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A strange capital for a strange country. Dušanbe.
This entry was posted in Asia, Central Asia, Tajikistan and tagged Architecture, Bazaar, Capital, Dushanbe, Dušanbe, Islam, Putin, Rahmon, Raspberry, Salafism, Street photography, Tajikistan. Bookmark the permalink.
Fantastic pictures of this unusual place. I love the Bazaar pictures!
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Thanks a lot for your comment! The Dušanbe bazaar was indeed a beauty, with the possible exception of the meat counters, but still.
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I noticed the effects of fabricated heritage in Moldova. How terrible to have political borders, but no national identity! I
‘Ve wondered how I can score a job as a heritage fabricator. I bet it pays well. Great photos as usual, Fabrizio. I’m glad you were able to take some, given the paranoia.
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Oops…”I’ve”
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Hi Julie! It’s indeed quite interesting to see how these countries are trying to build something in terms of national identity. Some (I’d say Kazakhstan, and I suspect Uzbekistan even though I haven’t been there yet) have been more successful than others, and Tajikistan – I think – is really the bottom of the scale. Using Somoni – who mostly lived in Bukhara, which sits in another country! – as your father, name of your currency and highest peak’s name smacks of desperation… As for the photos, they were from the first of four day. After the encounters on that day (and after running out of printouts of the whereabouts of the Italian embassy) I decided to leave the camera home…
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How bizarre. It sounds more oppressive than an overtly oppressive place. And sad. I’ve never really thought about the need to fabricate a national identity although I did just read a rather humorous (and semi-serious) piece about Slovenia and Slovakia trying to distinguish themselves in the eyes of the world since apparently many people mix them up!
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Indeed the perception of oppression was, I suppose, more threatening than the overt display of oppression. I suppose it’s all by design, they’ve got quite a lot of know-how there after all.
Designing a national identity is an interesting concept for me, and being from Italy – which didn’t really have one – I also have quite a tangible, albeit half-arsed, example. I’m sure Bucharest and Budapest are sharing the same Slo-venia/vakia pain!
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Great reading. I always enjoy your “frontier tales”. Chapeau.
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Thanks, glad you liked it!!
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How funny that I gave Dushanbe a mention in my post, and there you are, living it! I was trying to remember one of the more obscure locations old clients would travel to, and the Tajikistan Consulate in DC is a great example of what I wrote about. Anyway – fascinating that you find yourself there! What an interesting post, love the description of the market. As well, I appreciate the concept of “fabricated heritage,” though at the end of the day, most national-historical narratives are deeply embellished or, shall we say, heavily edited, hehe. But certainly the aggression among police and the anecdotes from youth belie something a bit creepier! Nevertheless, seems like a wonderful travel destination. And even if you can’t take photos, I hope that’ll only encourage your expression through writing! Great post!
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Hi Erin, Dušanbe is indeed a bit out of the way, as far as places go. Speaking about the US consulate (which I didn’t know existed when I was in town), I read it was evacuated with assistance from the Russians when civil war broke out in the early 1990s, probably the only case of US-Russia joint work until that particularly dreadful film, Pacific Rim, of a couple of years ago.
I’ve really liked Tajikistan, both on its mountainous side (which I’ve covered quite extensively I suppose) and its more Tuscan-side, which instead I mentioned only fleetingly. It’s an interesting country and hosts an interesting population, which makes Dušanbe’s police and idiotic rules increasingly out of place if I’ve to be honest. Thanks for reading! 🙂
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