to the future over the unhealed wounds of 1915. The artistic value of the story can be judged by the fact that it is included in the curriculum of Kurdish schools in Armenia. In addition, the book received a special diploma “For Solar Creation” at the German International Literary Competition “Buch des Jahres” in 2017. The book describes the events of 1915 in a completely new way, overcoming “the effect of tiredness” about a topic that has not received a solution for more than a hundred years. 

OCA: What projects have you participated in and in which do you plan to participate? 

YA: I have been participating in the Open Eurasia literature contest since 2014 and have already submitted my works for the contest this year. I also sent an application for the Almanac “Voices of Friends”. I sent two videos to the ECG film festival, and dream about taking part in the forum in Rome. 

OCA: What would you wish the members of the Guild just starting their career? 

YA: I would advise them to take part as much as possible in the projects offered by the Guild, try themselves constantly in new genres and enjoy creativity and communication with interesting personalities, enter into discussions, share thoughts, reflect on thoughts of spiritually close people.

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your activity / work?

Xandra Silantyeis : I’m a writer, composer, journalist, screenwriter, director, author of psi-projects: “Pregnant Lectures”, “Hearty Podcasts”, publisher, editor, public figure, festival organizer, system psychologist, nutritionist, director of the Interlegal Public Fund and the Publishing Magisterium of the same name which publishes the Kazakhstan “Rapsod” Collection of Writers, researcher, owner of the “Tritium” music label and co-owner of “InterVision” live television, director of the 1st youth radio “StarKids.fm” and school of radio hosts and bloggers, founder of the “Writers” web community.

Currently I’m working on 4 books: the second part of my neo-roman called “Moon Gods: Through Time” (the part 1 “Earth Gods: Through Sky” is available online in large electronic book platforms + an audio book will be available from 06/01/20 on the Internet; the book has been translated into 20 languages), on fundamental “Gospel of the Writer” for all who are familiar with “Demonology. The self-instruction manual on self-instruction manuals”, the collection of “Taboo” verses. I’m also an author of a ruthless motivational marathon “PinCode” which already has an English version – “KickCode”. This is a glider, a quest game and a manual for the implementation of any project.

Apart from 4 albums that I wrote – WESTiAIRe, Music is not BORSCH, E.V.genica, La Chocolatier, which are available on iTunes, Amazon, Yandex, Beatport, Soundcloud, Google Play and Napster – there is a musical album ‘War Hymns’ in which I strive for 100 tracks. All the tracks can be downloaded or listened to along with the podcast-shows, programmes and interviews on the website of ‘Tritium’ label. 

3 solo albums are coming soon – “Mudaism”, “Blyadiada” and “Kherofobia”, and these are not abusive jargon, these are terms of the Russian language.

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

XS: Eurasianism – is a unity of many active personalities through joint projects for the benefit and development of industries.

OCA: What are your favorite artists?

XS:  Without any doubts, it’s Marat Akhmejanov, Mikhail Zemskov, Zhanna Bektimisova and other active event managers. My dream is to unite them all under the sky of my ‘great coworking city’. 

It is such a rainbow of personalities and an abundance of projects. Every time new faces and their projects add new power and ideas. The connection between countries is an amazing work of Marat and other ambassadors. And it’s impossible to express all my gratitude through words. I feel like Marat has a unique ability to be everywhere. 

When you start understanding the structure of your society and field you work in, you can see borders and opportunities. The ECG is borderless. In order to realise global projects, you need a network and like-minded people. The ECG is exactly that network. Writing ball, marathons, staging a multiformat 3D performance based on my neo-novel about the 8000th year “Earth Gods: Through the Sky”, issues of “Rhapsody”, presentations and discovering of new names – all this is coming next.

OCA: Do you have any personal projects that you would like to talk about?

XS:  I have totally crazy and global projects which require heavy investment as well as like-minded people. This includes opening a Google office in Central Asia as there is no such office so far. I have a project with a hacker space of 6000 sq.m. active area excluding land. And all this is a so-called eco-city. Instead of waiting for the future, the youth should start building it. I would also like to invest in the auction of lots by Salvador Dali in this project. And the main investment in this project of the “New Kazakhstan Creative Valley” is the new personnel that will revolutionise the industries. We have so many talented people who can bring tremendous revenues. These talented people need a foundation for development and a vector for self-realisation. I don’t want to go abroad and invest large amounts of money in an ‘empire’. I want to build an empire here! And in order to build a society we need new territories and conditions. 

I also plan to launch a national brand of clothes and perfume called “Sahara”. It’s unique feature is in well-forgotten old, but new to society fabrics and traditionality. For example, eco-fur. And this is not recycled fabrics or eco-structure. Speaking of perfume, so far there hasn’t been any world-class perfume from our country. A cosmeceutical company with a deviation from chemical hazards is also a revolution in the future. Of course such creams, mousse, soaps, champagne and body truffles have rather short shelf life, but it’s fine. Even some newborn babies now have more than 15 types of plastic in the blood. What does it mean? It’s time to move towards natural production without fanaticism, in which there would be a harmonious interaction with nature without harming it significantly. Even eco-movement can bring resources which will be sufficient for future generations. Even Mars will become closer to us because the success of niches will give us new personnel for the space industry, as said by the leader of our nation. 

OCA: What would you advise the members of the Guild who are just starting their career?

XS:  I want to wish or even encourage all creative people to define borders for their start-ups. If something doesn’t realise, it means that you target the wrong audience or use the wrong resources. I always repeat that ‘unreal – is the most real’. This is the slogan of my neo-novel. In order for unreal to become real you need an environment with personnel who have projects and who are able to create cells to implement all this.

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your activity / work?

Timur Akhmedjanov : My name is Timur Akhmedjanov and I’ve recently finished high-school at Rugby School Thailand. I enjoy art in general as well as drawing, however the comic-book medium interests me the most. I also like anything relating to ‘film’ and I’m hoping to have a career in that field. Right now I’m working on a comic-book adaptation of Kamran Salayev’s children book, ‘Elish and the Wicker Tales’. I’m doing this because I’m interested in making comic-book stories as well as writing for a good cause. 

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

TA:  “Eurasianism” (in terms of art, literature and creativity) is a word that is used to define the blend and cooperation between cultures and nations of both Europe and Asia. Whilst the ECG’s primary goal is promoting ‘Central Asian’ culture, in particular, it’s overall motto and dream is to unite people of both the west and east through the creative medium and to recognise talented, yet less known individuals of the ‘Central Asian’ people to be the spearhead of that union. 

OCA: What are your favorite artists?

TA:  There are various artists that I like but most of them are comic book artists. I have great respect for their skill and dedication, especially for those who publish in weekly magazines. They are able to write coherent and incredibly compelling narratives under such a tight deadline whilst at the same time backing it up with incredible artworks and illustrations to properly convey the story and actions they are trying to show. 

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild?

