A thousand saxauls
Anel Rakhimzhanova
A reflection on the Genus Haloxylon, also known as saxaul/saksaul/sekseuyl in Turkic languages, Ghada in Arabic cont, a habitat of Central and Southwest Asia spreading in the deserts from Egypt to Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Gansu in China. This project weaves together the rhizomatic roots of its indigenous myths and uses, its burning for industrial modernities, its state-supported revitalization for desertification, and its traditional knowledge holder. Three piece virtual installation traverses amidst thousands of planted, burnt, and mythicized saxauls traverses between the sense of resilience and fragility, extractivism and environmentalism, and the play of state and NGO actors in the search for indigeneity.
A reflection on the Genus Haloxylon, also known as saxaul/saksaul/sekseuyl in Turkic languages, Ghada in Arabic cont, a habitat of Central and Southwest Asia spreading in the deserts from Egypt to Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Gansu in China. This project weaves together the rhizomatic roots of its indigenous myths and uses, its burning for industrial modernities, its state-supported revitalization for desertification, and its traditional knowledge holder. Three piece virtual installation traverses amidst thousands of planted, burnt, and mythicized saxauls traverses between the sense of resilience and fragility, extractivism and environmentalism, and the play of state and NGO actors in the search for indigeneity.
