OCA Magazine: Tell us about yourself and your activity / work?

Timur Akhmedjanov : My name is Timur Akhmedjanov and I’ve recently finished high-school at Rugby School Thailand. I enjoy art in general as well as drawing, however the comic-book medium interests me the most. I also like anything relating to ‘film’ and I’m hoping to have a career in that field. Right now I’m working on a comic-book adaptation of Kamran Salayev’s children book, ‘Elish and the Wicker Tales’. I’m doing this because I’m interested in making comic-book stories as well as writing for a good cause. 

OCA: What is “Eurasianism” for you?

TA:  “Eurasianism” (in terms of art, literature and creativity) is a word that is used to define the blend and cooperation between cultures and nations of both Europe and Asia. Whilst the ECG’s primary goal is promoting ‘Central Asian’ culture, in particular, it’s overall motto and dream is to unite people of both the west and east through the creative medium and to recognise talented, yet less known individuals of the ‘Central Asian’ people to be the spearhead of that union. 

OCA: What are your favorite artists?

TA:  There are various artists that I like but most of them are comic book artists. I have great respect for their skill and dedication, especially for those who publish in weekly magazines. They are able to write coherent and incredibly compelling narratives under such a tight deadline whilst at the same time backing it up with incredible artworks and illustrations to properly convey the story and actions they are trying to show. 

OCA: Have you taken part in the events of the Eurasian Creative Guild?

TA:   To some degree, I have supported multiple ECG events as a helping hand for the hosting group, meaning that I haven’t actively taken part in any of the ECG events.

OCA: What the Eurasian Creative Guild means to you, and how it influenced your creativity / activity?

TA:  Whilst I like the concept and idea of the ECG, the guild’s goals deviate from that of my own interests. This also means that the ECG has not influenced my creativity whatsoever, a lot of that comes from the goals and aspirations that I have as an individual. 

OCA: Do you have any personal projects that you would like to talk about?

TA:   As I have already mentioned, I am currently working on a comic-book adaptation of Kamran Salayev’s children book, ‘Elish and the Wicker Tales’. Whilst being the translator for the original work I had grown a certain affection for the story and though that both it’s presentation and the message behind it are both very fascinating and is something I want to recreate in a comic-book medium. Whilst this isn’t my first ‘illustrative’ project it is definitely my most ambitious and professional one that I have done and will spend many more hours working on and perfecting. 

OCA: What would you advise the members of the Guild who are just starting their career?

TA:   I don’t think I am fit to give any advice to people starting any career as I am still too young and know very little about creative industries and instead would like advice from other, more honed veterans of that industry to assist me with further developments of my future career and projects that I may have. However, if I had to give one piece of advice it would be to people similar to me who ‘are’ or ‘were’ struggling to find a ‘passion’ or ‘desire’ to pursue in their lives and that is advice is to absolutely try your best in whatever holds your interest the most. Just because you fail at something or don’t do as good as you had intended you shouldn’t give up, because if you do you might find yourself in a spot that is a lot worse to the one you had started on and might ruin your passion for that interest for a really long time. Instead, you must accept that whatever you are doing will never turn out perfect, no matter how good you are, and that you must use that experience to help you improve on that interest for the future to come. Also, remember that if people don’t support or don’t show the same level of passion as you do for your interest that doesn’t mean you should be discouraged, instead you must act selfishly and carry on with whatever you are doing with the mindset that you will eventually meet people who will appreciate your work if you carry on pouring your entire passion into that interest.