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Kashgar City: A Museum of Marginalisation and Theatrical Heterotopia

Part 1 Dissertation 2024
Morgan Cockroft
Newcastle University | UK
Uyghur Muslims' heritage and identity are being systematically erased - a perilous form of settler colonialism, perpetuated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), accelerated to cultural genocide.

This dissertation intersectionally analyses the architectonic decimation and piecemeal reconstruction of the Uyghur homeland, a place intrinsic to identity. Leveraging Foucault’s concept of heterotopias with Lefebvre’s spatial dialectics formulates an authentic interdisciplinary spatial framework, to unmask the political encroachment into every microcosm of Uyghur’s daily rhythms.

Detailing the socio-political landscape of Kashgar, its reciprocity with Uyghurs and the CCP’s intentions, is imperative, to unveil intent of modernisation and secularisation. The Spatiocide of the cityscape intersected with the Sinicization of Islam, has metamorphosed Kashgar into a touristic panopticon; a state-controlled spectacle of trivialised culture.

Distorted into micro-places of control and contention, Kashgar is an amalgam of two entwined paradoxical spaces: a Theatrical Heterotopia of Uyghur body politic and a Museum of Marginalisation of cultural identity.

By platforming marginalised voices, the chasm between the reformulated urban landscape and Uyghur sense of place is unearthed. Transcending the physicality, this spatial methodology illustrates power of placemaking to bolster cultural erasure. Contributing to ongoing discourse surrounding blatant human rights abuses is critical, especially when international media has remained notably silent.

Morgan Cockroft

Tutor(s)
Sana Al-Naimi
2024
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