Since ancient times, Central Asia has been populated by numerous nomadic and sedentary peoples and ethnic groups. The region is characterized by a rich cultural diversity as well as the interaction and interpenetration of different cultures, each of which is original.

A wide range of festivals are held in Uzbekistan to generate public interest in intangible cultural heritage. This includes the recent International Bakhshi Art Festival, which was held for a week from 5 April in the ancient city of Termez. Bakhshi is a multi-genre art form that brings together singers, musicians, and performers of Doston, a Central Asian oral epic. Teams from seventy-five countries took part in this festival, which featured not only a wide range of performances but also an enlightening international conference.

An exhibition of beldemchi was launched at the Gapar Aitiev Fine Arts Museum in Bishkek on 7 June 2017. The exhibition is still ongoing through the partnership of the Kiyiz Duino Foundation and the Gapar Aitiev Fine Arts Museum, an institution named after one of the first Soviet Kyrgyz artists who became a national artist of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954. The exhibition displays more than forty items collected from state museums and private collections. It represents all regions of the country and various embroidery styles and techniques. The event is a sign of increasing interest in beldemchi in Kyrgyz society; renowned designers are already coming up with unique beldemchi design.\n\nOne of the Kyrgyz ICH elements, beldemchi is a traditional women’s skirt worn over a dress, gown, and sometimes thin coat. Conventionally, women wear their first beldemchi after a severe stress, e.g. first labor or situations demanding warmth. When worn as postpartum clothing, beldemchi helps women correcting their posture. It also gives physical support. Historically, as Kyrgyz people led a nomadic lifestyle in inland continental climate conditions during pre-Soviet times until 1917, beldemchi was an essential part of Kyrgyz women’s traditional apparel.\n\nBeldemchi may be worn daily and in holidays or festive events. It is made up of velvet and silk adorned with embroidery. The embroidery could cover either the whole skirt or its edges. Viewed as a protective amulet against evil eye, jinxes, and other unpleasant troubles, it is also a determinant of a woman’s age, social status, region, and her artistic skills based on the composition, style, and quality of the embroidery since every woman is supposed to know how to make a beldemchi and its embroidery. The main base of beldemchi is a double-leaved swing skirt with wide and thick belt. Beldemchi has several regional differences. In the north where the winter season is cold and long, it is mainly a wraparound flared skirt from warm fabric with a thick band over the belt. In the south, beldemchi is a buttoned front open cut skirt.\n\nThe presentation of beldemchi at the exhibition displays how the making of traditional clothing for women has gradually turned into a field of rich female creativity. Notwithstanding, beldemchi has started to disappear from Kyrgyz everyday life, which may have been caused by the changing views and lifestyle. During the Soviet modernism in the 1960s, wearing beldemchi was a sign of backwardness and provincialism. Soon in the 1970s, it fell into disuse. However, elderly women in rural areas have kept wearing beldemchi until now.\n\nPhoto : Women wearing Beldemchi © Kyiz Duino Fund

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.\n\nOccurring 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.\n\nTo 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.\n\nPhoto 1 : Man riding a horse© National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO\nPhoto 2 : Girl riding a horse © Tynchtyk Turdaliev\nPhoto 3 : Riding a horse © Tynchtyk Turdaliev

