Working Meeting: On 21 August, the Aigine CRC team, together with experts, visited the ethno-complex Supara and met with its director, Zhanylsynzat Turganbaeva. The main topic of discussion was the approval of the section dedicated to traditional cuisine within the framework of the project “Digital Journey into the World of Intangible Cultural Heritage.” We are now at the final stage of creating the national digital list (registry) of intangible cultural heritage elements, which will be presented as a digital platform. Very soon, this registry will be fully approved and handed over to the Ministry of Culture of the Kyrgyz Republic. During the meeting, we also discussed upcoming events and possible areas of collaboration with Zhanyl eje.

Unified Digital Resource on Petroglyphs of Central Asia: Aigine CRC continues its work within the project “Safeguarding Traditional Art through the Creation of a Unified Interactive Platform on the Petroglyphs of Central Asia.” The goal is to develop a unified digital resource that will bring together information on petroglyphs from five areas of Central Asia: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The structure of the future platform has already been designed: it will host photographs, descriptions, videos, and research materials, all of which will be open and accessible to the public. The project team also aims to enrich the platform with creative elements to spark interest and engagement among its future users.

Preparation for a Field Trip to Kazakhstan: Next week, the Aigine CRC team will embark on a field trip to study petroglyphs in Kazakhstan. The plan includes visits to several important sites: Koskhuduk settlement (Neolithic period) — located 7 km from the city of Aktau; Airakty — petroglyphs and rock carvings dating back to the 17th–19th centuries, situated in Mangystau, 18 km north of the village of Shetpe. The area also contains unique mausoleums with wall paintings; Tanbaly Tas (13th–14th centuries) — an archaeological monument of the Mangystau region, located 28 km east of the village of Senek, near which an impressive necropolis is preserved. During the field trip, ethnographic data on these petroglyphs will be collected and added to the unified digital resource on the petroglyphs of Central Asia.