In traditional Kazakh culture orteke (mountain goat) is a flexible wooden figure of a mountain goat, placed on a traditional drum called dauylpaz. Originally orteke was a combination of theater performances music and puppet dance. An expressive doll figure called teke (goat) seems to come alive when the wizard starts to play the drum. The figure makes fun dancing movements on the drum skin as the musicians beat out a musical rhythm. The figure also moves to the finger movements of the dombra (Kazakh string instrument) players as there are filaments connecting the puppet to the musician fingers.

Spring festivals of Kazakh horse breeders includes three calendar-based festive ceremonies: bie bailau (first milking holiday), a separation of mares’ milk; aigyr qossu (wedding stallion) joining a stallion to a herd; and qymyz muryndyk (festival of first kymyz) beginning to cook and drink kymyz. The photograph depicts bie bailau as well a studhorse leaving to the steppe with his herd.

Dombra is a traditional two-stringed pear-shaped Kazakh musical instrument. It has a thin elongated neck and a head with two pins. Tool-hollowed from a single piece of wood, it has a deep velvety sound. Than craftsman axe cuts a blank and then proceeds to the main work (fabricating the fingerboard, pegs, and deck; assembling of all the elements; and oiling or lacquering the body). Finally, the instrument is decorated with inlaid mother of pearl, silver, or ivory. The photo shows one of the first stages of cutting a blank.

Kiyiz basu is the tradition of making felt. The felt is manufactured from sheep, camel, or goat wool. The artistic features of felt are dependent on the manufacturing process. Kazakhs use two basic types of felt that differ in their manufacture method and function. The photo shows the process of felting or wool brushing.

Aitys is an improvised song and poetry competition of akyns, poet-singers accompanied by a dombra. This is a traditional form of Kazakh oral folklore that includes singsong reading of poetry. Akyns spontaneously compete with each other by minutely composing poems and mutually answering questions of societal concern. Deep philosophical reflections in a witty, bubbly manner often turn into a form of poetic ridicule and criticism. Akyns compete in their resourcefulness and originality.

Zergerlik is the traditional Kazakh art of jewelry making. Since ancient times, Kazakh people have been producing a variety of silver jewelry: rings, earrings, necklaces, pendants, buckles, and much more. Silver vessels such as jugs, bowls, and mugs all decorated with engraved images are highly prized.

Keste (literally “a scheme”) is the traditional Kazakh handmade embroidery using colored threads (biz), needles (ilgek), hooks (ilme), and hoops (kergish). There are about forty kinds of complex and simple Kazakh embroidery. The great diversity of embroidery can be observed in yurts during Nauryz or the celebration of nature renewal and in state museums. The photo shows interior items decorated with Kazakh embroidery.

The betashar (open face) custom is a ceremony of the revealing a bride’s face. The custom is based on the historic practice the groom rarely being allowed to his betrothed before the wedding. The bride must be first presented to the groom and his relatives with her face covered and dressed in her best outfit. After the ceremony, a young improviser starts a traditional household song called betashar. Following this, the bride is introduced to her husband’s relatives; the bride should bow to all of them. In response, the close relatives declare their gifts to the new bride.

Traditional Kazakh dombra kuy (kaz 'kuy') - instrumental play performed on dombra - a traditional pear-shaped musical instrument with two strings and a long neck. The true meaning of kuy execution dates back to the sacred relationship with the Creator and the desire to establish the internal harmony of the individual. Kazakhs say 'Kuy - Tanyrdyn sybyry' ('Kuy - a whisper of Tengri'). Dombra had been hung on the wall of each nomad house (yurta) for the play before guests and home owners. The art of DombraKuy refers to a short solo composition performed on a traditional pear-shaped, long-necked, two-stringed, plucked musical instrument known as a dombra. The music aims to connect people to their historic roots and traditions through classical and improvised pieces that engage the audience at a spiritual and emotional level. Public engagement in the performance serves as one of the most important means of social communication between people and contributes to the transfer of knowledge and skills related to Kazakh culture. The music is usually accompanied by narrated stories and legends. It is traditionally performed at social gatherings, holidays and festive celebrations, amid a rich variety of food and musical entertainment. It serves as a vital social and cultural experience, strengthening people’s identity and promoting solidarity and mutual understanding in society. Aspiring and talented musicians are apprenticed to masters from the moment a child demonstrates an interest in the philosophy and virtuosity of traditional music and performance. Amateur musicians then apprentice themselves to other more experienced and talented performers from their region to increase their skills and repertoire.

Games with assyk (talus bones of sheep) are traditional children’s games. The number of assyk varies, depending on the version of the game. Each player chooses a saka, typically selected from the largest assyks, to shoot others. It is often brightly colored. The player must have at least ten assyk. In the photo, the children are playing with the assyk.

