Love and respect to Otabek Suleimanov and the Stihia team for putting on another magical event this year. The site at Moynaq in Uzbekistan’s autonomous region of Karakalpakstan is amazing, perched on the edge of what was once the vast Aral Sea. It was a privilege to help close the festival with the final slot on Saturday night and throughout it all I had to pinch myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming 🙂
Aside from all the excellent performances I also got to meet some great people and reconnect with old friends,. A special shout out to Andrey Morozov, Valeria Rysina, Arthur Kuzmin and Eugenue Galochkin, and thanks also to Diyora, Malika, Jeny and Ulugbek who worked so hard to make the stay smooth and easy.
Katta rahmat!
Here’s a chronological photo/video dump from the week in Uzbekistan, a place that gets better with every visit!
1 • Inflatable Alice & Wonderland rabbit, Tashkent
2 •
@sorokinguitar performs the work of Taku Sugimoto at
@139documentarycenter in Tashkent, 28 May 2025
3 • Flight to Nukus
4 • Richard Zommer’s “Shah-i-Zinda’ (oil on canvas, late 19th/early 20th century) at the Nukus Museum of Art - or more correctly, the “State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan named after I.V. Savitsky” (which is amazing)
5 • Viktor Ufimtsev’s ‘House’ (gouache on paper, 1923) at the Nukus Museum of Art
6 •
@arthurkuzmin and the festival initiation
7 • Roving around the
@stihiafestival bar area
8 • Night view from the main site down to the Aq Keme stage on one of the rusted old boats
9 • Fish skeleton installation
10 • Dramatic performance by
@lovozero
11 •
@gl4kn and
@arthurkuzmin closing Friday night with a b2b set
12 • The Wire Soundsystem DJ set (🙏
@ulugbekmtv )
13 • Blasting Gangsta’s Paradise in the Nukus airport departure lounge
14 • Aerial view of Nukus
15 • Shadows leaving plane
16 • Breakfast with
@shohin_qurbon
17 • Bread seller at Chorsu Bazaar, Tashkent
18 • Seller at Chorsu Bazaar
19 • Stall at Chorsu Bazaar
20 • Evening over Tashkent from
@pensonstudio 
