Mark Weil, the artistic director at Tashkent’s famed Ilkhom Theatre, died early this morning in a Tashkent hospital. He was attacked last night by two men near his home who hit him with a bottle and stabbed him. His attackers were not apprehended.
The Ilkhom’s new season starts tonight, and Mr. Weil’s last words were reportedly “I open new season tomorrow and everything must happen…”
Weil founded the theatre in 1976, and it was one of the first to not depend on any Soviet state cultural institution. In 1989, the Ilkhom founded its own drama school, and in the years since independence, it has brought its productions to stages across the world. More of the theatre’s history can be found here. Robert Rand, who emailed to let me know about Weil’s death, wrote about the Ilkhom theatre in Tamerlane’s Children.
The Ilkhom Theatre plans to open its new season as scheduled tonight with “Oresteia” by Aeschylus.
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Nathan, in this article they talk about homoerotic content in the theater’s repertoir and sort of hint he was murdered by religious fanatics.
This article, which says that the police found him dead outside his home — not that he died in the hospital, claims that it was an anti-Semitic attack. They don’t have a quote from anyone on it though.
And one of the comments here speculates that the murder has to do with the upcoming elections.
Even the editorial points to gay content of the plays as a possible reason. If it was done to demonstrate how the “green party” (as per color of the flag, I gather) will deal with gays, it can only lower their rating for the elections, I think. As one other commenter said – religious Uzbeks didn’t go to the theater, only Russian-speaking intellectuals of the city did, and they are pretty liberal bunch. If the target were their votes, the results of the murder might do the opposite to what intended.
It is sad to hear this news.
Ilkhom theater never lacked an audience. To go to Ilkhom was always a joy, and having gone there once, one would return again and again. Mark Weil was a great person.
I think that getting anyone’s “votes” in an election is the most unlikely motive possible in the nation of Uzbekistan. After all, we don’t even know if there’s going to be an election at all.
this is a real tragedy. the ilkhom theater is an oasis of hope for Uzbekistan. thanks to Mark Weil.
Indignation aside, frankly, to me, this still doesn’t weights up against the hundreds of Muslims that were massacred in Andijan.
There can be several possibilities on the why and who…
Jealousy among pituxi and artists. perhaps ordinary crime without political aim. Kto znayet? Either case, just watch: the Karimovites will put the blame on ‘Islamic fanatics’ no matter what. They will find ‘culprits’ who will ‘confess’ under torture. Because when a liberal avant garde artist gets killed, it’s easier to gull the West, IOs and expats to buy into the ‘Islamist threat’ thing (the last alibi of the Karimovites).
On the other hand, if it *really* is a political murder (as Vzglyad suggests) it wouldn’t surprise me either. Many local Russians and Jews are staunch supporters and even minions of the hated Karimov regime.
BTW, the Vzglyad article to which Tatyana refers says that ‘the Islamisation of Central Asia threates the region’s culture first of all’. Manmanman, talking about outlandishness ans sheer naglost…
What ‘Islamisation’ are they talking about then?
The Ilkhom theatre is not the region’s culture. Most people who go there are ethnic Russians, so-called russkiiyazitshnii and Western expats, none of whom represent Central Asian society.
Furthermore, culture was not impoverished and harnessed by ‘Islamisation’ but by: a) general impoverishment, social decay and the disappearance of state subsidies during the ’90s; b) secular nationalism and neo-stalinism: the Uzbekification nder Karimov, the closure of theatre’s etc. by Niazov, etc… none of whom are/were Islamic regimes.
There is one, probably most plausible reason for this murder (which was evidently well prepared and persecuted by cold-blooded hit men) : according to some sources, Weil has been wary of persistent invitations from Gulnara to accept her patronage. Finally, her anger prompted either herself or her insulted father to give an order to settle scores with Weil. As it was fairly noted already, anti-Semitic and Islamist militants are not organized and don’t have ground in Uzbekistan, especially in Tashkent where each tenth is an SNB informer.
I don’t think the Andijon massacre should even be brought up, and the two incidents shouldn’t be compared.
We don’t know the motives yet, and even though I certainly distrust Karimov and his clan I think it’s also possible that it was an anti-semitic attack. Yes, I don’t think there’s a huge organized anti-semitic movement in Uzbekistan, but you don’t need an organized movement to shoot a guy.