Flatbread tradition is a symbol of shared cultural identity and serves as an expression of mutual respect among communities. Flatbread preparation bears many social and cultural functions for its communities in terms of usage at special occasions and its relation to transitions between seasons. Communities consider flatbread preparation sacred. In Kazakhstan, communities believe preparing flatbread at funerals helps protect the deceased get from the burning sun while waiting for God’s decision. During the preparation of flatbread, it is shared with all passersby as a sign of hospitality. The photo shows the process of making flatbread.

For Turkic nations, Korkyt Ata is a universally relevant persona. Korkyt Ata is the legendary Turkic poet, sage, and narrator who created the kobyz, a bow musical instrument and an indispensable attribute of the nomadic arts. Some of Korkyt’s legacy is widely known in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and other Turkic-language countries. In the photo, the singer is playing kobyz.

Hunting with eagles is an ancient social practice of cultural heritage of the Kazakh people. Those who hunt with eagles (berkutchi) tame and train eagles for hunting. Hunting always takes place on horseback and generally accompanied with the Kazakh national dog, a hound known locally as tazy. Eagles were used for hunting wolves, foxes, karsaks, and mountain goats. The photo shows a golden eagle with berkutchi.

In the photo, the master makes a leather item. Leather production (ter ond ru) is a type of Kazakh art and craft. Families are typically engaged in processing leather and skins. Tanning art is widely used for manufacturing footwear, clothing, harnesses, and utensils to store dairy products. Masters use skin to cover wooden barrels and other objects important to nomadic life.

The master is making a Kazakh carpet in the photo. Kazakh carpets are woven or knitted, typically using three main materials wool, natural cotton, and silk fibers. In some cases, camel or goat wool is used. As a rule, nap fibers of wool are used to make knots in hand-carpet weaving.

A yurt is a portable house with a felt-covered dismountable wooden circular frame. The interior decoration consists of craft products created from various regions of Kazakhstan. The circular form of the yurt and the lack of internal division into sections limit the area in which to place items, so many items are stored by hanging them on the latticed walls (kerege). However, despite the lack of sections inside a yurt, each part of the interior serves a traditional purpose.

In traditional Kazakh culture orteke (mountain goat) is a flexible wooden figure of a mountain goat, placed on a traditional drum called dauylpaz. Originally orteke was a combination of theater performances music and puppet dance. An expressive doll figure called teke (goat) seems to come alive when the wizard starts to play the drum. The figure makes fun dancing movements on the drum skin as the musicians beat out a musical rhythm. The figure also moves to the finger movements of the dombra (Kazakh string instrument) players as there are filaments connecting the puppet to the musician fingers.

Spring festivals of Kazakh horse breeders includes three calendar-based festive ceremonies: bie bailau (first milking holiday), a separation of mares’ milk; aigyr qossu (wedding stallion) joining a stallion to a herd; and qymyz muryndyk (festival of first kymyz) beginning to cook and drink kymyz. The photograph depicts bie bailau as well a studhorse leaving to the steppe with his herd.

Zergerlik is the traditional Kazakh art of jewelry making. Since ancient times, Kazakh people have been producing a variety of silver jewelry: rings, earrings, necklaces, pendants, buckles, and much more. Silver vessels such as jugs, bowls, and mugs all decorated with engraved images are highly prized.

Keste (literally “a scheme”) is the traditional Kazakh handmade embroidery using colored threads (biz), needles (ilgek), hooks (ilme), and hoops (kergish). There are about forty kinds of complex and simple Kazakh embroidery. The great diversity of embroidery can be observed in yurts during Nauryz or the celebration of nature renewal and in state museums. The photo shows interior items decorated with Kazakh embroidery.

Assyk games have been almost the most popular types of games among the nomadic Kazakhs since ancient times. Assyk is the talus bone of a sheep or a goat. Assyk atu is the oldest game of the peoples of Eurasia, as confirmed by archaeological data. Astragalus-Assykians were found in southern Kazakhstan, in the burial place of Borizhari, dating from between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Assyks were painted, drilled from the inside, and filled with lead, which gave them weight, and allowed players to be more accurate. Boys between 5 and 15 years old have typically been the main players. Assyk games include demon taban, alsha, and cantalapai. While there are many variants of the game, the essence is basically the same—knocking out the main assyk of opponents.