Today, the issue of preservation and popularization of national traditions, customs, and rituals associated with the human life cycle is relevant. Kazakhs have many ceremonies that must be carried out throughout a person’s life. One such significant rite of initiation into a new life is the Tusau Keser ceremony.\n\nTusau keser is fetters cutting on feet, symbolizing the beginning of a new stage in a child’s life—the ability to walk and to learn about the world. Kazakhs believed that if this ritual was not performed, the child would often stumble and be insecure and awkward. This custom is carried out when the child first begins to walk. In most cases, this will be when the child turns one year old. Our ancestors believed that if this custom is not carried out, the future of the child would be bad and if it is held, then a bright future awaits and brings luck and happiness. To hold this ceremony, the child’s parents organize toi (party). To do this, the day before the ceremony, they send invitations to relatives and friends. The next day, the invited people come with gifts as well as sweets for shashu (a festive throwing of sweets). A festal dastarkhan is set for guests and a feast begins. After the festive table, the tusau keser ceremony itself begins.\n\nRite Attributes\nFor holding of a tusau keser a colorful flagellum is prepared—ala jip, or colored interlaced from several woolen threads of different bright colors. This flagellum is called tusau—fetters. The threads consist of three colors: white (a symbol of purity), green (a symbol of health and longevity), red (a symbol of wealth). There is also an old form of fetters called ala jip, which were made of white and black threads symbolizing the philosophy and reality of the world—good and evil, light and darkness, and warmth and cold.\n\nSuperstitions and Beliefs\nThe toddler’s legs are tied with black and white threads. These colors are chosen to distinguish black from white in the future, to be a respectable citizen, and not to cross the road from anybody. Some people, instead of a striped rope, tie the legs with the fatty intestines of an animal so that the child would be rich and authoritative in the future. Such a superstition exists to this day. Sometimes they use a rope woven from grass so that the child would grow up quickly, mature faster, have a large family, and so on.\n\nThere are two ways to decide who will cut the fetters of the child. One option is for the parents to choose. This right is mainly granted to a multi-child, energetic woman or grandmother. The person who cuts the fetters should be smart, energetic, and respected. Our ancestors believed that if such a person cuts the fetters, then the person’s energy will be transmitted to the baby. The person entrusted with this process must bring a knife and a rope. After the feast, everyone goes out into the street. A special carpet is laid. They put the baby on the carpet and the chosen person cuts the fetters. Then two people take his hands and lead him off the carpet. When the baby is led, the people throw gifts and coins in a solemn atmosphere. In some regions, special items like books, mirror, or a whip are placed on the carpet, and the child chooses one of the items to determine the future. For example, if the child chooses a book, he or she will become a scientist or enlightened person. And if the child chooses the whip, he or she will become belligerent man.\n\nA second variant to decide who will cut the fetter is a fast-walking competition among boys. The boy who wins first place will do the cutting. This is done to transmit the energy of this boy to the baby. The boy is then given gifts, most often a sledding horse or a foal.\n\nPhoto : Tusau Keser symbolizing the beginning of a new stage in a child’s life ⓒ Nazym Malibayeva

Nestled in the southeastern mountains of Uzbekistan, Boysun developed into a cultural hub over centuries, since the age of the ancient Silk Road. Given its long history and outside influence through the famed trade route, the region’s cultural heritage evolved to become as diverse as the flora and fauna that inhabit the region. As a way of celebrating the diverse cultural heritage that dates back to the pre-Islamic days, the Boysun Bahori Festival was first developed as an annual spring festival in the early 2000s, with some interruptions on certain years.\n\nUNESCO officially listed Boysun culture as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage, and in the following year, the first festival was held. April was chosen as the optimal time for the festival as Boysun is unusually pleasant at that time, with flowering fields and green mountains creating a perfect backdrop for a festive environment.\n\nThe locals set up a yurt camp that includes workshops and stages for ensembles to perform. In addition, they set up makeshift arenas for traditional sports like wrestling, horse-related sports, and other activities, such as tightrope walking and acrobatics.\n\nIn April 2019, with the support of the Uzbek Ministry of Culture to explain well-known cultural spaces that I wanted to visit for a long time, I went to Boysun to interview some of the locals. During these interviews, some interesting insights about cultural heritage in the Boysun area were uncovered. According to the local community, much of the younger generation, both male and female, have tendencies to pursue careers or education in larger cities. However, in spite of decreasing number of young generation, community people expressed their satisfaction with living in the heritage city. They appear proud of the many rituals and traditional games that have remained a part of daily life.\n\nSuch customary knowledge is in traditional carpet weaving, craftsmanship, games, and rituals, which are still a part of Boysun communities. Some youth activities include stick-tossing games that are similar to jachigi, a Korean children’s game and commonly played throughout the world. In Boysun, I interestingly noticed that some practices have been influenced more by Zoroastrianism than Islam.\n\nDuring my visit, many of community members were absent in the village to visit Termez to participate and observe the International Bakhshi Art Festival, which was held for first time in Uzbekistan. Nonetheless through my visit to this unique cultural place, I felt deep aspiration of the people for safeguarding their own culture and heritage inherited through generations.\n\nPhoto 1 : Boysun entrance ⓒ ICHCAP\nPhoto 2 : Local people in Boysun District ⓒ ICHCAP\nPhoto 3 : Interviewing locals in Boysun ⓒ ICHCAP\nPhoto 4 : Prayer hall in the trunk of a tree that is hundreds of years old ⓒ ICHCAP\nPhoto 5 : Overview of Boysun District (seen from the entrance hill) ⓒ ICHCAP

