Kazakhstan Life & Culture - The Times Of Central Asia

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Art and Culture

Threading a New Canon: Interview with Batima Zaurbekova

How does an artist born in a remote village in Kazakhstan become one of the country’s most recognized artists? “I realised that if I put in the work, I can achieve everything,” says Batima Zaurbekova, a pioneer of Kazakh tapestry, as she walks through Threads of Heritage at the Abylkhan Kasteyev National Museum of Arts in Almaty. The exhibition runs from September 25 to November 8, 2026. An energetic lady with a strong personality and a playful attitude, Zaurbekova is the subject of a retrospective marking her 80th birthday and consecrating a lifetime of artistic production, at a time when Kazakhstan, event after event, is gaining ever greater international cultural recognition. Video: TCA. Narration: Naima Morelli. It is indeed a momentous time to be in the art world in Kazakhstan. At the forefront of the discourses on de-coloniality in the arts, and among those contributing to a new canon of contemporary art, Kazakh artists like Zaurbekova embody what is truest to their culture and local specificity, letting it flow in the global discourse. [caption id="attachment_58628" align="alignnone" width="936"] Detail of Batima Zaurbekova’s The Bride’s Farewell (2003). Credit: Naima Morelli.[/caption] The passion with which Zaurbekova describes even the smallest technical details reveals her deep love for weaving. That devotion is also a political stance in the face of the Western canon of art history. The reclamation of an art canon which would belong to Central Asia started in the second half of the 20th century, when artists worldwide challenged the relegation of textiles to the category of craft. Starting from the very local arts of felt and weaving, and against the canon of Soviet painting, a generation of artists recovered something that was truly theirs and called it by its name: not simply craft, but art in its own right, with Zaurbekova at the heart of that movement. [caption id="attachment_58629" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Entrance display for Threads of Heritage at the Abylkhan Kasteyev National Museum of Arts in Almaty. Credit: Kirill Fedorov.[/caption] A matriarchal line While today biennales and fair around the world look for those artists whose cultural background is legible in their art, it wasn’t always like that. When Zaurbekova began weaving in the late 1960s, her teachers strongly discouraged her from devoting herself to weaving. Her teachers, many of whom had trained in Leningrad and Moscow, saw her as a painter, at a time when textiles were still considered a “lower” type of art, and far too slow and demanding. “I’d spend fifteen hours every day for days on end working on just one tapestry, and my teachers would tell me: ‘It’s so slow! In the same amount of time you could have painted three paintings already!” she tells me, laughing. They used to scold her with a Kazakh saying for it: “You’re digging a huge well with a small needle.” Zaurbekova was born in 1946 in Furmanovka, in the Moiynkum district of the Jambyl region, and grew up in Merke, where her family moved when she was in fifth...

Tobacco

Kazakhstan Vape Ban Faces a Test Under Eurasian Economic Union Rules

Kazakhstan banned vapes two years ago, but anti-tobacco organizations now fear that new rules being developed by the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) could allow them back onto the market. Public health advocates have appealed to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, accusing the government's economic officials of attempting to weaken the restrictions. Undermining Prohibition? Since June 2024, Kazakhstan has prohibited the production, import, and sale of electronic cigarettes, vaping liquids, and certain smokeless tobacco products. This includes snus, a form of tobacco placed under the upper lip. Violations can result in criminal prosecution. The EAEU, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, is developing a common technical regulation for nicotine-containing products allowing manufacturers to operate under common standards across several national markets. The Coalition for a Smoke-Free Kazakhstan argues that the regulation, being developed at Armenia's initiative, could create a legal basis for resuming trade in products currently banned in Kazakhstan. However, a version of the proposed draft prepared by Russia's Agriculture Ministry in November 2025 explicitly states that products cannot be placed on the market in EAEU member states where their circulation is prohibited under national law. Compliance with common technical standards would therefore not, by itself, authorize vape sales in Kazakhstan. It remains unclear whether this provision has been retained in the text currently under negotiation. A Boon for the Treasury The coalition also accused Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin of pressuring the Ministry of Health. According to the activists, he has been pushing for approval of the regulation despite the ministry's objections. In July, Zhumangarin met with executives from Philip Morris International, a multinational tobacco company with manufacturing operations in Kazakhstan. According to the government, the deputy prime minister supported common EAEU rules that would take national legislation and public health commitments into account. The company presented plans to establish a laboratory in Kazakhstan to test nicotine-containing products, with the facility also intended to serve markets in other countries. The tobacco industry generates substantial revenue for Kazakhstan's budget. In 2025, excise taxes on tobacco products totaled 330.7 billion tenge (approximately $735 million). During the first three months of 2026, Kazakhstan exported $42.5 million worth of cigarettes. The Hookah Lobby In spring 2026, Kazakhstan also debated relaxing its anti-tobacco legislation by allowing hookah smoking in licensed restaurants and other food-service establishments. Hookah smoking has been prohibited in enclosed public places since 2020. Supporters of legalization argued that the restrictions had driven the hookah business underground. According to their estimates, approximately 22,000 establishments offer hookahs. They projected that licensing would generate more than 16 billion tenge annually (approximately $35.5 million) in government revenue. The anti-tobacco coalition opposed the proposal. Its leader, Jamilya Sadykova, warned that licensing would effectively legalize tobacco use in places where the government is supposed to protect customers and employees from smoke exposure. In August, the World Health Organization supported maintaining the existing ban. Nevertheless, hookahs continue to be offered in cafes and specialized establishments, and customers are periodically fined during police raids....

