Kyrgyzstan Life & Culture - The Times Of Central Asia

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Simurgh Self-Help: Slavs and Tatars’ New Show Rethinks National Symbolism

“It’s interesting that in Western symbolism you never see a delicate female eagle,” notes Payam, one-half of the artist collective Slavs and Tatars, from his studio in Berlin. “But the central-Asian Simurgh is gender-fluid, metaphysical. It doesn’t belong to this world.” The mythological figure of the Simurgh is the focus of Slavs and Tatars’ latest show at the gallery The Third Line in Dubai called “Simurgh Self-Help”. The show speaks of the importance of reclaiming and reframing cultural memories in a fractured world, and an invitation to think beyond the artificial, top-down confines of nationalism, to find cultural unity. [caption id="attachment_28951" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Slavs and Tatars Samovar Vacuum-formed plastic, acrylic paint; Image: Courtesy of the artist and The Third Line, Dubai[/caption] The exhibition extends a lineage of conceptual inquiry, drawing upon the mystical bird Simurgh, ever-present in Persian and Central Asia mythologies, as a counterpoint to the ubiquitous, secularized eagle of Western heraldry. A constant companion of Zeus in Greek mythology, the eagle is a recurring symbol in the Western world: “Everywhere you look in the West, you find eagles,” notes Payam. “It’s on the German flag, on American football teams, on the Albanian flag. It’s a tired, secularized symbol, heavy with the weight of imperial history.” In contrast, the Simurgh exists on a different plane, one that rejects hierarchies in favor of collective transformation. [caption id="attachment_28952" align="aligncenter" width="1874"] Slavs and Tatars Samovar Vacuum-formed plastic, acrylic paint; Image: Courtesy of the artist and The Third Line, Dubai[/caption] Today the Simurgh is going through a similar secularization to the Western eagle, with Turkish SIM cards and Azerbaijani soccer teams called Simurgh. "It's easy, in some sense, for as an artist to take something which is very high and important, let's say spiritual or religious, and make it make fun of it, bring it down in a caricatural way,” says Payam. “What's very hard as an artist is to take something which has been debased and make it high again." In the show, we see works that go in either direction, presenting an alternative mythology, one that shows that cultures are fluid and interconnected. “Simurgh Self-Help,” which had previous iterations in Warsaw, Athens, and Baden-Baden, was originally started two years ago as a conceptual echo of Marcel Broodthaers’ Musée d'Art Moderne: Département des Aigles. This was a conceptual museum/artistic project created by the Belgian artist in 1968, full of artworks referenced by Slavs and Tatars in their show. [caption id="attachment_28953" align="aligncenter" width="2500"] Slavs and Tatars, Soft Power_2023, Woolen Yarn; Image: Courtesy of the artist and The Third Line, Dubai[/caption] The Simurgh, Payam explains, traverses territories from Kazakhstan to Ukraine, yet remains absent in Poland. “It’s a question of defining a region not through imposed political structures but through the myths that bubble from the ground up,” remarks Payam. The Simurgh becomes a cipher for alternative cartographies, a challenge to the top-down imposition of nationhood. If the eagle stands for conquest and dominance, the Simurgh stands for the dissolution of categories and unity...

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Central Asia’s Growing Domestic Drug Problem

It’s in the headlines every few days now in Central Asian countries. February 1 – Uzbekistan’s law enforcement agencies report raiding a laboratory producing synthetic drugs, and seizing narcotics worth more than $800,000. February 3 – Uzbek law enforcement announces that their latest counter-narcotics operation has resulted in the seizure of 111 kilograms of illegal drugs. February 10 – police in Kyrgyzstan’s northern Chuy region seize 1.5 kilograms of hashish and 1 kilogram of marijuana. February 11 – Kazakhstan’s Committee for National Security (KNB) announces it had uncovered a laboratory in Almaty region that was producing synthetic drugs. More than 15 kilograms of these synthetic drugs were seized and 200 liters of precursor materials. In the first decade after the five countries of Central Asia became independent in 1991, many of the reports from foreign media were about Central Asia being a major transit route for narcotics coming out of Afghanistan that were for buyers in Russia and Europe. Thirty years later, drugs are still coming into Central Asia from Afghanistan, but it is no longer just opium and heroin. And now it seems a good portion of these illicit narcotics are being consumed in Central Asia. Made in Central Asia Drug-producing laboratories are multiplying, and while there are no precise figures for the number of addicts, it is clear an increasing number of young people in Central Asia are using drugs. Ashita Mittal, the regional representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Central Asia, said in January 2025 that during the “last several years in just Kazakhstan, law enforcement agencies have uncovered and destroyed 87 laboratories producing synthetic drugs, and in Kyrgyzstan about 11-12.” Law enforcement agencies in Kazakhstan said earlier in January that they had destroyed 63 laboratories producing illegal narcotics just in 2024. Tajikistan’s Agency for Narcotics Control said at the end of its Kuknor-2024 counter-narcotics campaign in December 2024 that it had confiscated more than 1 ton of synthetic drugs. The synthetic drugs most often mentioned in these seizures are mephedrone, a type of amphetamine and stimulant that causes euphoria, and a-PvP, another stimulant. However, there are many types of synthetic drugs now available in Central Asia. Batum Estebesova, director of Kyrgyzstan’s Sotsium drug rehabilitation center, said the variety of synthetic drugs is increasing quickly. “We can’t keep up with all the new drugs to add them to the list of prohibited substances,” Estebesova said. UN Office on Drugs and Crime representative Mittal said part of the problem comes from Afghanistan. Mittal noted in 2023, there was a 95 percent reduction in heroin production in Afghanistan, but at the same time there was an “exponential growth” in the production of methamphetamines crossing into the bordering Central Asian countries – Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. In May 2023, Uzbek border guards noticed some strange marking on several boxes of pomegranate juice coming from Afghanistan. Testing showed bottles of juice in those boxes contained methamphetamine. Apparently, the buyers intended to evaporate the liquid and then collect...