Toktogul Satylganov was a great composer, poet, akyn (singer-improviser), and komuzist (someone who plays komuz, a traditional Kyrgyz musical instrument). Satylganov rendered a great contribution to the Kyrgyz culture. He sang about hardships of the common people, and he is best known for his songs about freedom and independence during the Tsarist Russia’s colonial era. He is one of the founders of Kyrgyz Soviet Literature.\n\nToktogul Satylganov was born in 1864 to a poor family in Toktogul district of the Djalal-Abad region. He never formally learned to write and read, but at the age of 13, he learned to play komuz by himself and started to compose songs about poverty and cruelty of feudalism. In 1898, he was jailed and sentenced to death because of false allegations of him participating in the Andijan rebellion. Eventually, his punishment was reduced to a seven-year imprisonment in Siberia by the mercy of the Tsars. His work at the Siberian labor camp intensified his understanding of social inequality and the inhumanity of feudalism. For that reason, Toktogul Satylganov was the first akyn to welcome the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the revolution by the peasants and working people and led by Vladimir Lenin against Tsar Nicholas II.\n\nAccordingly, Toktogul Satylganov is known for his outstanding works that made a great contribution to the Kyrgyz literature. During the Soviet period, his songs played an important role in shaping public opinion. His songs are informative, vividly depicting the life of ordinary people, the beauty of the motherland, and the Communist Party during the Soviet era. He was the first to depict Vladimir Lenin in What Kind of Woman Gave Birth to a Son Like Lenin? that came out in a time now regarded as the beginning of the Kyrgyz Soviet literary history. His songs predicted the end of tsarism, praising laborers’ rights that encouraged many people. Therefore, many Kyrgyz poets and composers were influenced by Toktogul Satylganov and his work has been translated into many languages.\n\nToktogul Satylganov played a significant role in traditional Kyrgyz art. The art of akyn, the predominant form of cultural expression of nomadic Kyrgyz people, was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. Tokotogul Satylganov has been and continues to be honored by a number of poets and in books, scholarly works, movies, and discourse around musical heritage. The Kyrgyz National Philharmonic Building in the center of Bishkek is named after him. In addition, a city, streets, districts, parks, schools, libraries, and even the biggest hydroelectric power station and reservoir are named after him as the great composer, poet, akyn (singer-improviser), komuzist who was the most influential figure in traditional Kyrgyz art and literature.\n\nPhoto : Toktogul Satylganov

ICHCAP published Intangible Cultural Heritage of Kyrgyzstan as part of its ICH and Society series. The newest volume introduces various intangible heritage elements of Kyrgyzstan. It is the eighth book in the series and is the result of a two-year joint project between ICHCAP and the National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO from 2018 to 2019 to encourage the awareness of Kyrgyzstan’s intangible heritage.\n\nKyrgyzstan’s intangible heritage once faced a cultural disruption crisis during the Soviet system. However, consciousness of the crisis and many efforts to safeguarding ICH in Kyrgyzstan has helped keep many elements alive.\n\nThis book consists of six themes, including traditional crafts, rituals, oral traditions and traditional foods and introduces their cultural roots and identity by explaining around a hundred Kyrgyz ICH elements such as horse breeding, pasture management, rites of passage.

Kyrgyz people's oral tradition has been forming for centuries and is one of the key elements of cultural heritage. All experiences and knowledge has been transmitted orally from generation to generation. Kyrgyz people's oral traditions contributed a great deal to the world's intangible cultural heritage.

Traditional crafts have long been a part of the traditional nomadic culture of the Kyrgyz people, who have historically lived in close connection with nature. For the Kyrgyz people, the natural world was once seen as an inexhaustible source of raw materials and inspiration for the creation of handicrafts.

