A Kyrgyz cemetery seen from a distance is astonishing. The ornate domes and minarets, tightly clustered behind stone walls, seem at odds with this desolate mountain region. Islam, the prominent religion in the region since the twelfth century, discourages tombstones or decorative markers. However, elaborate Kyrgyz tombs combine earlier nomadic customs with Muslim architectural forms. After the territory was formally incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1876, enamel portraits for the deceased were attached to the Muslim monuments. Yet everything within the walls is overgrown with weeds, for it is not Kyrgyz tradition for the living to frequent the graves of the dead.

Architecturally unique, Kyrgyzstan's dramatically sited cemeteries reveal the complex nature of the Kyrgyz people's religious and cultural identities. Often said to have left behind few permanent monuments or books, the Kyrgyz people in fact left behind a magnificent legacy when they buried their dead.

Traveling in Kyrgyzstan, photographer Margaret Morton became captivated by the otherworldly grandeur of these cemeteries. Cities of the Dead: The Ancestral Cemeteries of Kyrgyzstan collects the photographs she made on several visits to the area and is an important contribution to the architectural and cultural record of this region.

Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haaOw6cx1yk

A spectacular book. Morton has a keen eye for the murky region where visibility of form and invisibility of meaning overlap, and this book contains some of her absolutely best work. -- Alan Trachtenberg, Yale University There is a definite fascination in this collection of photographs ... a physical and cultural landscape full of desolation, mystery, and charisma. The presence of the dead ... renders its bleakness all the more sublime, [as] these 'cities' testify [that] their residents-the dead who are buried there as well as the people who built them-have made the surrounding nature their place of belonging. -- Robert Pogue Harrison, author of The Dominion of the Dead

About the Author

Margaret Morton is professor of art at The Cooper Union. She is the author of four previous photography books exploring alternative built environments: Fragile Dwelling; The Tunnel: The Underground Homeless of New York City; Transitory Gardens, Uprooted Lives (with Diana Balmori); and Glass House.

Reviews

Gorgeous.

* The Lineup *

Travel to Kyrgyzstan from the comfort of your couch with this stunning series of photographs.

-- Necee Regis * The Boston Globe *

Captures the intriguing panoramas of sprawling, lifeless cities whose inhabitants rest in underground chambers while the edifices above send reminders of their presence into the far distance....Margaret Morton's hallucinatory, fine-toned images may soon be the final remains of Kyrgyzstan's silent cities.

-- Claudia Steinberg * Bomb Magazine *



Book Information
ISBN 9780295993980
Author Margaret W. Morton
Format Hardback
Page Count 128
Imprint University of Washington Press
Publisher University of Washington Press
Weight(grams) 930g