Almaty's Changing Musical Rule Book

Traveling across central Asia, Nicholas Pritchard discovers musical acts of dissent in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

- By Nicholas Pritchard

Our problems have now risen to such a height as to render any solutions seem-ingly superfluous. Climate disasters, widening economic inequality, and the strong hands of the authoritarian close in on all sides. Confusion is the only state we can be certain of. One could be forgiven for thinking that we are all heading straight down into darkness. And yet acts of dissent are visible from all corners of the globe—one of which is to be seen in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s second city, where a small number of musicians are bringing their art and activism to a country that has been hearing monotones for many years.

We met them by accident. In the center of Almaty is an old warehouse building, now called Transforma, which has been reappropriated by artists and craftspeople. It’s typical of anything you’d likely find in Shoreditch or Brooklyn; high ceilings, bare rooms with a few plastic chairs at the center, empty beer cans with cigarette butts spewing out the top. It was a Saturday when we arrived, and there weren’t many people. We saw only a figure slouched in a darkened corner and, opposite, a tall, slim couple fitting T-shirts to mannequins under bright lights. Ruslan would tell us later that rents were rising and everyone was getting ready to move out.