This is terrible news. I went to the Ilkhom theatre when I lived in Tashkent–it provided a window to the West, a post-Soviet cultural link to theatrical trends abroad, in addition to a venue for popular shows such as “Tortilla Flats” (the musical!) which had been running for some 10 years, and “Black, Black, White Stork” a classic Uzbek drama. Yes, the latter show had gay themes–but they were 70 years old. Mark Weil’s Ilkhom theatre represented the best of Uzbekistan, it was a real showcase for talent, and also showed the nation could host modern, intelligent, and deeply moving drama. I hope they keep it going–and name the theatre in his honor as a tribute, like the Hamza theatre.
As far as suspects go, I’m no expert, but someone I know compared the killing to the death of Theo van Gogh in Holland–a cultural figure stabbed to death as an act of terrorism, to punish a cultural figure and set an example. I hope this is not the case.
However terrible, I would prefer that it was a random act of violence by ordinary criminals. Something similar happened to my translator and her mother when we were living in Center-1, a supposedly safe neighborhood, in 2003. Shortly after a Presidential Amnesty, she and her mother were ambushed in the stairwell of their apartment building by a man wielding a knife. They fought back, she was stabbed, but managed to push him down the stairs after he had knocked down her mother. He ran away, and she had only a minor wound. We were told there is often a crime wave after an amnesty.
I don’t believe it would have been in either the interest of Karimov or Gulnara to kill a leading light of Uzbekistan in the Western cultural world. That strikes me as either “mish-mish” or worse, deliberate disinformation and propaganda. It hurts Karimov that this has happened, as much as it hurts Uzbekistan.
The anti-semitism apparent in Ataman Rakin’s posted comments regarding Weil’s muder are a tragic shame. I hope they do not reflect a widespread opinion among Registan readers.
There will be a memorial service in Tashkent on September 12th at the Ilkhom. Here is a link to the Ilkhom Theatre website.
Correction to my first post: The name of the Ilkhom production based on stories of Abdullah Kadyri is “White, White, Black Stork.”
My grief is with Ilkhom and Mark’s family. It’s hard to explain what my feelings are. I don’t live in Uzbekistan anymore, but I still consider it my country. My country has experienced the significant loss because Mark was one of its best people. Karimov must do his best to find the assasinators.
“anti-semitism apparent in Ataman Rakin’s comments”
Yawn! Yeah right. Maybe it’s time for some new material.
“Karimov must do his best to find the assasinators.”
It never came up to you that he’s the biggest assassin of all?
Ataman,
I don’t think that many people that comment on this blog have much respect for Karimov. But it is possible that a murder was committed in Uzbekistan, a country of 25 million people, that wasn’t ordered by the government. It could have been random violence, or it could have been people that didn’t like him for one reason or another.
Look, I’ll be the first to say that I don’t like Karimov. But you can’t let your ideology cloud your judgment. If you can’t even admit the possibility that this was an attack that was committed by people outside the government then it kind of hurts your credibility.
Laurence, you surprise me. You expect someone calling himself ataman NOT to be an anti-Semite?
I have to add my agreement to Brian here. The power of the Karimov clan is monumental, and will probably only be matched by whatever faction will take power when he falls. Surely many who seek power in Uzbekistan, whether or not they are currently subject to torture or government sanctions, will have their own network of supporters, assassins, and businesses. The Old-Boy-Network is not something that Karimov invented, and he does not control half of the cold-blooded killers in Uzbekistan, I am sure.
“You expect someone calling himself ataman NOT to be an anti-Semite?”
(weep) Oh my, I will file a complaint with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights AND the Council of Europe for anti-Cossack rrracism, prrrejudice and diffamation!
LOL
“But it is possible that a murder was committed in Uzbekistan, a country of 25 million people, that wasn’t ordered by the government.”
Brian: yes of course it is. What I say is, that regardless of who did it (ordinary criminals, power and grant intrigues among artists), the karimovites and their supporters will find a way to politically exploit it.
(Unless, Laurence, these guys did it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6985808.stm Who knows?
)
“but someone I know compared the killing to the death of Theo van Gogh in Holland–“
Weil was not as crass as Van Gogh. Van Gogh was basically a pig. He represented an utmost irritating, pedantic part of Hollandic society, one that expects its smut, pronocracy and depravity to be the norm for humanity. He did not respected anyone or anything, neither Christianity nor Islam. It even irritated many Dutch.
Brian writes: ‘But you can’t let your ideology cloud your judgment.’
OK. Indeed, everybody presents the version which is a projection his/her own concern. You’re concerned of anti-Semitism and promptly point-out at the anti-Semitic motives.
