In Between

Central Asia (2019) In Ulaanbaatar there was a map hanging on the wall. It read: "The greatest empire in the history of the world". I knew about the Mongol Empire, Timur and the great Silk Road, but the high mountains, the long deserts and the vast steppes were the only traces of the past empires. Over time, layers of identities merging from external influences, had settled in an unexpected mix. Calls for prayers echoed in Arabic from the southern edge of Russia to the western edge of China. Lights shined from the West while the sun rose in the East. And everyone had a cousin in Moscow. In between the fantasies and identities, there was a space to define. It was born in 1991, when the USSR collapsed, and I was the same age.