I am crushed by the news of drowned children that often follows heat waves both at the Altyn Kazyk reservoir and where I live. Such stories bring these two residential areas together. Where I live, the news is broken by water shutoffs. We feel the water pressure getting weaker and visibly wilt, heartbroken and wretched. That sign means that someone has drowned in the canal, and they shut off the water to look for the body. The whole neighborhood goes out with flashlights to help with the search. I’m dismayed that this happens again every year. Finding some way to keep kids safe would be the decent thing to do.

Peri (Nurperi Orunbaeva) is an artist who works in traditional crafts, combining them with the modern genre of installation. She draws on the stories of her people and her past to create socio-political and culturally relevant works.