But we also can follow the argument of probability. It is improbable that anybody in Uzbekistan would dare to kill someone being driven by anti-Semitic motives. Yes, some level of this disease does exit in Uzbekistan, but so far there have not been any precedents of murder on this ground, while one can bring about a lot of precedents of how Karimov and his clique have relentlessly eliminated those whom they dislike, and they just spit out at the world public opinion. Satraps don’t care of public opinion at all. As was said, Gulnara could not miss the temptation to privatise the Ilkhom for her PR deals, what is why this is most probable trace. I fear we’ll never learn what has really happened. The police will just find a escape goat who will ‘confess’ of killing Mark. Another reason for Karimov to be irritated by Mark was Mark’s quite frequent remarks in numerous interviews about the political realities in Uzbekistan. Karimov with his paranoid hate to all dissidents would not tolerate such critics at his kingdom regardless of Mark’s international profile.
I’m not saying that it was an anti-semitic motivated killing. I’m just saying that it’s something that should at least be considered. Indeed there have been a couple prominent Jews killed in Uzbekistan over the past few years (however, we don’t know for sure if those killing were motivated by anti-semitism or not either). My point is if you automatically rule out such a motive and right away blame Karimov’s clan, without having any evidence or even a crystal clear motive, then you’re hurting your credibility and inadvertently hurting your own cause. I think you have to act professionally if you want to be taken seriously, and acting professionally means considering scenarios that may not help and may even hurt your cause.
Remember a few years ago when an Uzbek human rights group claimed that a prisoner was burned to death and wanted an independent autopsy? Well, Uzbekistan eventually let an international doctor perform an autopsy and he concluded that the prisoner died of natural causes. That incident embarrassed the human rights group and it really helped the Uzbek government. I think unprofessional attitudes contributed to that debacle.
Right now we don’t know any clear motives for Mark Weil’s killing. Ferghana.ru is reporting that Mr. Weil may have gotten into an argument with some drug addicts near his apartment. We can definitely speculate that Gulnara or some other Karimov may have been involved, but let’s also not rule out other kinds of motivation (and then bring up Andijan, as if it’s somehow connected).
” Van Gogh was basically a pig.”
So you’re justifying Van Gogh’s killing because he was a pig? Two comments:
1. Probably the majority of contemporary artists could be considered “pigs” in one way or another, they tend to be a strange bunch.
2. Why should anyone on here ever take you seriously when you are basically supporting the killing of someone whos art you find offensive?
How can you possibly believe that you are any better than Islam Karimov when you make a statement like that? Why don’t you get a job working for Karimov, he needs people with no sense of humanity.
See, the problem with people like Van Gogh and the likes is, that in their illusion of moral superiority, they get into things that they actually don’t grasp. In fact they are terribly naïve. In the present world climate and nascent world chaos, they willy nilly end up becoming a pawn, an instrument of groups and personalities whose intentions and agendas are far from, well, ‘emancipatory’.
Maybe think about that before embarking on an effeminate emotional rant.
“Why don’t you get a job working for Karimov, he needs people with no sense of humanity.”
If only his website http://www.gov.uz/ru/ had a ‘Vacancies’ section… Unless I have to look under ‘Investment possibilities’?
LOL
Brian: I think you’re distorting a bit my arguments. I just suggested that the involvement of the Karimov’s clan is the most PLAUSIBLE version having the highest PROBABILITY among other versions. If you expect to get 100% evidences from the hands of Uzbek police then you might be just naïve.
As to your reference to the autopsy performed by international doctor, I don’t think it is quite correct argument. That examination was arranged by Freedom House which was then eager to please the Karimov regime. One can’t exclude that the doctor was just paid for his fake conclusion. I know also that Human Rights Watch never reports on unchecked cases.
ps. One can fairly regard Mark’s case in one raw with murders of Politkovskaya, Listyyev, Starovoitova, Litvinenko. The style and circumstances are very similar. Otherwise, let’s also qualify them as ethnicity motivated killings. Uzbekistan is now closer to Russia and is seems borrowing their methods of treatments of dissidents. No one can deny that Mark was a dissident and sooner or later the regime would make its indictment.
I think my argument was less directed against what you were saying and more towards what Ataman has been saying. In fact I pretty much agree with many of your points, that political assaults in Uzbekistan are so common that political motives should definitely be considered in this case.