Futsal

Kazakhstan Joins Race to Host UEFA Futsal Euro 2030

Kazakhstan is among a record seven countries to have expressed interest in hosting UEFA Futsal Euro 2030. If UEFA selects Kazakhstan, it would mark the first time the senior European futsal championship has been held in Central Asia. The host will be selected in September 2027. Futsal is a five-a-side form of indoor football played on a hard court with a smaller, less bouncy ball. According to UEFA, the other prospective hosts are Croatia, Finland, France, Georgia, Poland, and Spain. Final bid dossiers must be submitted by June 8, 2027. UEFA also allows the tournament to be co-hosted by multiple countries. Kazakhstan joined UEFA in 2002, switching from the Asian Football Confederation. Among the current prospective hosts, only Spain and Croatia have previously staged the senior UEFA Futsal Euro. Kazakhstan has experience organizing international futsal competitions. Almaty hosted the final stage of UEFA's premier club futsal competition in 2011, 2017, and 2019. In 2027, Astana is scheduled to host the UEFA European Under-19 Futsal Championship. Kazakhstan's national futsal team won bronze at Euro 2016 in Serbia and reached the semifinals again in 2018. Central Asia has already hosted futsal's biggest global tournament: the 2024 FIFA Futsal World Cup took place in Uzbekistan.

Petroglyphs

1856 Sketches Lead to Rediscovery of Petroglyphs in Kazakhstan

An explorer’s sketches of deer and wild goats have led archaeologists back to ancient rock carvings, or petroglyphs, in Kazakhstan, 170 years after he recorded them. A team from Kazakhstan and Russia identified the carvings in the valley of the Koksu River on October 13, according to an expedition account published on October 20 by the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Russian geographer and statistician Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky recorded the carvings during his 1856 journey toward the Tian Shan mountains of Central Asia. After hearing about a rock bearing figures or inscriptions, he left his carriage and rode downstream along the Koksu River to investigate. His memoir’s August 26 entry describes deer and wild goats. At the site, archaeologists found his sketches and landscape descriptions remarkably accurate. They attribute the animal figures to the early Iron Age and the medieval period, identifying the largest deer, with its branching antlers, as an example of early Saka art. The Saka lived in what is now Kazakhstan during the first millennium BC. Gold ornaments recovered from their burial mounds include deer designs used to decorate clothing and horse equipment. The researchers compare the Koksu deer with animal designs in early Saka jewelry. The expedition is part of a Russian Geographical Society program retracing Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky’s journeys through present-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in 1856 and 1857. Researchers are returning to the places he studied ahead of the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2027. His route led to Lake Issyk-Kul, in what is now Kyrgyzstan, where he investigated the course of the Chu River. European geographers had believed it flowed out of the lake, but he established that it turned away through a mountain gorge. In 1906, 50 years after his first journey, Emperor Nicholas II recognized his exploration of the Tian Shan by authorizing him to add Tyan-Shansky to his surname. Underwater excavations at Issyk-Kul’s submerged medieval settlement of Toru-Aygyr form another part of the anniversary program. Recent finds there include medieval coins dating to the 10th and 11th centuries. Archaeologists are investigating why the settlement ended up beneath the lake. The team that located the Koksu carvings mapped sites along the Kazakhstan route and took aerial photographs. Researchers now plan to create three-dimensional models of the monuments and an interactive map of Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky’s route through southeastern Kazakhstan, to be published on the society’s website.

