ML: What drew you to visit Cyprus?

GC: It was for family reasons : my "family in law" lives in Ekaterinburg (Russia), and we do live in Strasbourg (France).
The Russian side wanted an affordable country with a seashore to swim, geographically located between the two of us.
I agreed for Cyprus, because I did not even know that this country exists, and specifically its northern side, with no French people...

ML: Cyprus has a history of invasions dating back to the antiquity, from various civilizations such as the ancient Assyrians, Egyptians & Persians as well as from Byzance, the Arab caliphates the Ottoman Empire & The UK.  It finally got its independence in 1960 only to be torn apart a few years later between Greece and Turkey.
What is the civilization you think left the biggest impact culturally? Is the Turkish culture predominant?


GC: I just saw the northern part, which, of course, looks...

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ML: You are an English citizen with a Tibetan heritage, when growing up in England how often did you have the opportunity to visit your father’s homeland?

RA: I first went back when I was seven. At that time the journey took almost a month. A 10 hour flight to Beijing, a two day train journey, 4 days by jeep, 1 day on the back of a truck and then 10 hours on horseback and at an ascent of 15,000ft. Because of school I wasn’t able to make the journey again until I was 18 but I’ve been back every year that I could since. Now, you can fly straight into Jyeckundo, the closest town.

ML: Do you still have family there?

RA: Yes! My father was of one of 11 children, sadly my Aunts have passed away but I still have lots of cousins there.

ML: Could you let us know why your father emigrated in England? What is his background? Rural or urban?

RA: My father was born in 1933, in Kham which is in the East of Tibe...

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Hassan Kurbanbaev was born and raised in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He graduated from Tashkent University of Arts where he studied Cinematography. Today his main focus workwise is the study of his country through visual material.

ML: What image of your country you wish to convey via your photos?

HK: I think most of people who are not familiar with my country there is no exact picture of Uzbekistan. There is no reference to rely on. I want to catch the image of a modern country through people, their portraits, and cultural rich layers.

ML: Uzbekistan is located in central Asia, what you would say is the most Asian aspect of Uzbekistan?

HK: This question is one of many that I often ask myself. Do I feel that Uzbekistan is part of Asia? Most often it is associated with the Muslim East for obvious reasons - most of the country professes Islam. What exactly unites us with Asia is something collective, loyalty to ...

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