Around 200,000 Uighurs live — safely — in southeastern Kazakhstan, near the Xinjiang region of China, where their colleagues are facing violent repression at the hands of Beijing. They proudly perpetuate their culture and language there. Foray to Malika’s wedding, celebrated with great pomp according to traditional Uighur rites in the village of Besagash, on the outskirts of Almaty.
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat-International Journalism Fund.The duty.
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A Uighur wedding celebrated in the village of Besagash, a suburb of Almaty, Kazakhstan. The women are gathered in one room while the men are gathered in another. Here, the bride, Malika, surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting, waits to take part in a rite consisting of separating a loaf of bread and sharing a bowl of water, sugar and salt. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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Left: Yasmina Arziyeva studies in Cyprus, but was back in the Almaty region for the wedding of Malika, her childhood friend. “I am very proud of our beautiful Uighur traditions and traditional foods. I love “laghman”. » Right: Sitora Salikhova wore a traditional Tajik dress for her sister’s wedding. His mother is Uighur, while his father is Tajik. “I sometimes speak Uighur with my maternal grandmother. » Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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A dancer from a traditional Uighur troupe walks down to the ballroom. “Here, in Kazakhstan, we can live our culture freely, because we are not subject to repression like in China,” says Islam, a Uighur dancer and musician. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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The young bride observed by two little girls Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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The bride and groom make their entrance under an arch formed of “karnay”, these immense traditional trumpets from Central Asia, accompanied by “surnay” flutes. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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In the ballroom, which looks like a Greco-Roman temple, a troupe of traditional Uighur dancers and musicians liven up the evening, under strobe lights and multimedia projections. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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“Manti”, steamed Uighur ravioli, at the Ipar restaurant Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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A restaurateur cooks kebab skewers in the Uighur village of Baïsseit. ” Here [au Kazakhstan]we do not experience racism,” underlines Rizvangoul, a seller from the village. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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In the Uighur village of Baïsseit, Kazakhstan, a cook prepares “laghman”, the most popular dish of Uighur cuisine, consisting of hand-stretched noodles, vegetables and meat. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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On the left: piles of “tandyr nan”, a flatbread typical of Uighur cuisine. Right: a few dozen kilometers from the Chinese border, the Kazakh town of Jarkent is home to a mosque designed by a Chinese architect at the end of the 19th century. Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir
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