TA:   To some degree, I have supported multiple ECG events as a helping hand for the hosting group, meaning that I haven’t actively taken part in any of the ECG events.

OCA: What the Eurasian Creative Guild means to you, and how it influenced your creativity / activity?

TA:  Whilst I like the concept and idea of the ECG, the guild’s goals deviate from that of my own interests. This also means that the ECG has not influenced my creativity whatsoever, a lot of that comes from the goals and aspirations that I have as an individual. 

OCA: Do you have any personal projects that you would like to talk about?

TA:   As I have already mentioned, I am currently working on a comic-book adaptation of Kamran Salayev’s children book, ‘Elish and the Wicker Tales’. Whilst being the translator for the original work I had grown a certain affection for the story and though that both it’s presentation and the message behind it are both very fascinating and is something I want to recreate in a comic-book medium. Whilst this isn’t my first ‘illustrative’ project it is definitely my most ambitious and professional one that I have done and will spend many more hours working on and perfecting. 

OCA: What would you advise the members of the Guild who are just starting their career?

TA:   I don’t think I am fit to give any advice to people starting any career as I am still too young and know very little about creative industries and instead would like advice from other, more honed veterans of that industry to assist me with further developments of my future career and projects that I may have. However, if I had to give one piece of advice it would be to people similar to me who ‘are’ or ‘were’ struggling to find a ‘passion’ or ‘desire’ to pursue in their lives and that is advice is to absolutely try your best in whatever holds your interest the most. Just because you fail at something or don’t do as good as you had intended you shouldn’t give up, because if you do you might find yourself in a spot that is a lot worse to the one you had started on and might ruin your passion for that interest for a really long time. Instead, you must accept that whatever you are doing will never turn out perfect, no matter how good you are, and that you must use that experience to help you improve on that interest for the future to come. Also, remember that if people don’t support or don’t show the same level of passion as you do for your interest that doesn’t mean you should be discouraged, instead you must act selfishly and carry on with whatever you are doing with the mindset that you will eventually meet people who will appreciate your work if you carry on pouring your entire passion into that interest. 

OCA Magazine: Tell me about yourself and your creative work. How did your journey start?

Talgad Zhanibekov : I was born in Semipalatinsk and was raised there until I was 5. In 1978, me and my family moved to the Almaty region. From the 1st to 11th grade I studied in the school named after Furmanov in the Shamalgan village. Since my childhood, I’ve been listening to the rock band ‘Deep Purple’, ‘Whitesnake’, ‘Iron Maiden’. In the 11th grade I decided to try to play such music myself. Of course, I didn’t have any skills for that, but there were teachers either. By trial and error, step by step I learnt how to play heavy-metal. But I thought it wasn’t enough, so I decided to enter the Kemerovo Institute of Culture and chose the speciality of “Conductor of Russian folk instruments” in order to learn about the theory of music. In Kemerovo city I had my first stage performances which were also my first unforgettable experiences. My music and lyrics were becoming heavier and heavier, and indeed I was influenced by such bands as Metallica, Megadeth и Slayer. Upon returning to Almaty, I started to work as a sound engineer in the Kazakh Drama Theater named after Mukhtar Auezov. At the theatre I created a music studio and recorded my long-awaited thrash-metal style music album. My debut on the stage of the academic theatre happened in August 1996. At that time, the directory of the theatre was quite shocked when they saw a completely different side of me. 

OCA: What does Eurasianism mean for you?

TZ: I live in the world’s biggest continent called Eurasia. Its length covers the entire eastern hemisphere from Portugal to Japan if we don’t count Island states in Southeast Asia. But to be honest, I’m a cosmopolitan and I feel good in any place as long as I can create art works. 

OCA: Name your favourite artists

TZ: In music – Ritchie Blackmore, Dave Mustaine, Mick Jagger, Armen Grigoryan. In films – Ingmar Bergman, lars von Trier, Guy Ritchie, Christopher Nolan. In literature and poetry – Mikhail Bulgakov, Edgar Allan Poe, Sergei Esenin. 

OCA: How did your journey in the film industry start?

TZ: As I’ve mentioned above, I worked as a sound engineer in a theatre. At that time, the director of the theatre was People’s Artist of Kazakhstan Tungyshbay Zhamankulov who staged a play called “Salt desert”. I was responsible for the arrangement of music in it. And during one conversation, he told me that my way of thinking was like a producer. So then I entered the Institute of theatre and cinema, the workshop of Ardak Amirkulov. He is a powerful teacher and thanks to him, I acquired my first skills in film-making. At first, we did small projects. During my second year, Ardak Amirkulov launched his film ‘1997 – Rustem’s Notes with pictures’ at the ‘Kazakhfilm’ base. All members of our group directly took part in the creation of it. I played a supporting role and wrote the music for the film. Bedises, we learnt almost everything: wrote a director’s script, learned to put on light, tucked in film, were holders of camera rails and so on. In short, we got all the practical experience. In my third year, we started to defend our courseworks which were short films. I had three of them: “French lesson”, “Thaw” and my graduate work “Lory”. In 2001, I got a film producer diploma but only in 2006 I started my first steps in the film industry. At the beginning, I worked as a screenwriter and at that time Rustem Ibragimov bought my scripts (“White Sun in the Desert”, “Burnt by the Sun”, “Siberian Barber”), and a year later a company “Kazakhfilm” purchased the rights of my script for “Meat King”. In 2011, Russian producer Renat Davletyarov (who filmed “Love Carrots” 1, 2, 3, “Steel Butterfly”, “And Dawns Are Quiet Here”), bought the rights of my script for “Conversation”. Then, this movie was a breakthrough of the Montreal film festival in 2012. During that year, I also filmed the feature movie “Joker”, in which Birch Tree Entertainment (USA), JSC Kazakhfilm, JSC CPC and CAMD LLP also participated. This was a black and white noir story, almost completely filmed on the green background in a pavilion. All the rest was added through computer animation. The style of  “Joker” quite resembled the film ‘Sin City’ filmed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller. The movie was released in October 2013. In 2014, I started to work in the company “Kazakhfilm” with a science fiction movie “Phoenix” which we wanted to relate to the 55th anniversary of the world cosmonautics. This is because the first flight to space was made from the Kazakh land by Yuri Gagarin, who opened that era. We received financial support from the government, but then tenge was devalued and as a result, that amount was not enough anymore for such a big project and I needed to find additional investors. So, I attended the Cannes Film Festival because I thought this was a perfect place to find investment, and I wasn’t mistaken. The first person who accepted my offer was Sergei Bespalov. He was a General producer of such films as “Sin City 2: A Woman Worth Killing For”, directed by Robert Rodriguez (“From Dusk Till Dawn”, “Alita: Battle Angel”), “Chef on Wheels” directed by John Favreau (“Iron Man”, “Avengers: Infinity War”, “Avengers: Final”). Me and Sergei got along really well and signed a cooperation agreement. In fact, we planned to film the movie in Hollywood, however, uncareful actions by some officials brought the project to end, unfortunately. Later on, I filmed two auteur  projects using my own budget – “Charm of Life” and “Kuanysh”. Actually, I want to present “Kuanysh” at the “Eurasia” Film Festival in London.

