Merdan Ehet'éli, born in 1991 in Khotan, a major city in the Uyghur region, has emerged as a significant figure in Uyghur literature and contemporary cultural activism. Inspired by the works of the renowned Central Asian poet Mīr ʿAlī Shīr Nawā'ī, Merdan began creating his own poetic expressions during his secondary education. His literary career took a unique turn when he became involved in the ‘Nothingism’ movement, a poetic wave founded in Ürümchi in the late 2000s. He then embarked on a literary journey that combines reflections on being and nothingness, poetic thoughts and literary documentation.

Residency project:
The multidisciplinary project Cauchemar /Qoshmaq was born out of the meeting between two Uyghur artists who are refugees in France, Erpan Hesher (electronic musician) and Merdan Eheteli (poet), and their collaboration with a collective of artists and researchers in the humanities. Since 2021, they have been working with the Uyghur Institute of Europe (an NGO based in Paris that secured recognition of the Uyghur genocide by the French Parliament in January 2022) on artistic productions and performances that portray the psychological reality experienced by members of the Uyghur diaspora in France and Europe.

The residency will enable us to continue and finalise the writing of this performance, complete the composition and musical form corresponding to our project, and integrate visual material (videos and drawings).