Shared by: Saxon Bosworth / Date: 2022-01-11 15:05:12 / Stories / Pillars: Connection History Home Imaginings
Contents
- Introduction
- 4th place: Shomurodova Zilola Kallibek
- 3rd place: Yuldashev Islambek Ikram
- 2nd place: Torejanov Islamjan Berdijan
- 1st place: Atanazarov Masharifboy Qadam
Introduction
On November 30th we announced the Seeing Beyond Catastrophe logo contest!
We asked across social media for submissions of artwork that represent or imagine the future of the Aral Sea region. We called specifically upon young people (up to and including 30 years old) who are living in the Aral Sea region (Karakalpakstan, Khorezm in UZ and Qizilorda and Aktobe Oblasts in KZ) to create a logo that would then become our website’s emblem and represent all future projects.
Here, we present the submissions and announce our winners. If you would like to read more about this contest, you can see our logo contest announcement post.
We thank all who helped us to share this project! As we coordinate our next projects, we need to hear from you!
Our ambition is that the seed of this website will sprout into an open, supportive community there to support the people and ecosystems of the Aral Sea region.
What subjects are important to you? What should our team focus on? Let us know in the comments below.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED
4th place: Shomurodova Zilola Kallibek
“I am Shomurodova Zilola Kallibek. I was born on October 17, 2002. I am currently a 2nd year student at Karakalpak State University.

The 4 letters in this logo are the 4 themes, ie:
H – Home
H – History
C – Connection
I – Reflects Imaginings
The planet Earth in the palms of the hands in the center is all – a sign that the preservation of the earth is in our hands.
And at the bottom is the project name, Beyond Catastrophe.“
3rd place: Yuldashev Islambek Ikram
“I am Yuldashev Islambek Ikram. I was born on December 30, 2003 in the city of Nukus. My nationality is Uzbek. From 2010 to 2021, I studied at the secondary school No. 2 in the city of Nukus. In 2021, I entered the Faculty of Philology and Language Teaching at Karakalpak State University on a contract basis and am currently a 1st year student.“

Q1. When and how did you begin creating art?
I have been interested in art since I was young because if I did this I would be in a good mood for some reason. I’ve competed in a lot of competitions before but I didn’t win so I started only drawing in my free time. The last time I drew was last year. When you posted yesterday I was intrigued by the name of your website and decided to participate.
Q2. Are there any Karakalpak or Central Asian artists that have had a noteworthy impact on you? Please share who they are and how their art impacted you.
Honestly, I wasn’t interested in anyone’s art, I just like drawing because I like this work. I am interested in more colors. I honestly don’t know how to describe it.
Q3. What role do you see art playing in the imagining the future of the Aral Sea region?
I think the type of art plays a huge role because when we act, when we think about this thing, and after we think about it we get motivated to do something, and I think in the future in the Aral region very big changes will happen.
Q4. A. Are there some art communities you can know of / are aware of that you can share? B. Is building, supporting, and celebrating communities of artists something that can be improved?
To be honest I don’t know for sure only time will tell.
More about the logo:
I came up with this logo for the new website “Seeing Beyond Catastrophe”. In this logo, I drew the flags of Uzbekistan and Karakalpakstan and its riches (cotton and wheat) because now, despite the environmental problems in our country, great changes are taking place. And I have drawn the conditions that have been established for youth, whether in sports or in science we have all the conditions and it does not matter whether we have environmental problems or not, our youth will definitely contribute to the development of their state, because the future is in the hands of our youth.
Our respected President has created new opportunities for entrepreneurs since 2017, and if entrepreneurship in our country further develops, the pace of business development with other countries will increase. And I drew our city of Nukus in 10 years close to the center of the logo because I think that soon our country will become one of the developed countries of the world. I drew the dove above the logo because the dove symbolizes the spirit of life, the soul, the spirit of light, purity and peace.
2nd place: Torejanov Islamjan Berdijan
“My name is Torejanov Islamjan Berdijan and I was born in 1999 in Muynak district. In 2015 I studied at the Kungrad oil and gas industry college located in Kungrad district. In that college I participated in competitions and also was an active participant. For that reason, I was awarded a diploma with distinction. Now I am a student in the Geography and Natural Resources Faculty at Karakalpak State University in the third year. Outside of my study I am a coach and coordinator of Youth Career Development club established in Youth Activities Agency at the Youth Center. At the center I conduct workshop-trainings that give youth practical skills they need. I am also very interested in computers and designing. Because I am interested in logo design I participated in this contest.his contest.”