OCA: Have you ever taken part in the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) events?

TZ: Of course, as a member I always take part in events organised by the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) if I have a chance to do so. Even recently, on the 6th of May I participated in the zoom conference on ‘Virusology in movies’ as a moderator. I would like to thank Marat  Ahmejanov for trusting me and providing me with an opportunity to share my views on the film industry.

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean for you and how did it influence your creative activity?

TZ: The Eurasian Creative Guild is doing an important work, it brings together all us into one big creative union. Although all the members of the guild are from different countries, with different mentality and religion, different views, we all are united by the common desire of self-realisation. Every member tries to be useful to other members and this is so important in current times. I’m really grateful that I became a member of such a union as the Eurasian Creative Guild. Thanks to the guild, I opened new horizons and new possibilities that would help me to find like-minded people and allow me to work in my favourite field which is film-making!

OCA: Please tell our readers about your own project or film. 

TZ: Currently, I’m working on two film projects – “DNA: chapter 1” and “DNA: chapter 2”. Both projects are quite similar, but the difference is that in one film there is a male actor playing in 7 different hypostases, while in another one there is a female actor playing in 3 different hypostases. The film will be recorded in one room, with a green background and no decorations at all. So, it’s totally minimalistic. This is all I can say about it for now.

OCA: What projects or exhibitions do you plan to participate in the future?

TZ: I already participated in the film festivals “Go East”, “Weisbaden” in Germany, “Eurasia” in Astana (Kazakhstan), Cannes festival in France, and I would like to to participate in other film festivals as well. 

OCA: What would you wish for people that have just started their journey in the movie industry?

TZ: I’m not the biggest expert in the movie industry so I cannot really give any advice. But I want to say just one thing – be sincere. 

OCA: In general, what is your attitude towards the movie industry in Central Asia? What problems do you see and how would you solve them?TZ: This is a very difficult question for all the movie makers. For the domestic market, private companies release movies with small budgets, usually comedies, and they are quite successful in terms of making a profit. But there are also big governmental companies which allocate large budgets to their movies, but they are not profitable because their theme and message is about patriotism, ideology and country image. Such movies can be profitable only if the country’s population exceeds 50 million people, as said by a famous German producer Karl Baumgarner, and I completely agree with him. The answer is obvious. I would personally recommend those companies to co-produce with other countries in order to reach a wider audience and earn corresponding profits. But if it’s an auteur cinema, it should be supported by funds, film festivals and those who simply love movies!

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your activity / work

Natalia Loskutova: Natalia Corshun was born in the Moscow region. She has graduated from Plekhanov Russian University of Economics and Lomonosov Moscow State University. She is a member of the Russian Union of Writers.

All her life is filled with travelling. She passed the mountains of Altai, the Urals, the Himalayas, Tibet, the Caucasus. In the course of her professional activity she was lucky to visit the great corners of Russia: Sakhalin, Taimyr, Siberia, the Urals, Altai. The beauty of the world and communication with people served as the basis and source of her creativity. A visit to China, Peru, Bahrain, Greece, Syria, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan inspired the creation of colorful works.

The first book named «Christening» was written in Jordan in 2003. 

OCA:Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?

NL: “I took part in the conferences of Eurasian Creative Guild in London in September, 2019. The visiting of London is a bright part of my life. I am very thankful to the invitation of Eurasian Creative Guild.  It goes without saying it was a good chance to meet with creative works of new writers and artists.” 

“Eurasian Creative Guild is a big deal for me. It is a realization of my interests which gives me the step up to go on and develop my creative activities. I consider that the Guild unites peoples of different countries with spiritual bonds.” 

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how did it affect your creativity / activity?

NL: My pen name is Natalia Corshun. It was first pronounced by Marat Akhmedjanov at the Moscow meeting of Eurasian Creative Guild. I’d like to emphasize that a warm-hearted atmosphere prevailed on all meeting of the Guild. Every member of the Guild may gain support and a word of encouragement to make your own way in the literary world. The Guild suggests any member to have a bash at different kinds of works: poetry, prose, translation, illustration and so on. The unique character of proposed projects expressed in great possibility to combine interests and prospects. 

OCA:  Do you have any personal project that you would like to talk about?

NL: I participated in OEBF contests of works in the genre of prose, poetry and illustration. I gave it a try. 

I published my works in the collection of poems named “Нить 3”. 

Besides, I am a participant of new project in Poetry Almanac “Voices of Friends” where I published the poem “My grandfather came to Berlin”. It describes grandfather’s act of bravery in World War II. 

As a result of participation in different contests of Eurasian Creative Guild I released my own collection of Russian-English poems called “Fate has a tough hand” in May 2020. It is placed on the web-site: amazon.com . 

I reflect on the idea that the life path is not always easy, but it is necessary to find strength and energy in order to overcome all the difficulties and ups and downs of fate in this book. I hope that readers will take my book at its worth. 

I plan to publish a book for babies with cheerful illustrations. I am sure that it will be something special. 

OCA: What would you wish for the members of the  ECG,  just starting their career?

NL: I’d like to wish all members of Eurasian Creative Guild starting their writer’s career to work hard to win over the readers. The most important thing is to be honest with readers. I believe it is half the battle. 

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your activity / work

Natalie Bays: I am a cultural project manager based in the outskirts of East London and I have thirteen years of experience working in participatory and community arts. During my degree study at Chelsea College of Art & Design in London I founded an arts organisation with my colleague Joe called ‘The NO Collective’ – which celebrates its tenth birthday this June!  We develop creative programmes and festivals in the UK and abroad – including having conducted a 3 year programme in association with CSSN Azerbaijan. I have a niche experience in developing cultural business’s and events in town centres – having successfully regenerated an East London shopping centre through cultural activity, developing a business hub in a dilapidated night-club, and opening an artists studio within an ‘art-deco’ parade of shops. I am now working in a shopping centre in Romford with a community-centric ethos where we are turning the experience of your weekly shop on it’s head. This is now an award winning community hub, which plays home to two international film festivals, an architecture week, a couple of food festivals, and a winter lights festival to name a few!

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

NB: To be honest, I find the 1920’s term for ‘Eurasianism’ paradoxical, it implies that individual Russian and post-soviet cultures and societies are ‘unique; as a singular body’, which in turn would make the individual communities stereotypical of each other. I would agree that Russian and post soviet regions and countries do not ‘fit’ into these stereotypes of European or Asian cultures and societies specifically, however from the same perspective I do not believe that the term completely justifies the richness of the individual communities that are present in these regions; the basic concept being that you cannot generalise ‘a people’ as a geographic concept.

