WAC event feed
Madina Ekzekova and Abzagu Tsvizhba spoke at the leading conference on the ethnography of the Caucasus at the Kunstkamera
From May 12 to 14, 2026, the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted the 49th Lavrov (Central Asian-Caucasian) Readings – one of the leading academic conferences on the ethnography, anthropology, and folklore of the Caucasus and Central Asia. Its history spans nearly 50 years, and its participants have included leading scholars from Russia and abroad, with the best papers being published in a peer-reviewed academic journal from the WAC list. The event was timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the birth of the eminent Caucasus scholar Yuri Yuryevich Karpov.
The conference was attended by:
Madina Nikolaevna Ekzekova, PhD in Philosophy, Head of the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences at the S.M. Kirov St. Petersburg State Forest Engineering University. She presented a paper entitled "Representation of Gender Stereotypes of the Abaza People in Contemporary Russian Media," in which she used specific examples to analyze perceptions of the characteristics and behavior patterns of different genders, as reflected in the media.
Abzagu Gennadievich Tsvizhba, Chief of Staff of the World Abaza Congress (WAC) and Chairman of the Union of Creative Youth of Abkhazia (STMA). His paper, "Apsuara as a Process: Etymology, Structure, and Mechanisms of Transmitting Tradition," focused on his five-stage model for the formation of an ethnocultural system. The audience was particularly interested in the practical part – real ethnocultural projects implemented by the WAC, "Alashara", and STMA.
Congratulations to our colleagues on their successful participation in this high-level conference. We wish them success in their future scientific and social endeavors!