Q1. When and how did you begin creating art?
I have been interested in drawing since my childhood. I have participated to several contests and was able to win the 1st and 2nd place in the contest which was held in Moynak.
Q2. Are there any Karakalpak or Central Asian artists that have had a noteworthy impact on you? Please share who they are and how their art impacted you.
Fayma Madgazina and his pictures that illustrate the Aral Sea and the life there is considered to be attractive.
Q3. What role do you see art playing in the imagining the future of the Aral Sea region?
I reckon that it would be better to create some drawings representing the projects that is related to the future projects of the art
Q4. A. Are there some art communities you can know of / are aware of that you can share? B. Is building, supporting, and celebrating communities of artists something that can be improved?
A. as it’s just my hobby I don’t have any kind of teams…
B. If we make the team according to the answers of the people to the 3rd question, as well as organising contests in the field of innovation we would be able to change the peoples’ views towards the catastrophe to the positive side. As a consequence, working out with that problems would be easier!
More about the logo:
“This picture shows Aral Sea from four different angles and also includes the title of the website. As it’s shown on the picture, yurtas represent history. The lighthouse in Muynak depicts development, or in other words, besides catastrophe, there is some development in the areas of tourism and city development. And also, the leaves represent the ecological improvements (achievements) in future. It’s known that forestation on the former seabed of Aral Sea is being actively worked on, and on these grounds, I depicted two leaves as representative of the family of plants that would grow in Aral Sea in future. And in the center there is a globe that shows that it’s a global issue, that many countries face similar issues and they are responsible for the future.”
1st place: Atanazarov Masharifboy Qadam
“I am Atanazarov Masharifboy Qadam. I was born on March 4th 2007 in the Urgench district of Khorazm region. Now I study at the number 36 school. I am interested in math, informatics, English languages, and natural sciences.”

Q1. When and how did you begin creating art?
I have been interested in drawing since I was five years old. I am also interested in designing logos.
Q2. Are there any Karakalpak or Central Asian artists that have had a noteworthy impact on you? Please share who they are and how their art impacted you.
The teachers in my school.
Q3. What role do you see art playing in the imagining the future of the Aral Sea region?
The future of the Aral can be represented through a picture (if it is expressed in words, everyone understands the same. If it is expressed in a picture, everyone imagines differently. This creates a diversity of ideas).
Q4. A. Are there some art communities you can know of / are aware of that you can share? B. Is building, supporting, and celebrating communities of artists something that can be improved?
A. I don’t know
B. Of course
More about the logo:

“We named this logo “past – present – future”. That is, the Aral Sea used to be a sea, but today it is a desert, and we want it to become a forest in the future.
Note: The logo depicts three leaves, the blue leaf represents the time when there were waves on the Aral Sea, the yellow color represents today’s dry desert, and the green color represents the future island, the forest. This represents the history of the main idea of the logo.
The image of three leaves in a quarter of a circle on a common yellow background depicts a different situation in the same space, and we intend to change it in the future in the hope of improving it. This is the home part of the idea.
If there is no problem, there is no solution. So we want to emphasize that the solution to the island problem can be solved by afforestation, and we have recognized its connection with the past, present and future.
We tried to make the whole picture look like a slice of lemon. Through this, we imagined that the Aral Sea will become a region of millions of income in the future. This is the aim of the idea of the quarter of the circle.”