On the other hand I do feel that in our society now “Eurasianism” has rejected these 20th Century confines and has now become a term that is about discovery. As a Brit, I have studied a typically heritage syllabus throughout school, and for me, Eurasia is an area of the world that stands out for not being part of it. This exudes the enjoyment for me in discovering more about these regions and their hidden delights. So far during my own discovery and working alongside the Eurasian Creative guild I have found that in the Eurasian regions and countries there is a huge diversity of heritage, linguistics, religions and lifestyles and cultures that have been shared with its people from all over the world – especially with great influences from the great silk road, Russian and Ottoman Empires; because of this, each country has its own shared cultures, and differing sub-cultures and hyper-localisms – all very different to the ones that i know about already. The realisation of this is daunting, but so exciting.

OCA: Who are your favourite artists?

NB: I have many! They mainly they all seem to dove-tail to the theme of civic society and accessible arts. I am very much drawn to contemporary artists that consider the histories of people and create fun works that engage audiences. Ólafur Elíasson’s (Iceland) work is probably one of my most recent loves – his work is extremely enjoyable to experience – primarily using simplistic forms and light to engage his audience. I am also a big fan of Faig Ahmed’s work (Azerbaijan) which unites very modern themes with his cultural heritage – the ‘protected and intangible heritage’ of Carpet Weaving. His works do not sabotage the historic processes used to create them – but instead use it as a tool to reimagine and provoke ideas of our engagement to technology and science. I feel I should also mention one of my artistic peers who is currently researching his PHD at UCL– Robert Mead; we studied together and he is a fabulous thinker. Rob has worked with us in the past on some of our Azerbaijani projects previously and his work depicts imagery that researches and explores both organic and social behaviour and interconnectivity in some of the Eurasian and post soviet regions.

Despite my visual background, I am also a huge fan of buildings – with the late Iraqi-born Zaha Hadid being my icon of contemporary architecture. Her developments are daring and sculptural, but also innately social, if you have ever been inside a Hadid building, the spaces are not only beautiful, but also completely designed for people to be within them. The Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku for example is a visual masterpiece to look at, but also delightful to venture inside of. It’s hard not to spend a whole day there.

My last mention is Jeremy Deller, a British contemporary who I drew great inspiration from during study. His work elevates people, societies and their micro-cultures, archiving the stories and things that average people feel are important, whether it be sub-cultures of music or local rituals. Much of his work culminates in community led carnivals or re-enactments that are fun to be a part of and in turn document the importance of everyone within culture.

 OCA:Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?

NB: I would say i am an active participant in the Eurasian Creative Guild, I have been a member for almost three years and attend meetings in London and book launches where possible. I have also attended art exhibitions, fashion shows and literary events curated by the guild and its members in London. I am now on the guild’s advisory board to help consult on programmes and events, so I believe I will become a participant of many more in the very near future!

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how did it affect your creativity / activity?

NB:  The guild is an opportunity to expand my knowledge and learn from the experiences of others. By meeting and becoming friends with new people from a spectrum of places and cultures that I know barely anything about I can adapt my own norms and values. Professionally, working with the guild it has enhanced my event outcomes and the priorities that programme curation entails. Working with the guild members I have found that I have also become more relaxed and changeable and very aware of unexpected minority ethnicity cultures living in my community. From a personal development angle it is also great to learn from the confidence of some of the guild members too. My experience has been that Eurasian women are very strong, honest and bold in what they have achieved, and what they do. This is not something that British culture nurtures so well in women, and as a sometimes ‘shrunken violet’ I completely admire the traits. The members are also extremely kind, polite and friendly too; it was a very easy and quick transition, as a ‘cultural outsider’ to become involved in activities and invited to social gatherings outside of the guild.

OCA:  Do you have any personal project that you would like to talk about?

NB: InAzerbaijan is a project that brought me to the guild originally. A project with the NGO fund of Azerbaijan (CSSN), it has seen our members travel to Azerbaijan and write about the countries History, Politics, Culture, Society and Environment from a first hand perspective. The information gathered has been collated on a website: www.inazerbaijan.co.uk which includes teaching resources for all ages, travel advice and a huge amount of information that was not available online previously. We were also lucky enough to hold an artists residency programme so that new artworks could be made in Baku to display in the UK. This has been an amazing project to coordinate and hopefully one which will increase good feeling, partnership and awareness between the UK and Azerbaijan. I also have great hope this is something that not only can we continue adding to alongside Azerbaijan – but that we can also engage other Eurasian countries too. I would love to see an umbrella of programmes, InKazakhstan, or InUzbekistan for example – as the more we learn about these amazing places, the more we can learn and develop from each other. I know that this is definitely something that our exploratory members would be interested in.

OCA: What projects have you participated in and in which do you plan to participate?

NB:  I support the running of The Eurasian Creative Guild annual film festival in London and have participated most recently in the Eurasian Culture Week in London. It is now my aim in the coming year to participate with the activities that are outside of the UK, especially those within the Eurasian regions. I have met some amazing creatives from the Eurasian region and now I would really like to experience their homes and heritage to put greater context to their artworks, poetry and writing. The ‘Voices of Friends’ project has caught my eye specifically for it’s collective meaning. This project is collecting poetry and writing from all of the Guild’s members to create a diary almanac to capture the guild as a collective. The almanac will then be submitted to the British Library to be kept, almost as a moment of heritage of a mutually connected group of people from across the world. The ethos is great.

OCA: What would you wish for the members of the  ECG,  just starting their career?

NB:  Stay bold, pursue your creativity and commit to all of the experience that the guild has to offer. Every event brings a different Guild audience and there really is a huge array of creatives from different backgrounds and professional levels who are friendly and willing to help you in your journey. You just need to meet them. There are also lots of opportunities to promote yourself at meetings and events for free. These are great to connect with people and also for self development, reflect on your practise, who you are and where you would like to be.

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your creative work

Nadia Olefir: My main profession is graphic designer. I live in the environment of fonts, slogans, pictures and their relationships. After I moved to Japan, my focus gradually shifted from graphic design to modern art. I entered another world with different laws of gravity. I had a feeling that my personal space was widening and being filled with creativity

OCA: What is your painting style? And what influenced your style?

NO: I paint my works in an abstract style which was perhaps influenced by my abstract view on the world. Frankly speaking, it’s a very funny and yet exciting story of existence. In my world, all forms are merely decorations which can be replaced, and so new storylines can be created. 

My favourite writer Grigori Pomeranz, who studied zen-Buddhism, said: “you need to stand on nothing and hold everything”. The depth of these words amazed me and is still unfolding and widening inside myself. My poetry is very much reflected in my paintings. Or it’s better to say that my poetry and painting are in unison: there are no borders between them. All my abstract paintings smoothly transit into poems and vice versa. It’s a double maneuver which  grasps both vision and heating and creates an incredible volume of perception of art. 

