#almaty

[the-crow-in-the-blooming-tree]

Horses in the mountains (Shymbulak, Kazakhstan)

[wordswithoutaworld]

Gorillaz will perform at a festival organized by an agency that arranges concerts for pro-Russian artists and cooperates with a company close to the Russian authorities

Outrage has been caused by the band’s participation in the Park Live 2026 festival, which will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Gorillaz are scheduled to perform on August 22. On social media, users point out that the festival is organized by an agency connected to concerts for open supporters of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Many consider Park Live to be essentially a Russian event that was moved to Kazakhstan. Its main sponsor is the Russian company Yandex, which has been accused of spreading propaganda and manipulating news to legitimize the war in Ukraine.

However, Gorillaz have already shown their position and their willingness to attract Russian listeners, sending them a signal of encouragement in a new song.

One of Gorillaz’s new songs contains a phrase in Russian. On the album The Mountain, released on February 27, the track Delirium features the voice of the late poet and musician Mark Edward Smith. At 2 minutes and 38 seconds into the track, an unknown voice says in Russian: “Hello, my name is Vlad, and I’m the Tooth Fairy.” The album also features five other languages: English, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, and Yoruba.

The band has not commented on the appearance of this character, although one of the track’s authors is someone named Vlad.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Gorillaz said they supported ordinary people in Ukraine and those in Russia who are against the war, and that they hoped to perform for them again as soon as possible.

Apparently, they meant performing sooner for the second group of people — entertaining Russians who live comfortably abroad while also helping fund Russians who are interested in murdering Ukrainians.

An interesting business plan.

[moodboardmix]

Cob House, Almaty, Alatau region, Kazakhstan,

Dilyara Mazhitova & Vladimir Radostovets Design,

Photography by Sergey Krasyuk

[ilcontephotography]

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, by V. Bondarenko, V. Yegorov and Y. Zimin (built in the 1970s). In the last photo the Palace of Students, built by the same architects in 1989.

Almaty, Kazakhstan.

© Roberto Conte (2017) Follow me on Instagram

[songs-of-the-east]

Kurdish Folk Group from Almaty in Kazakhstan, Wearing a mixture of Kurdish and Central Asian Folk Attire

The Kurds of Azerbaijan are a small ethnic minority, many of whom have lived in the South Caucasus for centuries, particularly in areas near Lachin and Kelbajar. Historically Sunni Muslims and speakers of Kurmanji Kurdish, they often lived alongside Azeris and Armenians. In the 1930s and again in the late 1940s, during Stalin’s population transfers, thousands of Kurds from Azerbaijan and Armenia were deported to Central Asia (mainly to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), under suspicion of anti-revolutionary organization. Many of their descendants still live in Kazakhstan today, maintaining elements of Kurdish identity while also assimilating into local cultures, and speaking Russian as their native language.

[mirrorinthedistance]

This is Lake Kaindy, near Almaty, Kazakhstan. An earthquake caused the lake to form and flood the trees. It's quite high up in the mountains, so it was colder than Almaty.

Info about travelling in Kazakhstan

[late-evening-sleeper]

A glimpse of the atmosphere at First President Park. Personally, I think this place would be much nicer to visit in spring, as it feels a bit too open and bare right now 😅.

After a short walk around, we headed to Dostyk Plaza to grab something to eat before going back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, and then made our way to the meeting point for the tour we had booked.

My lovely mom with her favorite jelly.

[gorskivijenac]

Victory day at Panfilov park in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2007. By Ivan Safyan Abrams