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

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.\n\nThe 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.\n\nSalburuun 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.\n\nPhoto : Engraving of Kyrgyz traditions, created in 1880

The oral tradition of the Kyrgyz people is the basis of a unique intangible cultural heritage that reflects Kyrgyz cultural identity. Oral heritage, developed over centuries, depicts the history and culture of the Kyrgyz people. Their creativity has been proven to survive exclusively in an oral form for many generations. This oral tradition represents a unique layer of traditional knowledge, making it a valuable source of cultural and traditional values and evidence of the development of the sociopolitical history of the Kyrgyz people. Kyrgyz oral heritage takes a wide variety of forms, including songs, fairy tales, proverbs, and riddles. These can all be different in terms of content and structure. Depending on the genre, oral tradition can reflect history, legends, fairy tales, or lore, which can be important in educating younger generations about the value of peace, attitudes toward nature and people, and love for the motherland. Many traditional oral works portray the main characters as defenders of their native land, arousing a sense of pride, and also depict the rich nature of the Kyrgyz land, nourishing love for their home. Some elements of oral tradition such as songs and folktales tell the stories or the specificities and peculiarities of the everyday life of Kyrgyz people. Folktales also reflect the esthetic views of the Kyrgyz people and teach us to recognize beauty, rhythm, and skillful use of language.\n

The Azerbaijani Carpet Makers Union (ACMU), founded in January 2010, is a voluntary self-governmental public association of citizens rallied to support Azerbaijani carpet weaving.The ACMU seeks to promote a revival of the powerful spiritual heritage of carpets, the national traditions of the Azerbaijani people, a consolidation of the creative potential of seen figures of society and culture, support for talented children and youth, and creative carpet dynasties. The purpose of the ACMU is also to convey objective information about the unique national culture, rich historical heritage, and diversity of the carpet art of Azerbaijan to the international community.

Central Asia stands at the crossroads of ancient civilisations. Its territory, crossed by the northern part of the great Silk Road, constitutes an ensemble of cultural heritage sites and monuments that express common historical experiences as well as reflect an extraordinary cultural diversity dating from prehistoric times to the Islamic period and beyond. For centuries, the phenomenon of intangible cultural heritage was a key factor for the transmission of indigenous cultural traditions for future generations as well as a matching point for intercultural dialogue in Central Asia—a region with unique oral and music traditions.

This article contains a brief summary of the major traditional wrestling styles that have been preserved by local populations in Central Asia, namely Turkmen goresh; Tajik gushtingiri; Uzbek kurash; Kazakh kuresi, and Balban kurosh. Each of these sports are considered as traditional wrestling styles, recognized at national level, while some of them have gained popularity at international level. Promotion of such national sports provides an opportunity to share national values and highlight national identity through intangible cultural heritage (ICH).

Kazakhstan is characterized by ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity. However, the nation has not always had such a multiethnic composition. In the 1920s, Kazakhstan was a republic of the USSR and was mainly monoethnic. The Stalinist leadership aimed at eradicating social classes. To reach this goal, terror and intimidation were employed, targeting mostly members of the clergy, opposition leaders, intellectuals, artists, and former tsarist-government officials. Starting in 1934, political repression was particularly strong. Millions of Soviet citizens were exiled to the Urals, Siberia, and Kazakhstan. Opponents to the Bolsheviks from all over the USSR were held prisoner in concentration camps located in Kazakhstan.

Central Asia is a region that has served as the centre of social and economic, in particular cultural interrelations of East and West. The nations of this region have a rich cultural heritage and ancient traditions like any nation in the world. The nations of Central Asia - Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan – make up a unified cultural space, defined by great grassland steppes and famous mountains, nomadic culture and common history, relics and traditions. Throughout this region we find petroglyphs, keregsur, steles, ruins and other monuments attesting to the mingling of peoples in the Central Asian steppe since prehistory. The territory of our own nation, Mongolia, has indeed been the centre several nomadic empires at various stages in history, established by different peoples of Central Asia sharing a similar cultural origin – Hunnu, Khitan, Turks, Uighurs, Kyrgyz and Mongols.

Azerbaijan is one of the countries whose history is inextricably linked with the Silk Road. From ancient times, the network trade routes connecting the east with the west and the south with the north crossed the territory of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani Carpet Makers Union (ACMU), founded in January 2010, is a voluntary self-governmental public association of citizens rallied to support Azerbaijani carpet weaving. The ACMU seeks to promote a revival of the powerful spiritual heritage of carpets, the national traditions of the Azerbaijani people, a consolidation of the creative potential of seen figures of society and culture, support for talented children and youth, and creative carpet dynasties. The purpose of the ACMU is also to convey objective information about the unique national culture, rich historical heritage, and diversity of the carpet art of Azerbaijan to the international community.

The Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage is a UNESCO-accredited NGO located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It was established in 2000 with the objectives of protecting and safeguarding various natural and cultural heritage elements, including intangible heritage values, and carrying out various activities for researching, studying, and promoting natural and cultural heritage properties and ICH values.

Lhayee Lugar, literally meaning Dancers of Heaven, is one of the oldest organizations in entertainment business and certified by the Government of Bhutan. The cultural troupe was formed in 2008. They feel that preservation and promotion of indigenous Bhutanese culture is one of the four pillars that constitute the development philosophy of Gross National Happiness laid out by the King of Bhutan. They think that preservation and promotion of traditional values, crafts, artists’ sensibility, songs, dances and music add to the uniqueness to cultural heritage. Their aim is to keep the traditional songs, dances and music of Bhutan alive through performances in Bhutan and abroad