OCA:Name your favourite artists

NO: It’s hard to choose favourite ones because each genius occupies a certain ‘honeycomb’ of my heart and brings his or her own unique ‘honey flavour’. For me, Shagal, Kandinsky and Malevich are timeless painters. An important part of my life is occupied by a poet Zinaida Mirkina, I. Brodsky and L. Aronzon, as well as Andrey Tarakanovsky – he reflects my subconscious. 

OCA: What is your favourite piece of art and why?

NO: My most favourite piece of art is the whole world of God. Everything He drew or wrote on a universe canvas, everything living and not so – is a masterpiece. Even the darkest corners of a painting support the harmony of the whole work. Dark and dirty shades very well highlight the bright colours. But the most beautiful out of all the Creator wrote is the canvas itself before any creation started. 

White, clean and empty.

One of my poems has this moment of whiteness: 

Washed whitened overwhelmed

You are … clean.

Shaved by the wind

Weathered in the morning

Flat … sheet.

In a fictional world

Losses … no.

White on white

Only God … light.

OCA: Have you ever taken part in the Eurasian Creative Guild events? 

NO: This winter I joined a very warm meeting with a B.ART group and the Eurasian Creative Guild in London. It was really nice to realise that such an art space like ECG exits. Knowing that you’re not alone makes you really excited. 

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean for you and how did it influence your creative activity?

NO: For me it’s a unique platform of live socialisation with talented people, an opportunity for self-realisation, a source of inspiration and new ideas, a sense of unity and mutual understanding.

 OCA: What projects do you plan to participate in the future?

NO: I participated in the poetic almanac “Voice of Friends” which is scheduled for autumn 2020. I really hope that in the future I can make video-poetry.

OCA: What would you wish for people that have just started their journey in the arts?

NO: Just listen to your inner voice carefully, there is everything a creative person needs: inspiration, live enthusiasm and lots of energy.

OCA: In general, what is your attitude towards painting in Eurasia?

NO: I see a huge potential in the development and expansion of borders. Eurasian counties make a significant contribution to the spiritual part – the heart and basis of the art, which like beads on a thread all the surface genres of the modern world are strung on.

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your work. 

Elena Smirnova: I am a writer and an editor. My first book was titled Over a Cup of Hot Tea and was published in 2019. I wrote it almost accidentally and ended up winning the We Grew up in Russia writing contest. 

I have been doing editing for a decade. It is what I am trained to do, and it is also my vocation. I like working with authors and journalists. I help them express themselves on paper, making their ideas clear not only to themselves but also their readers. I try to be most attentive and treat their work with delicacy. And I always read their final drafts with great pleasure. 

At the moment I am working on a project called WriteCreate, which helps authors learn simple techniques for finding ideas and inspiration. I organize writing challenges and teach classes and I am working on my second book about it. 

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

ES: I would define it as meeting new people of different personalities, from different countries and of very different mindsets and having the opportunity to work with them. I like how we are all united by creativity, though we speak and write in different languages. But what brings us together is our love for creating. 

OCA: Who are your favourite artists?

ES:: I get inspired by many things. My ideas come from movies, theatre, and visual art, as well as literature. I sometimes read a review on how a film director works, and that inspires me to use a literary technique of some sort. All of it is art, and writers are not the only ones you can learn from.  

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?

ES:: I often go to different writing events in Moscow, I love them with all my heart. At one of them, I had the chance to present my book, thanks to Marat Akhmedjanov. In November 2019 I took part in the Open Eurasian Literary Festival and Book Forum in Brussels and it was great. 

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how has it affected your creativity?

ES: Thanks to the Guild, I started speaking publicly more often and reading my stories to others. Though it always seemed impossibly challenging to hold the listeners’ attention for a whole five minutes or more, I have learned to do it. I like being listened to in complete silence. It gives me goosebumps every single time. 

The Guild has helped me unlock my potential and meet so many creative people from around the globe. It’s amazing how writers, playwrights, artists, and poets are brought together by it. I am grateful for this opportunity and this experience. 

OCA: Do you have any personal projects that you would like to talk about?

ES: My project is called WriteCreate and it is a network of creative authors. I help people learn to love writing books, defend their rights and promote their work. I also help those who write short stories and want to get better at it. I speak about popular genres, the basics of playwriting, give advice on how to participate in contests. Our first book of stories submitted by participants of the WriteCreate project is to come out this summer. It will be titled Where to Begin? Writers’ Stories. 

Another thing I do is organize creativity challenges for Instagram users. They usually last several days. One technique I came up with is called “The Happy Milkman” and the idea is to combine emotion and an object. For example, the words “happiness” and “brick” would start a story about building a big family house, while “sadness” and “doctor” would probably make a story about a terminally ill patient. People come up with new ideas and their stories get more interesting each time. Why don’t you try!

OCA: What projects have you participated in and in what do you plan to participate in?

ES: I would love to participate in another Open Eurasia contest and maybe give other creative competitions a try. Last year I made the finals of the Short Prose contest and this year I hope to win. It’s good to have a dream once in a while, right? I like finding new ideas and putting them into practice. The past couple of months have had me thinking of completing a course in screenwriting and maybe mastering this genre. 

OCA: What would you say to the members of the Guild who are just starting their career? 

ES: I would suggest being proactive. To publish more, participate in competitions, use social networks to promote yourself and your work. If you try, you are bound to succeed.

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your creative activity

Elena Lobova : My creative work started with drawings. I started drawing when I was 3 years old and I already did it consciously. I still remember my mother’s reaction when I showed her my first drawing which illustrated a field, a stack of hay, a butterfly and huge blue sky. A field is a life, a stack of hay is a bread, a butterfly is a family and blue sky is a universe which gives knowledge and creativity. This is how my life priorities were formed in early childhood.

OCA:What is your painting style? And what influenced your style?

EL: I’m a realist, so I use this style for my paintings. I love the truth and mystery, in every artwork a viewer should find something close and familiar to himself. 

What inspires me is dreams, beautiful paintings, music, my spiritual state, travel, cities, especially night views, and nature.

Thanks to my parents, I fell in love with painting in early childhood. My father often took me on his business trips when he worked in the police and taught me to appreciate Siberian nature. My mother really loves art and traveling, so she often brought me to famous museums where I could see the works of famous past and contemporary artists. This gave me a good stimulus to work in painting and photography and to get a degree in the field of arts. My biggest impression of my childhood was during the trip to Saint Petersburg with my mother when I was 9 years old, and this encouraged me to engage in arts. I traveled with my sketchbook and camera to wild places of Karelia, Sakhalim, North and South Ural, holy places of Russia and abroad – Valaam Island, Kizhi, Sergiev Posad, Ethnographic Park of the History of the Chusovoy River, France, Turkey, Chezh Republic, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Bulgaria… this all gave me an opportunity to embody my feelings and view on the world into photos and paints on canvas. 

