The Zhelezka Project: On the Tracks through Central Asia aimed to generate a unique space for networking and developing conceptual and methodological approaches for creating new knowledge about lesser-explored and multicultural places. During two weeks (19 August - 2 September 2023) on mostly Soviet-era trains on the rails, commonly known as “zhelezka”, a group of researchers, practitioners and artists from eight countries focused on exploring life on and off the railroad by unraveling specific travel and mobility practices, documenting urban and rural landscapes, collecting stories of strangers, local communities and railroad workers in three countries of post-Soviet Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan. This project was supported by the Volkswagen Foundation and administered by the Social Innovations Lab Kyrgyzstan, the American University of Central Asia, and the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography.
Zhelezka: encounters, solitude, and community in shared mobility (2023) was filmed over two weeks in summer 2023 on Soviet-era trains and metro covering around 5000km in three countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, where the Silk Road once passed. It explores the collective ethos that extends beyond transportation and the transformative potential of shared mobility in cultivating a sense of community within urban environments - from the chats along the train corridors to compartment sharing - encouraging spontaneous social interactions as users of shared rides and experience, leading to more lively, resilient and socially vibrant urban environments.