Highly traditional nomadic rites, such as the tusau kesu, have been preserved among the Kazakhs, but the people’s understanding of the rites has been transformed. For Kazakh forbearers, rituals like tusau kesu (cutting the rope) or ashamayga mingyzu (landing on a horse) were rituals for beginning a journey, the journey through life and the exploration of the space around them. Many Kazakh families believe that the tusau kesu rite helps accelerate the child’s physical development so that the child can walk confidently, but if the child walks weakly, the rite can be repeated. The rite also symbolizes the discovery of a life path. The rite transfers spiritual and physical qualities to the child from a respected person elected by the parents. A grandmother, for example, shows the techniques of fetter weaving to her granddaughter.

Korkyt-ata invented kobyz, a two-stringed instrument covered in goat leather, and wrote many kyus (songs), eleven of which have survived to this day. His dedication to the instrument is why the Mausoleum of Korkyt-ata on the banks of the Syr Darya River was made in the form of a giant kobyz. The traditional kobyz manufacturing process is based on a master-apprentice system through which the master transmits his knowledge and skills through formal (educational institutions) and informal communication (at home, in the family).

The video shows how jewelry making differs from making other crafts in Kazakhstan, as it has a professional nature and is predetermined by the specifics of production, including the purchase and use of certain metals, of which silver has sacral value. Historical examples of Kazakh jewelers and traditional techniques of minting metal are shown as are jewelry-making processes. Symmetrical ornaments and patterns dominate jewelry designs and they emphasize the historical heritage.

The video shows Kazakh keste (embroidery) an original Kazakh folk art and craft. According to experts, the word keste comes from an ancient Iranian word that can be literally translated as “painted”. Since ancient times almost every woman was engaged in embroidery. This art was inherited from mother to daughter. Masters embroidered on domestic canvases, leather, suede, and felt and on imported cloth, silk, cotton, and velvet. Also, experts distinguish the seam biz keste, performed by a conventional tambour seam with the help of a hook. Zeynelkhan Mukhamedzhan, the famous Kazakh artist and master of decorative and applied art, has been reviving this technique. Today, the artist passes his skills to students at the Almaty Art College.

Orteke (mountain goat) is the name of an indigenous Kazakh performing art in which flexible wooden figure of a mountain goat is placed on a traditional drum called dauylpaz. Orteke’s originality comes from it being a combination of theater, music, and puppet dance. The expressive puppet figure, called teke (goat), seems to come to life when the master starts playing the drum. The figure makes funny dance movements in time with the rhythm of the music being played. It is also said that the orteke figure once came different shapes and sizes that were created individually, each with a different number of moving limbs, depending on which kyu was performed.

The dombra, a two-stringed plucked instrument, has played an integral part of Kazakh culture since ancient times. By performing kuy (a short solo composition) on the dombra, the nomad expressed his feelings. The only harmonic material for dombra that fully meets the traditions and rules is the tree. The tradition of hollowing out the instrument from a single piece of wood relates to mythological ideas about the sacredness and inviolability of the tree. The entire process of manufacturing dombra in ancient times took four years, and each instrument was custom made based on the player’s physique, voice, repertoire, gender, and was endowed with a special spiritual content.

Felt making is one of the oldest traditions, bearing an artistic and aesthetic value and symbolism closely associated with folk customs and rituals. The process of collecting wool is twice a year—in autumn and in spring. A story about the historical value and ubiquitous use of rams’ skins. The process and the staged technique of felting. One way to preserve traditional felt making. It is a question of the ecological value of felt, the methods of extraction from natural materials (plants and stones), and the use of certain ornaments associated with nature and animals.

Kazakh masters have historically made different kinds of leather clothes and accessories as well as dishes, horse riggings, and other culturally relevant goods. The prevalence of leather goods indicates that leather production has long been a highly valued part of local traditional culture. The most significant part of nomadic economy was brought to fruition through leather manufacturing. Products related to equestrian lifestyles—girths, bridles, bibs, saddles, etc. Leatherwork consists of several stages. After processing the skins, they are boiled in a paint made from the rhizomes of trees, then dried. After that, the necessary parts are sewn, and an ornament is applied to the damp skin. After the ornament is ready, a vessel is filled with sand and dried, then the sand pours out and the product is dried again in the wind. The process ensures that the product will never change its original form.

Ulytau is the geographic and historical center of Kazakhstan where the Kazakh Khanate appeared. Central Kazakhstan is rich in historical monuments. The history and traditions of Kazakh horse breeders have been maintained since the Paleolithic times. The traditions include: biye baylau, separating dairy mares from the shoal or the feast of the first milking; ayghyr kosu, joining a stallion to the herd or the stallion’s wedding; and kymyz muryndyk, beginning to make and drink kymyz or festive of the first kymyz. Inextricably linked with one another, these traditions mark the beginning of a new horse-breeding cycle and form an integral part of Kazakh intangible cultural heritage.