Prose came into my life much later, when I was in school, but people often rejected what I wrote. I didn’t show my stories or scribbles to anyone and didn’t discuss it with anyone, but one occasion in London helped me open up this part of creative work. In 2016, I participated in a contest of the “Ethno Art Fest” held in “Rossotrudnichestvo” at the Russian Embassy in the UK and my paintings “Music of the Night City”, “Grandmother’s House”, “Snow Falls Quietly”, “Lights of the Night City” attracted attention from not only the judges, London residents, but also from media. One of the guests was the president of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London) – Marat (Mark) Akhmejanov, and he invited me to participate in the Open Eurasian Literature Festival and to join the Eurasian Creative Guild, which I’m really grateful for because he opened new opportunities for me to show my creative work.

OCA: What is your favourite piece of art and why?

EL: In literature, I love creations of Alexander Dumas, such as “The Count of Monte Cristo”, “Three Musketeers”, “Queen Margot”, “Countess de Monsoro”, “Black Tulip”, etc. I also like Joseph Eugene Sue Marie and his “Paris Secrets”, and Mikhail Bulgakov with his “The Master and Margarita”.  These pieces attract me with their mystics, adventure, complex relationships between nobility and selfishness, the fight between good and evil, and of course love, love affairs.

My favourite painting is “Starry night” by Van Gogh. The painting is very mysterious but at the same time easy to understand. It reflects such a distant yet close universe, the life of a spirit after death, eternity, transience of being and loneliness, loneliness in front of oneself…

And my most favourite painters are Shishkin, Levitan, Vasiliev, Vasnetsov, Aivazovsky, Korovin, Repin, Vrubel, Serov, Kramskoy, Van Gogh, Monet, Cesar, Gainsborough who represent a classical and impressionist school of painting. 

OCA: Have you ever taken part in the Eurasian Creative Guild events? For example, did you take part in our exhibitions in the CIS countries, in the Eurasian Culture Week in London or in the Open Eurasian Literature Festival in Belgium and other countries?

EL: I took part in the Оpen Eurasian Literature Festival in Bangkok, Thailand and got second place in a nomination for “Illustration” and became a finalist in a nomination for “Prose” for my novel “Karma. The story of my family”.

OCA: What does Eurasianism mean to you?

EL: It means brotherhood to me. “Eurasians” are like-minded people in terms of spirit, thoughts and creativity. It’s very hard for a creative person to find his society, his admirers and fans. But here I found people who inspire and support me. A special importance should still be given to our creative friendship in the guild – all the advice, tips, debates and insights really help to start with our creative projects and find new ideas. 

OCA; What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean for you and how did it influence your creative activity?

EL: I have a big list of various events and exhibitions that I participated in, such as “Art Shopping” in Louvre, France in 2014 and 2015, “Ethno Art Fest” held by the Russian Embassy in London in 2016 where I got first place in a nomination for “Presentation of the region”, and in 2017 I organised my personal exhibition in Moscow with the support of the Russian Academy of Arts. But the Eurasian Creative Guild gave me even more opportunities to show myself to the world, to communicate with creative people from different countries and to learn about their cultures, and most importantly, to get published in a prestigious magazine and to get support from prestigious publishing companies.

OCA:What projects do you plan to participate in the future?

EL: I keep working on my stories and in the future,  I want to publish a storybook with my illustrations. Next, I want to participate in international festivals and especially festivals organised by the Guild. I have some ideas to make personal exhibitions in Greece, Paris, London, Italy, Monaco and of course in my hometown Omsk in Russia. But for now my priority is to write stories and paintings. I will decide on my personal exhibitions later on. 

OCA; What would you wish for people that have just started their journey in arts?

EL: To those who have just started their journey, I want to wish the most important thing – don’t be afraid of anything! Don’t be afraid to show yourself, your thoughts, work and projects. Search for your style and path, be decisive and active, be free and independent.

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your creative activity

Laura Hamilton: As director of the prestigious Collins Gallery at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, from 1988 until its closure in 2013, I originated exhibitions and events related to contemporary Fine and Applied Art by artists from throughout the world. Now freelance and employing skills gained in the writing and publication of numerous catalogues and monographs, my focus has turned to editing English translations of Central Asian literature, in tandem with memoirs by UK authors.

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

LH: I would define ‘Eurasianism’ as a term which unifies a vast and divergent collective of peoples, their heritage and culture, both past and present. As a westerner, from whom that world has long been hidden, it is a new and exciting concept imbued with intrigue and romance.

OCA: Who are your favorite artists?

LH: I found the deeply- rooted and significant role of cultural heritage in Central Asian life, hauntingly and beautifully encapsulated in ‘Farewell Gul’sary’ by Chinghiz Aitmatov and ‘Howl’ by Kazat Akmatov; and have enormous admiration for acclaimed Uzbek author Hamid Ismailov, to whose books I return again and again.  However, straddling the two spheres of visual and literary creativity, it is impossible for me to name the many, many other artists and writers whose work has left an indelible mark. There are also, too many authors to mention, whose work I have edited and who deserve global recognition. 

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?

LH: Following Marat Akhmedzhanov’s generous review of my exhibition ‘From Quilts to Couture in Kyrgyzstan’ in 2011, for the OCA magazine, I began editing for Hertfordshire Press, and in due course, joined the Eurasian Creative Guild. I have attended Open Eurasian Literacy Festivals in London, Almaty and Stockholm, as well as events in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bishkek.  I participate in judging the annual Open Asia Competition and after serving as Chair of ECG from 2017-19, now sit on the Guardian Council. 

The Guild is a unique and ever-evolving organization that provides a warm welcome, support and stimulating opportunities to creative people working in all genres and at different stages of their careers. It is a uniting force, an extended family of sorts, which nurtures the development of close collaboration and firm friendships.

OCA: Do you have any personal project that you would like to talk about?

LH: To date, I have edited some fifty works in translation, the most recent of which is ‘Er Toshtuk’; one of an ongoing series of classical Kyrgyz epics. Much as I enjoy these historically rich and wonderful legends, I look forward to revisiting contemporary literature. It appears that Guild members have many new exciting projects in store, which will hopefully, be translated into English!

OCA: What would you advise for people who’re just starting their journey of creativity?

LH: Based on experience, my advice to anyone embarking on a creative career, is twofold:

Don’t be in a hurry to succeed; take time out to think, and invest time to revise and if necessary, rework what you’ve done until you’re truly satisfied.

Astonishingly, there are artists who don’t visit galleries, writers who don’t read, and translators who don’t access texts written by native speakers! There’s an unlimited wealth of information waiting to be discovered, guide and inspire you; so, use it to your advantage…  

I wish you all the best of luck!

OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your creative work.