Ataman’s approach, however, is strange. Ataman and most other people on this blog are generally in agreement about the awful Uzbek government. But his loudmouth and divisive approach, “this still doesn’t weights up against the hundreds of Muslims that were massacred in Andijan” “many Russians and Jews are staunch supporters and even minions of the hated Karimov regime” “Van Gogh was basically a pig”, doesn’t inspire confidence that local opposition would do much better at running the Uzbek government. I’m basically on Ataman’s side concerning how bad the Uzbek government is, so why is he trying to be so divisive?
But Freedom House was trying to please the Karimov regime? For a decade now they’ve been giving the Karimov regime practically their worst freedom ratings possible. I know that this was the time that the US government was supporting Uzbekistan, but I think bringing in a staged international doctor so that he could give a false autopsy report that exonerated the Uzbek government is a bit outlandish. I think that’s overestimating how cunning and smart these people could be… in my experience most organizations are clumsier and stupider than you’d like to believe.
I don’t see what’s strange and divisive in putting things in perspective.
Are this “this still doesn’t weights up against the hundreds of Muslims that were massacred in Andijan” and this “many Russians and Jews are staunch supporters and even minions of the hated Karimov regime” not true perhaps? No?
What happened to Weil is a tragedy but likely more a one-off. The deeper tragedy in Uzbekistan is that of the *real* and *permanent* victims of the Karimovite regime:
*the Uzbeks (and they are not a few) who are humiliated, harrassed, imprisoned, … because they find direction, identity and a better way of life in Islam.
*the numerous small, medium and even larger entrepreneurs whose are being strangled and broken because the regime is not tolearteing any economic initiative that is not under control of Karimova’s business empire and thus keeps hundred of thousands in structural poverty.
*…
Don’t forget that. I am realist and call a spade a spade. A regime like that of Karimov has no future. Yet the situation is now such that change will unavoidably go with a phase of violent chaos with score settling, looting etc. There is too much cropped-up hatred and frustration.
“I think that’s overestimating how cunning and smart these people could be…”
Well, they are, to an extent that it works with the ignorant, the gullible, the losers and the odd dodgy type (all being characteristsics suiting part of the expats and dip corps in CA). And with the Akiners of course.
“in my experience most organizations are clumsier and stupider than you’d like to believe.”
Uzb governement organizations or international ones? In my experience its often both (UNDP, Unesco and EBRD topping the list).
As for van Gogh: don’t make martyrs of people who don’t deserve it.
I don’t see what’s strange and divisive in putting things in perspective.
Are this: “this still doesn’t weights up against the hundreds of Muslims that were massacred in Andijan” and this: “many Russians and Jews are staunch supporters and even minions of the hated Karimov regime” not true perhaps? No?
What happened to Weil is a tragedy but likely more a one-off. The deeper tragedy in Uzbekistan is that of the *real* and *permanent* victims of the Karimovite regime:
*the Uzbeks (and they are not a few) who are humiliated, harrassed, imprisoned, … because they find direction, identity and a better way of life in Islam.
*the numerous small, medium and even larger entrepreneurs whose are being strangled and broken because the regime is not tolerating any economic initiative that is not under control of Karimova’s business empire and thus keeps hundred of thousands in structural poverty.
Don’t forget that. I am realist and call a spade a spade. A regime like that of Karimov has no future. Yet the situation is now such that change will unavoidably go with a phase of violent chaos with score settling, looting etc. There is too much cropped-up hatred and frustration.
“I think that’s overestimating how cunning and smart these people could be…”
Well, they are, to an extent that it works with the ignorant, the gullible, the losers and the odd dodgy type (all being characteristsics suiting part of the expats and dip corps in CA). And with the Akiners of course.
“in my experience most organizations are clumsier and stupider than you’d like to believe.”
Uzb governement organizations or international ones? In my experience its often both (UNDP, Unesco and EBRD topping the list).
As for van Gogh: don’t make martyrs of people who don’t deserve it. Or if you really want to, then blame neocon house negro Ayaan Hirsi Ali for using him for her anti-Islamic campaign.
I knew Mark from a theatrical collaboration in Hawai’i in 1994 of Gogol’s THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR. Anyone whoever knew Mark knows the gentle spirit and strength of character and unflailing courage along with tremendous talent this wonderful man possessed. His friendship was one of life’s treasures.
In some of the late night conversations we had with other friends I heard him say that Ilhkom had no enemies. But when I pressed him further one night after a few drinks, he admitted in private that perhap he, himself, might have enemies. In fact, he told me if he were ever to die other than a natural death, I would be more than justified in believing it to be political. When I suggested perhaps he should reconsider his resolve, he stated flatly that to stop would be to fail.
I’m sorry to say his success was too costly.
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