Deep Freeze: Art, Memory, and Decolonial Resistance with Seseg Jigjitova

In this episode of the Yurt Jurt Podcast, host Diana Kudaibergen speaks with Seseg Jigjitova, a Buryat activist, illustrator, and writer based in Berlin, about decolonial thought, memory, and the power of storytelling. Seseg reflects on how her personal journey into decolonial activism began within her own family. Growing up in Kazakhstan, her father made a deliberate effort to preserve the Buryat language and traditions at home, a quiet form of resistance that later shaped her political and artistic work. Through illustration and visual storytelling, Seseg documents experiences of racism faced by Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities from North Asia and Russia. The conversation also explores her book Deep Freeze. This visual and autobiographical project traces three interconnected layers: unanswered questions from the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the personal and political awakening. The title reflects how historical trauma, colonial violence, and suppressed questions remained “frozen” for decades before surfacing. Diana and Seseg discuss broader themes, including Soviet nostalgia, the romanticization of the USSR in Western intellectual circles, generational colonial trauma, and the challenges Indigenous communities face in building solidarity. They also reflect on the psychological impact of colonialism, the need for culturally aware therapy, and how art can become a powerful tool for documenting lived experience and reclaiming history. Tune in for a thoughtful conversation on decolonization, memory, identity, and the role of art in telling stories that were long kept silent.