Mikhail Ananov: I’m a poet, a poetry translator, prose writer, playwright, literary critic, journalist, publicist, theorist, sonetologist and I am also engaged in mathematical modeling in the field of poetic art.

I’m a member of several creative unions, including international ones: Union of Writers of Georgia, Pushkin Society of Russian-Language Writers “Arion”, the Vernatun Union of Armenian Writers of Georgia, international club of science fiction of Crimea “Fandango”. I’m also a member of the Advisory Board of the Eurasian Creative Guild. I’m one of the founders and a manager of a literary theatre “Arion”.

I’m a author of poetry collections “Above the Abyss of the Worlds”, “The Ghosts of Eldorado”, “Selenastra” and two scientific works in the field of literature theory: “The Cryptography of the Poetic Form” and “The Atomic Model of the Sound Order”. I am also a translator of collections of Armenian poets Mikael Akhtyan, Stanislav Melkonyan, Anaida Bostanjan and Okro Okroyan.

My poems were translated into Armenian and English. 

I am Diploma-recipient of the V International Forum “Golden Knight”, in 2014, a winner of the VIII International Festival in Brussels held by the Eurasian Creative Guild in Brussels in 2019.

I won the Order of St. Elijah Chavchavadze in 2017, the Grand Prix of the Lermontov competition in honor of his 200th anniversary in 2013, the poetry competition of science fiction writers in Feodosia in 2016. Moreover, I’m a Laureate of various literary contests dedicated to anniversary and memorable dates.  

OCA: What does “Eurasianism” mean to you?

MA: In my own understanding, it is a convergence of the two cultures of Europe and Asia which blurs the border between us, as representatives of two different peoples in our views and in spirit. In the past this border was obvious, but things are changing over time and our relationships are becoming much better and making it worth presenting ourselves in the new world. And I should say that the Guild plays an important role in it.

OCA: Name your favourite artists

MA: Among classic writers it is of course Alexander Pushkin who I treat as my ‘teacher’. He’s a great personality and I’m striving to reach him like striving to reach the sun. Another my ‘teacher’ – Edgar Poe, a master of the psychology genre. I recommend all artists to read his book called ‘Philosophy of Art’ in which he step by step and in detail describes the process of creating a masterpiece. 

Indeed, I also admire artists from other spheres: painting, music, theatre, film. My favourite artists are also Rubens, Mozart, Shakespeare, Coppola

OCA: Have you ever taken part in the events organised by the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?

MA: Yes. I took a part-time participation in the VIII International Festival of Eurasian Creative Guild held in Brussels where I presented my speech to the participants. I also participated in a contest of small prose and even became a diploma winner in the nomination “Generals of the world for peace” for the story “A very interesting guy”, dedicated to Vladimir Vysotsky.

Currently I’m preparing for new contests of the Eurasian Creative Guild. So far, I want to participate in several contests: poetry, poetic translations, small prose and children’s literature.

I write tales and plays for children of different ages. In the 30th anniversary issue of our “On the Hills of Georgia” almanac my play was published in “The New Little Humpbacked Horse” poems. There is a story behind it: the director of the theatre named after Griboedov – Nikolai Sventitski, whose dream was to bring together all the characters of Russian tales, asked me in person to write it. It’s unique because I didn’t just bring the characters together, but also showed the harmony between them.

 OCA: What does Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you?

MA: It means a lot to me. Over the past few years, not only the number of members in the Guild has risen, but also the number of countries that represent it, the number of projects, events and so on. In addition, it allows an absentee participation in festivals which is some kind of bridge between us that strengthens our relationship and facilitates creative approaches to solve problems. We live in worrying times and I have no doubts that our meetings help to bring more kindness and warmth to our world. Creativity – is a power given by heaven. 

OCA: Is there any personal project that you would like to tell us about?

MA: I have quite a big project: I want to found a rock band which would not only perform its own songs but also translations of famous English songs. First steps are already made. Besides, I’m translating rock poetry including songs of Deep Purple and Animals. I told Marat Akhmejanov about my plans and he promised to introduce me to the producers of Deep Purple. I also talked about this with John Farndon who got really interested in it.

OCA: Which projects did you participate in and plan to participate in?

MA: I participated in many projects, including creative ones: Victory Day events, foundation of ‘Arion’, evening meetings dedicated to artists and scientists. 

There is another big and special project related to a worldwide famous director Sergei Parajanov from Tbilisi. The thing is that I wrote the “Confession of the Hermit” play, in collaboration with the famous cameraman and director Jose Magigner, who makes a series of documentaries called “Conversations about Parajanov. Maestro of beauty “. As representatives of Tbilisi and his admirers, we aim to open a cultural centre named after Parajanov. 

OCA: What would you wish to the members of the Guild who have just started their journey?

MA: First of all, listen to your inner voice. This is a talent which you need to develop, whether you are a poet, painter, composer or actor. It’s important to keep learning while preserving your personality in order to confidently enter the world which you shape yourself in order for you and others to feel comfortable in.

OCA: Tell us about creative societies in Tbilisi. 

MA: The first society represents Russian-speaking writers led by Nika Dzhindzharadze who gathers creative people in the House of the Caucasus and organizes musical poetic evening events. The guests are people from many countries.

I want to talk about ‘Arion’ briefly. Apart from theatrical productions, there are also various literary contests, quizzes, events and celebrations. At one of such events, I met Marat Akhmejanov and this motivated me to join the Guild.

The second society is Tbilisi Armenians which has quite a wide audience. Their cultural centres are Hayartun and the House of Hovhannes Tumanyan where they organise all kinds of events.

The third society is Georgian writers and cultural workers. They have many cultural centres, including the Writers Union, and I often join their events as a poet and a translator of Georgian poetry. My daughter Anna joins me in the events, performances, theatrical productions, melodeclamations, musical, poetic and creative evenings.

OCA Magazine: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

Gumer Karimov: This is everything for me: the philosophy of life, its meaning, my whole worldview. I am from Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan. My nationality is Tatar.

Fifty years ago, at twenty-two years I left my homeland to continue my education at the Faculty of Philosophy at Leningrad University. I thought at the end of my studies I would return to my back home, but somehow I stayed for half a century in St. Petersburg, the country’s most European city, the “Cultural Capital”. 

All my development as a person took place under the direct influence of two great world cultures of the East and West. Our planet Earth is one for all and for God we all are only temporary guests here.

OCA: Tell us about yourself and your creative activity

GK: I am 72 years old, after graduating from graduate school I went to live in the Leningrad region and work in the house of culture. At first, I worked at a poultry farm then at a fur farm, and then at a state farm. And everywhere it was interesting, I got an amazing experience, which later came in very handy for me in writing. During the perestroika, I was into the farming business. Then at the fur farm I worked as the director of the House of Culture, I was elected director of the farm. I also was engaged in politics, I started to write at the end of the last century. My 6 books of poetry were published, and I wrote several prose books in various genres – from novel to science fiction.

