ТУРКСИБ (TURKSIB)

The construction of the Turkestan-Siberian Railway from 1927 to 1931 was one of the major projects of the first Soviet Five-Year Plan, connecting the Central Asian steppe with the Siberian taiga. Viktor Turin documents the railway’s construction, shows how the desert is turned into a cotton cultivation area, and contrasts the old transport routes full of caravans with the new steam railway. The Turk-Sib is a symbol of Soviet technological modernisation. It not only transports resources to Siberia for further processing, but also brings ideology, progress, and sciences to the Central Asian republics.