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Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright Manage No EE00001987 Country Kyrgyzstan ICH Domain Performing Arts Traditional craft skills Others
| Description | Kyrgyz people’s cultural heritage is intrinsically linked to the nomadic lifestyle. However, during the Soviet era, which came with forced sedentation, many elements became endangered, including traditional games. After gaining independence in 1991, the local communities in Kyrgyzstan started working on revitalizing and celebrating their traditional culture. In this context, traditional game practitioners and knowledge bearers from different communities across the country held their first major meeting in 2007 to discuss current challenges for the traditional games and the safeguarding needs. The participants identified many challenges but agreed that some of them were very urgent: the first being the loss of knowledge about the traditional games and the second being the lack of interest among the younger generation to play the games. After long discussions and deliberations, the participants identified several safeguarding needs that shaped the Nomad Games: Rediscovering Heritage programme. The traditional game practitioners reached a consensus about the need to prioritize documentation and identification of traditional games in different parts of the country. These goals were prioritized because many people knowledgeable about traditional games were older and there was a real threat of losing their knowledge about traditional games unless it was documented. |
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| Social and cultural significance | The Nomad Games programme demonstrated their effectiveness in contributing to the viability, promotion and revitalization of the traditional games. The key ingredients for its success have been a creation of a broad platform that strengthened connection between the practitioner communities across the country, a wide media coverage and fostering of partnership between the practitioners, knowledge holder and the local and national governments. These are several indicators of the Nomad Games’ effectiveness: Number of traditional game practitioners rose: For example, since 2007 the number of formal and informal traditional game clubs increased tenfold (about 100 formal and informal clubs in 2007 and about 1,048 in 2020), whereas the number of traditional game practitioners rose from 2 thousand to 55 thousand across all regions of the country. Legal and institutional recognition: traditional games have been included into the physical education curriculum of kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools as well as universities and vocational schools. Some 220 traditional games documented by local communities have been included into a provincial and republican inventory of ICH. One of the traditional games called Kök Börü has been inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and another one called Toguz Korgool has been nominated to the ICH Representative List in a multinational nomination of Kyrgyzstan, Qazaqstan and Turkey in 2019. Wide media coverage: before the program has started the traditional games had a very low profile in media. The number of news reports, TV shows, etc. were next to nothing. As the program evolved, it started attracting more and more media attention. For example, simple Google search displays 17,100 items related to the Nomad Games from 2014 until 2020. During the Third World Nomad Games in 2018, the official hashtag of the World Nomad Games has been mentioned in 32,015 publications on Instagram and in 95,078 publications on Facebook. The Nomad Games website has been visited 32,780 times around the time of the Games and 4,720,859 times since it was first launched in 2014. More than 600 reporters from 56 countries who produced news materials in more than 30 languages. These international information outlets included 50 TV channels, 12 radio station, 67 information agencies, 48 newspapers and more than 50 independent reporters. Establishing and strengthening links with the other ICH elements: one of the results of the Nomad Games program has been establishment of a strong partnership between the traditional game practitioners and the traditional craftspersons. Before the onset of the program, the traditional craftsmen and craftswomen almost stopped making equipment for needed for games, e.g. traditional saddles and horse tack for the horseback games; wooden boards, wooden and stone pellets for the board games, etc. As more and more people started playing the traditional games, it became viable for the craftsperson to start making the game equipment again. Nowadays, more than 5,000 wood crafters and gold-, silver-, and blacksmiths, 2,000 yurt makers, 5,000 ak kalpak and elechek craftswomen participate in the program and sell their crafts. |
| Transmission method | Based on the safeguarding needs identified by the traditional game practitioners, the program focused on documentation of the traditional games and raising the general public’s awareness about these games. The documentation of traditional games and the traditional knowledge associated with them started in 2007. The local communities and the representatives of the traditional game federations became the driving force of the documentation process. They managed to reach out to and build cooperation with the Kyrgyzstan’s Academy of Sciences and seven provincial universities in seven regions of the country. As a result, the teams of practitioners and scholars managed to conduct a series of participatory field studies to document traditional games and the local knowledge associated with those games. Before these field studies, only 20-25 traditional games were believed to exist. During the field studies the research teams documented more than 220 traditional games (or about 375 with regional varieties of the same game are counted as separate games) across the country. The regional differences in playing rules and techniques of the same games have also been documented and inventoried. In order to share the results of extensive documentation with the general public and to celebrate the diversity of traditional games, the local communities and the representatives of federations proposed to conduct traditional Nomad Game festivals on a provincial level. The first such Nomad Games festival took place in the Ysyk-Köl province in 2008, which has been followed by similar festivals in six other provinces of the Kyrgyz Republic. These Nomad Games festivals have been conducted