In 2000, I organized a non-profit partnership “Union of Writers of the Leningrad Region and St. Petersburg.” In 2006, I headed the literary association in St. Petersburg founded by Tatyana Gnedich. In our association, we publish the magazine “Tsarskoye Selo” and the literary supplement “Northern Herald”. I must say that my wife Antonina Karimova, a poetess, writer and essayist, helps me a lot

OCA: What are your favorite artists

GK: Ernest Hemingway, Ilya Shemler, Valery Popova, Vyacheslav Leikin.

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)? What projects have you participated in and what are you planning to take part in?

GK: I’m new in the Guild. My wife and I took part in the Brussels Festival and then at the end of the year we became members of the community. By the way, thanks to the guild, we made many friends. Even living in the Soviet Union, I never had so many friends among Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tajiks, Uzbeks and representatives of other nations …

At the request of the vice president of the Guild, Marat Akhmetzhanov, we are creating the St. Petersburg group ECG. We are trying to attract as many new members as possible. 

Speaking about participation I will try to take part in all creative categories, I hope that our experience and creative opportunities will help the guild especially working in the Expert Council. We have a lot of ideas, for example, a wonderful thing – internships that the guild conducts. The creation of a youth section is a great idea. I communicate with some of the young members of the guild, read their works.

OCA: What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how has it influenced your creativity?

GK: When I was introduced to the Guild, I had a feeling that I have known everyone here for many years! Later, when Marat Akhmedzhanov and Angelina Krasnogir visited us in St. Petersburg I realized: this is my place to be! Every day I talk with my friends from the Guild, text and call them. Since I joined the guild the lifestyle has changed, new horizons opened up in front of me. Even the rhythm of life has changed. Who would have thought in my 72 years! I am very happy! But happiness is hard work and great responsibility.

OCA: What would you advise the members of the Guild who just started their career?

GK: I am convinced that if a person ceases to be surprised, then someone loses interest in him/her. I worked in culture for many years, therefore, I have been dealing with youth all my life. Who knows, maybe that’s why I don’t feel my age.

I only rejoice for young writers and really want them to have a happy literary fate! I wish them good books, new ideas, fresh thoughts. And, of course, good luck. Nothing will work without her. Good luck, dear friends!

Tell us about yourself and your activity / work

I am a writer and blogger from Saint-Petersburg and my credo is to create beauty and awaken mindfulness. 

By profession, I am a journalist and public relations specialist. Working in the field of communication, I contribute to the advancement of science, education and professional communities, and manage federal and international projects. 

My working life is therefore a combination of the seemingly disparate skills of management and creative writing. I have been in love with the printed word for a long time and during this twenty-year romance, have published hundreds of interviews, news stories, articles, public posts and of course, short stories, essays and novels.

Do you have any personal project that you would like to talk about?

My literary journey began unusually, with a personality crisis. Success in my career flamed professional ambitions, but conquering peak after peak brought only temporary satisfaction and each time I wanted more. This continued until at the age of thirty-seven, I experienced a complete emotional burnout. In order to understand the underlying reasons, I had to look within myself; a difficult and painful process.

As a rule, much of what is contained within us, is never revealed to the outside world. It’s not talked about because it’s painful, because it’s scary, because it contradicts the ‘good’ persona we wish, and are trained, to promote. Writing down my thoughts and feelings helped me survive. Autobiographical stories appeared and then, chapters and books were born, which later became the decalogue “Gravity of Life”. This is currently the main literary project which I am developing in Russia and abroad.

The first book of the decalogy, is an autobiographical novel entitled ‘The Faceting’. Published in 2019, twelve years after it was written, it was a finalist in the Eurasian Creative Guild’s Open Eurasia Contest, and in 2020, voted the Best Book of the Year in an international literary contest in Germany.

The second book, ‘The Metamorphosis’ which continues my story from childhood into youth, will be released in 2020. If childhood is the starting point of self-knowledge, then youth, is the very first frontier of rethinking values, personal growth and a deep internal metamorphosis, all of which are decisive factors in how we approach the future.

Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild (London)?

Participation in the Open Eurasia Literary competition in 2019 was the starting point in the international promotion of both me as an author and my novel. From my own experience I can vouch that the path was difficult, but effective. Having submitted ‘The Faceting’ to the competition, I did not sit back and wait for the results. Instead, I took an active stance in promoting my work through social networks and by introducing readers to new passages on a daily basis, initiated discussion and ultimately, votes.  By the time the results of the competition were announced, I had expanded my circle of readers several times over and having formed a pool of subscribers interested in my work, launched my own Yandex Zen channel.

What does the Eurasian Creative Guild mean to you, and how did it affect your creativity ?

My acquaintance with the Eurasian Creative Guild has been an incredibly interesting and useful experience. It’s like climbing a staircase to new horizons; it broadens your perception and suddenly, the world’s borders disappear. Every time you communicate with someone new, you learn something, and if that person is also creative, a whole new universe opens up in front of you. The Guild is a global community, embracing different cultures, different creative practices, different literary genres, and by welcoming participants of different ages, the younger generation’s new, bright and courageous energy is complemented by the elder’s wisdom, moderation and depth of experience.

Another important aspect of the Guild is that within the framework of classical projects, new forms arise which by encouraging collaboration between creative talents, give birth to exciting and innovative combinations of poetry, prose, music and art.

I am also greatly impressed by the Guild’s endeavours to share the work of Asian authors with a European readership, thereby contributing to both the convergence of cultures and the preservation of national traditions amongst former compatriots. As a creative writer and because it is important to me that my work is beneficial, it is an honour to be involved in the preservation of Russian culture. 

Membership of the Guild has afforded me a better understanding of other cultures and   acquaintance with contemporary Eurasian authors. One particularly interesting and useful service that I would like to continue and develop, is themed online meetings, both as a platform for communication and as an educational resource. The modern world expects new approaches to creativity, with cross-knowledge of skills from related fields, increasingly in demand. Creating a presentation of poetry set to music or filming an excerpt from a novel complimented by music and visuals, requires the input of specialists from different fields. In this regard, the Guild is able to unite the invaluable creative resources of hundreds of professionals through the formation of sub-groups, masterclasses, presentations by individuals, brand- building, and guidance on the fundamentals of marketing and promoting creative projects.

What would you wish the members of the Guild, just starting their career?

I would advise my young creative colleagues from the Guild to stick to their goals, regardless of internal doubts, envious disapproval and sharp criticism. The creative path is not easy; no one is obliged to applaud or patronize you. Ups and downs are inevitable, but even if you fall, even if criticism pierces you like a hundred poisonous arrows, take a deep breath, get up and move on!

You may believe yourself a genius and the creator of a great masterpiece, but in today’s world that is no longer enough. You must reach out to your audience and make your voice heard above the surrounding noise. The Eurasian Creative Guild provides great opportunities, but how you use them depends on you.