From July 4 to 7, on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, the Aigine CRC held an international seminar titled “Joint Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage in Central Asia and Beyond: Opportunities and Challenges.” Cultural heritage experts and bearers of traditional knowledge from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia were invited to the seminar. The invitation criteria were the noticeable work of these individuals in areas close to the interests of the Aigine CRC.
Participants worked in three directions:
- Joint safeguarding of cultural heritage in the current political context of Central Asia and beyond
- Commercialization and over-commercialization of cultural heritage and traditional knowledge
- Negative aspects of traditional practices and ways to overcome them
The seminar began with a discussion of the expectations of the participants and organizers. Then, representatives from each country presented reports within the framework of the three main directions.
In the direction “Joint safeguarding of cultural heritage in the current political context of Central Asia and beyond,” a serious discussion began after Doolet Sydykov’s recitation of the epic “Manas.” The discussion centered on the live epic itself, the uniqueness of the storyteller’s performance, and Doolet’s civic behavior as a Manas teller forced to leave Kyrgyzstan due to disagreement with a political decision regarding the epic heritage.
In the direction “Negative aspects of traditional practices and ways to overcome them,” general concern was raised by Munduz Asanalieva’s report. She suggested considering why chastity (virginity) of a girl was traditionally important among the Kyrgyz and whether it is relevant in modern times. Munduz focused on cases of sexual violence against young girls in our society, highlighting the brutal violence against what was considered a traditional value.
In addition to thematic discussions, participants received information on the implementation of the Aigine CRC’s project “Digital Journey into the World of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Kyrgyzstan” and discussed the results of the project ” Ulytau hanymdar– Women of Ulytau,” supported by the Aigine CRC and the Pavanak Foundation, and implemented by the Kazakh organization “Uluu Tagzym.”
During the seminar, petroglyphs – rock drawings – were considered a common heritage of Central Asia, and participants addressed the issues of jointly studying this heritage from the perspective of traditional knowledge and oral history. Nurlan, a resident of one of the lakeside villages, conducted a master class on creating petroglyphs in modern conditions.
The seminar concluded with the search for cooperation options based on group and individual work, as well as a discussion on whether the participants’ expectations were met. This seminar was held as part of a strategic partnership project supported by the Pavanak Foundation.