Dr Nariman Skakov is an Assistant Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Stanford University. Prior to this, he was a doctoral student in Medieval and Modern Languages at University College, the University of Oxford. His research interests include literary theory, cinema and contemporary Central Asian art. Dr Alim Sabitov is a Professor of Design and Architecture at the Kazakh Academy of Architecture, Almaty. He has written extensively on Kazakh contemporary art and architecture, including the book Imaginary Architectural Spaces (2000).