The culture of the Central Asian steppes expresses itself vividly in the lifestyle of traditional nomadic practices. Mongolian culture has been in practice in the nomadic life and the traditions surrounding the nomad’s home (ger). And it is present in religious celebrations, national festivals, art and crafts, music and dance, language and literature, which form the backbone of Mongolian intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia. Mongolia is filled with valuable cultural properties and intangible cultural heritage of humanity that have been kept or practiced for thousands of years.\n\nGer, Mongolian Traditional Dwelling\nThe traditional architecture of the Mongols differed strongly from that of the settled peoples of Asia and other continents. Centuries ago, there the ger, also known as a yurt, appeared. It still offers shelter to nomads in particular places in Central Asia. Its development and fundamental principles are determined by the specific features of the way of life of Mongol tribes, which made it necessary to evolve a light and collapsible structure to be used as a dwelling or for public functions.\n\nMongolian Language and Literature\nMongolian is the language of most of the Mongolian population and inner Mongolia. By origin, Mongolian is one of the Altaic family of languages, and the history of the Mongolian language is long and complicated. Significant literary work of early Mongolia includes The Secret History of the Mongols, which was published in 1228).\n\nMongolian Religion and Beliefs\nThe Mongols have practiced several religions, of which Shamanism and Buddhism were the most common. The faith in Mongolia is Buddhism, though the state and religion were separated during the socialist period, but with the transition to the parliamentary republic in the 1990s, there has been a general revival of faiths across the country\n\nMongolian Art and Crafts\nMongolian arts and crafts have been passed down across generations from the Paleolithic times to today, leaving behind deep impressions on all facets of life and conscious, aesthetic, and philosophical thinking. Highly developed Mongolian arts and crafts come from the second millennium BCE. The works included sculptured heads of wild animals with exaggerated features. Other items include knives, daggers, and other items of practical and religious use.\n\nMongolian Music and Dance\nMusic is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among Mongolia’s unique contributions to the world’s musical culture are the long songs, overtone singing, and morin khuur (the horse-headed fiddle). The music of Mongolia is also rich with varieties related to the various ethnic groups of the country. Among the most popular forms of modern music in Mongolia are Western pop and rock genres and the mass songs written by contemporary authors in the form of folk songs.\n\nHorse Culture of Mongolia\nIt is famously known that horses play a large role in the Mongols’ daily and national lives. Common sayings are, “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings,” and “Mongols are born on horseback” these are arguably true words. Even today, horse-based culture is still practiced by nomadic Mongolians.\n\nVisit https://www.toursmongolia.com/tours for additional information about Mongolian culture.\n\nPhoto 1 : Prairie meadow grass inner Mongolia traditional clothing © Batzaya Choijiljav\nPhoto 2~7 : © Batzaya Choijiljav

The Kyrgyz Shyrdagy Festival was inaugurally organized in 2010 by felt carpets producers in Kyrgyzstan, after UNESCO inscribed the traditional Kyrgyz felt carpets ala-kiyiz and shyrdak into the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.\n\nThe festival is held every year in June in the mountainous Naryn region, famous for its felt carpets. The festival is managed by the Craft Council of Kyrgyzstan under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and the Information and Tourism of Kyrgyz Republic with the support of the regional administration and in partnership with the local crafts communities, NGOs, international agencies, and private businesses.\n\nThe goals of the festival are to attract social attention to the necessity of safeguarding the art of traditional Kyrgyz felt carpets, to develop the local market of the felt carpets, and to develop event/cultural tourism, especially in remote mountainous areas of Kyrgyzstan.\n\nThe art of making felt carpets among Kyrgyz has ancient historical roots dating back to the first century BCE. Felt carpets are an important decorative component in the yurt, the traditional nomadic dwelling of Kyrgyz people, which is used by local residents in everyday life.\n\nThe process of making felt carpets is a socializing, unifying factor. It involves all family members and often relatives and neighbors. During the joint work, knowledge and skills are interactively transmitted by the older generation to young people.\n\nIn the past, felt carpets were not intended for sale; they were passed down from generation to generation, playing the sacred role in the family as an ancestral memory of the mother. Therefore, the carpet ornamentation was marked individually by the woman-creator—an imagery of the benevolence or the blessing of the mother to her descendants.\n\nShyrdak felt carpet today is a popular product on the local tourist market and international craft market, providing a significant income for rural women. Being exported to western countries, shyrdak carpets are highly appreciated as handmade eco-friendly products with unique ornamentation.\n\nWith about three hundred crafts artisans and participants, the Kyrgyz Shyrdagy Festival has become a national holiday, recognizing the Kyrgyz people’s cultural values. Residents of neighboring villages go to the festival, dressed in traditional festive clothes. At the festival, attention is given to master classes of the carriers of knowledge of ancient felt-making methods and contests are held for felt carpet producers to better carpet preservation.\n\nIn the past festivals, seventy craftspeople were awarded with diplomas and monetary prizes from state institutions and private foundations. Twenty-five awarded shyrdaks were gifted by organizers to five leading museums in Kyrgyzstan. In 2018, within the framework of the festival, it is planned to hold an international conference on preserving traditional crafts with the participation of the National Commission for UNESCO, museum representatives, and tourism and craft organizations.\n\nThe Kyrgyz Shyrdagy Festival is currently a meeting point for artisans, traders, representatives of travel companies, scientists, and aficionados of felt carpets from Kyrgyzstan and other countries. It promotes the development of the craft market in Kyrgyzstan and other regions, consequently improving the living standards and social status of artisans. The festival also demonstrates the inseparability of cultural ties between generations, stimulating young people to study, preserve, and develop traditional crafts and drawing the attention to preserving Kyrgyz ICH.\n\nPhoto : Shyrdagy festival photo © Photographer Urmat Osmoev CACSARC-kg