biannually and consisted of three elements: 1) learning workshops for the visitors; 2) interactive presentations of the outcomes of the documentation process and 3) traditional game competitions. In 2014, 2016 and 2018, these festivals have been conducted on a national and international level under the name of the World Nomad Games. These events secured extensive media coverage, which sparked the interest among the general public for learning how to play traditional games. Traditional game practitioners and knowledge holders opened new informal clubs in their communities, whereas existing clubs experienced a massive influx of newcomers. Since 2012, the Nomad Games festivals started attracting attention of the traditional craftsmen and craftswomen as well as artists and performers. Traditional epic reciters, singers and musicians, dancers and artists got involved into organization of these Nomad Games festivals. They set up their stalls and pavilions to showcase their performances, to hold workshops and sell their crafts. Thus, these traditional Nomad Games festivals evolved from events focusing on traditional games to a platform for revitalization and promotion of the intangible cultural heritage in general and for celebrating its diversity. Innovative elements of this program include: a) establishing participatory and community-driven documentation process, b) securing extensive media coverage, c) cherishing holistic approach to the ICH, d) conducting Nomad Games festivals on multiple scales, i.e. provincial, national and international, and d) building partnership among various groups of traditional game practitioners, federations and governments. |
| Type of UNESCO List | Good Safeguarding Practices |
| Incribed year in UNESCO List | 2021 |
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DI00000546
Nomadic Horse Games in Kyrgyzstan
Prevalent in Kyrgyzstan, the horse symbolizes nomadic culture. The country’s folk literature reflects how the Kyrgyz people harmoniously live with the animal. For example, in Manas, the epic poem, the hero was inseparable from his horse, Ak-Kula, in every battle he fought. The deep association of the Kyrgyz with horses is embodied in nomadic horse games. Occurring in summertime, nomadic horse games are usually played by men. These games are a depiction of spectacular skills and manliness. Men participating in these games demonstrate excellence in horse riding, prompt reaction, agility, and strength. There is a significant number of horse games in Kyrgyzstan collectively perceived as a traditional sport. Among the most important of these games is kok boru. Also known as ulak tartysh, it is a famous nomad horse game historically believed to train young men to be fearless. The game consists of two teams on horseback, where players have to throw a dead animal (ulak or sheep) to the opponent’s goal. The team with the most goals wins the game. Another game, at chabyish, is a long-distance horse-racing competition. Depending on the distance and age of horse, this game as classified as kunan chabysh, zhorgo salysh, or byshty zhorgo. Wrestling is also incorporated in nomadic horse games. Er enish is a good example of this. Requiring great stamina, this game consists of two horsemen who attempt to push each other off each other’s horse. The first to touch the ground loses. To preserve and develop these traditional games of nomadic culture, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan initiated the World Nomad Games in 2012. The First World Nomad Games were held in 2014 in the Issyk-Kul Oblast of Kyrgyzstan. Around nineteen countries participated in the nomad games competitions. The Second Nomad Games were held in 2016, where sixty-two countries participated in twenty-six different nomadic sports. The Third World Nomad Games will take place this year, from 2 to 8 September in Cholpon-Ata, Issyk-Kul Oblast, Kyrgyzstan. For this year, around seventy-seven countries are expected to participate. The nomadic horse games mentioned in this article will be included in the program. Photo 1 : Man riding a horse© National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO Photo 2 : Girl riding a horse © Tynchtyk Turdaliev Photo 3 : Riding a horse © Tynchtyk Turdaliev
CHYNARA BOSUNBAEVA 2018 -
DI00000573
Salburuun—Traditional Hunting Games of Kyrgyz People
Salburuun is a traditional Kyrgyz hunting game with a long history. Traditionally, salburuun comes from the nomadic tradition of protecting herds from wolves. Moreover, Kyrgyz people have a long tradition of hunting with eagles and faithful dogs called taigan. During hunting campaigns, people identify the best hunters, horses, eagles, and taigans. salburrun is not only about the skills of the hunter but also his relationship and courage with eagles or taigan. Therefore, salburuun is a complex hunting game with birds of prey, taigans, and traditional bow shooting. In Kyrgyzstan, different salburrun festivals have been held and is part of the World Nomad Games held every two years in Kyrgyzstan. The various salburuun games include burkut salu, dalba, and taigan jarysh. Burkut salu is a complex hunting activity with eagle. Usuallys, the burkut salu team consists of six people with one team leader and other five berkutchi (hunter with an eagle). Participants test their skills two exercises as chyrga and ondok. Dalba is hunting with falcon. In this competition, the speed of the falcon’s flight to lure is tested. Each kushchu (falconer) is given two minutes to test his falcon. During this time, the falcon had to imitate an attack on a lure from the air. Judges note how many times the falcon flies and imitates an attack. Taigan jarysh is another type of traditional hunting game in the form of dog racing. After the judge’s signal, dogs are released simultaneously to chase a fox or hare dummy pulled by the rider or a special apparatus. There are three competitions the initial, semi-final and final races in which each dog’s ability is determined. If a dog tries to bite or hinder another dog during the race, the dog is disqualified. Salburuun is a unique traditional method of hunting that combines the teamwork of eagles, falcons, and taigan dogs. The games draw attention of thousands of people from all over the world, which is why it is part of the World Nomad Games that are held in Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, there are a number of festivals and competitions hosted to foster salburuun as comprehensive hunting game, which is now also considered an art form as well. Photo : Engraving of Kyrgyz traditions, created in 1880
CHYNARA BOSUNBAEVA 2019