TCA Interviews

Kazakhstan’s Education Chief Turns to Sci-Fi to Explain His AI Vision

As Kazakhstan’s 2026 academic year began, The Times of Central Asia spoke with Sayasat Nurbek, Minister of Science and Higher Education, in Astana. Drawing on science fiction films and novels, Nurbek discussed how universities can embrace AI while protecting students’ independent thinking. He also reflected on human agency and the limits of technology. TCA: A new academic year brings new challenges for you and your team in this age of AI. On your website, you write: “It does not matter how long you spend on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters….” With this in mind, what are your priorities as Kazakhstan’s Minister of Science and Higher Education as AI reshapes the field? Nurbek: My priority is students who are fully alive, not just fully efficient. AI can handle the routine, so Kazakhstan’s universities must protect what machines can’t: curiosity, imagination, judgment, critical thinking, and character. Technology should serve growth in these areas, never replace them. Success isn’t output; it’s lives that radiate something positive. AI is a tool, and tools cut both ways. We’re welcoming AI into higher education with open eyes and high standards. I want students who think for themselves, use AI wisely, and own their personal sovereignty, if you will. I do not want self-absorbed people who forget about others, society, and the nation. AI is powerful and easy to abuse, so Kazakhstan nurtures critical thinking, curiosity, and creativity in the AI age. I will use Sci-fi movies and novels to help me explain why. TCA: Certainly. What do you mean by students need to “own their sovereignty”? Nurbek: Education in Kazakhstan is about building minds and virtue, not just collecting answers and performing tasks. If AI does the writing, problem-solving, and summarizing, our students may get an answer without learning how to find solutions. Real understanding comes from the effort to learn. It comes from struggle, doubt, revision, failure, sharing, steadfastness, patience, starting again, and, yes, celebrating success. That’s why it’s key for Kazakhstan’s universities to set clear boundaries and teach students when and how to use AI. AI can undermine learning if it replaces their own thinking. AI should support thought, not substitute for it. TCA: What are your thoughts about the impact of AI on learning? Nurbek: Used ethically, AI is a huge opportunity for Kazakhstan. The world is racing to adopt it, so our universities can’t ignore it, but they mustn’t swallow the hype or miss the dangers. A PISA 2025 study found that students who use AI to summarize or draft score noticeably lower in science, by roughly a year of schooling. That is a correlation, though, not proof of causation. Other studies find AI users shine in practice, then stumble horribly on exams. TCA: So, it seems you have mixed feelings about the introduction of AI? Nurbek: The PISA data tells us more. Students who regularly use AI...

Fencing

Kazakhstan Fencing: Men’s Team Tops World Épée Rankings for the First Time

Kazakhstan's men's épée fencing team has topped the International Fencing Federation (FIE) world rankings for the first time in the country's history. The team climbed to No. 1 after winning the first World Cup event of the 2026/27 season in Casablanca, Morocco, on October 18, defeating France in the semifinals and Russia in the final. According to Kazakhstan's National Olympic Committee, the team had 354 points in the updated FIE rankings. France is second with 310 points, followed by Switzerland with 296, Italy with 286, and Ukraine with 280. Before the start of the season, Kazakhstan had been ranked third, behind Switzerland and France. Before the Casablanca victory, the Kazakh team had won four major international titles in the past 12 months. In November 2025, the épée fencers won gold at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In June 2026, they became Asian champions in New Delhi, India, and a month later claimed gold at the World Championships in Hong Kong. In September, Kazakhstan won the team event at the Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan. The Kazakh fencers opened with victories over Turkey, 45–20, and Hong Kong, 45–28. They then defeated Egypt in the quarterfinals before beating France, one of the traditional powers in international fencing, 45–39 in the semifinals. In the final, Kazakhstan faced Russia. The Kazakh team maintained a narrow lead throughout the match and secured a 45–40 victory. European teams, including France, Italy, Hungary, and Switzerland, have dominated men's team épée for decades. Among Asian nations, Japan and South Korea had previously reached the top of the world rankings. Kazakhstan has now joined them. Mirbulat Abuov, president of the Fencing Federation of Kazakhstan, praised the team's strength in depth. “What makes this achievement particularly valuable is that we competed in Casablanca with a reshuffled lineup. Kirill Prokhodov, Vadim Sharlaimov, Alexander Fedotov, and Kirill Pavlov took to the piste. Three of them belong to Generation Z, while two of the four reigning world champions missed the tournament. It was with this lineup that we defeated France, a 23-time world champion in men's team épée. This victory confirms that our country has not only strong leaders but also young athletes capable of defeating the world's best teams,” Abuov said.