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Research on traditional women’s horse horse tack (women’s saddles and related elements) used in the Kyrgyz bridal farewell ritual — is ongoing. At the current stage, desk-based research is being carried out through the study of archival documents, ethnographic materials, old photographs, museum descriptions, and scholarly publications. These sources help provide a deeper understanding of the distinctive features of women’s horse equipment, its structure, artistic decoration, and ritual significance. The focus of the research is not only on the material aspects of these items, but also on their place within…

Working meeting: This week, the Aigine CRC team met with Evgeny, a technical specialist from Hangar Media, to discuss the technical aspects of creating an immersive exhibition dedicated to the petroglyphs of Central Asia. During the meeting, we explored in more detail which technological solutions, formats, and presentation methods could help communicate the depth, meaning, and visual power of this material to contemporary audiences. These discussions are important in shaping an exhibition that is not only technically well designed, but also carefully grounded in local context and content. The project…

Climate, Traditional Knowledge, and Local Communities: On March 11, a webinar titled “The Role of Local Communities and Traditional Knowledge in Strengthening Climate Resilience in Mountain Regions” was held within the framework of a project implemented by the ISUR Public Foundation together with the Climate Action Network Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (CAN EECCA). During the webinar, several findings from Aigine Cultural Research Center’s field studies were presented. The discussion focused on the links between climate change, traditional knowledge, and intangible cultural heritage, with examples from Batken, Naryn, and…

How did the Kyrgyz name days and months? The team of Aigine CRC held a discussion to clarify the Kyrgyz traditional system of time reckoning. Over the years, users of our calendars have raised questions and well-grounded doubts about the accuracy of certain month names and the order in which they are counted. Two versions were compared: the widely used one today (the year begins in January— “Uchtun ayı”) and the version recorded by Ishenaly Arabayev (1911) and Kasym Tynystanov (1926), and discussed in Törön Zhumaev’s research (the year begins…