Mukaddas Mijit was born in Urumchi, the capital of Uyghur Homeland. She is an ethnomusicologist, filmmaker, internationally-acclaimed dancer and music manager.
In 2003 Mukaddas Mijit came to Paris to study classical music. The non-visibility of Uyghur culture made her decide to study Ethnomusicology to enable her to promote her own culture. In 2015, she obtained her PhD degree on ethnomusicology, researching about “Staging of Uyghur Dance and Music”. She speaks fluently in Uyghur, Chinese, French, English, Turkish, Uzbek, Kazakh and Kirgiz.
As a filmmaker, she has produced several ethnographic documentary films, including “Qetiq, Rock’n Ürümchi” (nominated in the 10th Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival in 2014), and 30 boys: Uyghur Meshrep project. Most recently, she wrote and co-directed a medium-length film "Nikah" about the challenges that Uyghur women face from both traditional social mores and the highly oppressive political environment in China. She is the co-creator and co-host of “WEghur Stories,” a podcast entirely about the global Uyghur diaspora. Most recently, she co-edited an anthology about Uyghur contemporary and oral literature in French, published by Jentayu.
Discover more of her work on her website.
A Dance Piece: 6 Metres of Etles "Our death is simple, but other's are unbearable" -Jean Cocteau This performance is dedicated to the disappearing friends and families form the Uyghur Region in western China. It is for those who are invisible and those who are in despair and cannot know where their loved ones are. It’s dedicated to the 56 professors from Xinjiang University who have disappeared this year. It is a modest way, but we will always tell their stories, even when there is no-one to listen. "This is a glimpse of the work Mukaddas Mijit and I have been collaborating on and recently completed a 2 week self-imposed Bronx Residency." - Lisa Ross Depuis 15 ans, tous les jours, j'explique avec le même enthousiasme, qui sont les ouïghours, c'est même pour entendre cette phrase encore et encore "ah, je n'en ai jamais entendu parlé..." Je souris au monde avec l'envie de m'approcher d'eux, même si on ne me voit pas... Ce travail est dédié à tous ces invisibles du monde Uyghurs... Avec des artistes comme ma chère amie Lisa Ross, on continuera à raconter nos histoires, ceux de sans noms et de sans visages... - Mukaddas Mijit
A poetry recital: Almikhan's Tears
In 2012, the Chinese government celebrated Mo Yan, the 1st Chinese citizen to win a Nobel Prize in literature.
In 2017, it threw his Uyghur translator, poet Abduqadir Jüme, in an internment camp.
He's still there.
3 years later, Abduqadir is still imprisoned.
3 years later, Nobel Prize-winning novelist Mo Yan has not said one word about the internment of his translator.
3 years later, one of Abduqadir's poems still echoes in my mind.
A documentary film: Dolan Fever As well as her dance, activism and poetry, Mukaddas Mijit has also focused on documentary form as an urgent key to archiving Uyghur art, music and culture. Mukaddas Mijit and Lisa Ross formed the Asman Collective to preserve memory and culture of the Uyghur people, so if you would like to see more of these short films, go to https://www.asmancollective.org/