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Cultural Appropriation: How the YAKA Brand Sparked Outrage in Kyrgyzstan

A scandal has erupted in Kyrgyzstan over the Russian clothing brand YAKA, founded by Anna Obydenova. The company, which produces clothing, accessories, and carpets adorned with stylized Kyrgyz ornaments, has faced backlash after claiming exclusive copyright to its designs. This move has sparked widespread outrage among Kyrgyz citizens, who accuse the brand of appropriating their cultural heritage. Social Media Backlash The controversy first gained traction on social media, where users quickly pointed out the alleged appropriation. One of the first to speak out was Uulzhan Bekturova, who posted an Instagram story highlighting that YAKA’s so-called “skirt” from its YAKA Unique collection was, in fact, a traditional Kyrgyz garment known as a beldemchi. She addressed the brand directly: “No, this is not a ‘skirt’ from your YAKA Unique collection, it is our beldemchi! Stop stealing our culture! Shame on you!” Her post quickly went viral, triggering a wave of public indignation. Further fueling the controversy was a statement on YAKA’s official website claiming that the brand was created “in honor of the 100th anniversary of Kyrgyzstan’s independence.” This historical inaccuracy (Kyrgyzstan gained independence only 34 years ago, in 1991) led to further accusations of ignorance and cultural insensitivity. Another source of outrage was YAKA’s warning that copying its designs was prohibited, which many saw as an attempt to monopolize traditional Kyrgyz patterns. TikTok Outrage and Calls for Boycott Public discontent was particularly intense on TikTok, where users criticized YAKA’s actions. One user, @rrrrrramilya, posted a viral video condemning the brand’s claim over Kyrgyz symbols: “A clothing brand has patented Kyrgyz patterns, registering them as their property. They justify it by saying ‘Made in Kyrgyzstan’ is on each product and that Kyrgyz artisans create them. So, if it’s made in Kyrgyzstan, is that OK? No! Manufacturing in a country does not give you the right to own its culture. Making something in Kyrgyzstan does not mean you get exclusive rights to traditional symbols!” Another user, @yido.kg, explained why cultural appropriation is such a sensitive issue: “The problem is that culture bearers are often discriminated against because of their own culture, while others use it as a fashion trend. But this isn’t just fashion - it’s the heritage of an entire people.” These videos gained widespread support, with many users calling for a boycott of YAKA products and demanding legal protection of Kyrgyz cultural heritage at the international level. Voices from Kyrgyzstan TCA spoke with Kyrgyz citizens to gauge their perspectives on the issue. Aisulu, 20, from Bishkek, expressed her frustration: “I am proud of our culture and traditions. It’s terrible when someone tries to profit from our heritage without our consent.” Mairam, 24, from Osh, added: “Our ornaments are not just patterns; they are part of our soul. No one should have the right to appropriate them.” Beksultan, 26, from Bishkek, emphasized the need for action: “We must unite and protect our cultural heritage. Cases like this should not go unnoticed.” YAKA’s Response and a New Controversy In response to the backlash,...

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Innovative Solution Connects Kyrgyzstan’s Most Remote Village to the Internet, Sparking Further Development

Until recently, the village of Zardaly, in the Batken region of southwest Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous area on the border of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, was almost completely cut off from the rest of the world. There were no road connections and certainly no information highway. That all changed recently, however, when the Kyrgyz chapter of the Internet Society, an international organization aiming to bridge the digital divide, led a project to connect Zardaly to the internet. The project has inverted the arc of the typical development model, with the new technology subsequently sparking investment in more traditional infrastructure such as roads, energy production, and access to government services. [caption id="attachment_28530" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Image: Internet Society, Kyrgyz Chapter[/caption] The idea of connecting Zardaly to the internet was prompted in large part by the Covid-19 pandemic, the co-founder of the Internet Society’s Kyrgyz chapter Talant Sultanov told The Times of Central Asia. “During the pandemic, we were working on a project to ensure continuing education for kids whose schools were forced to close. The government passed a law mandating the availability of online education for children in the country, but some schools lacked internet connectivity and kids were therefore effectively missing out on education. So, we decided to find the most difficult case in this regard and use it as an example proving that establishing an internet connection can be done anywhere,” Sultanov explained. [caption id="attachment_28531" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Image: Internet Society, Kyrgyz Chapter[/caption] Zardaly’s remote location presented some steep challenges. The standard solution based on fiber-optic cables was not possible because of the mountainous terrain and extreme weather conditions, while the satellite technology for such a project was only just emerging when the project was originally conceived, and so was also not an option. Instead, Sultanov explained, the project team designed a solution around radio signals. “We basically found the closest internet location and installed radio transmitters,” he said. This kind of solution required direct lines of sight between the connection nodes, however, so hubs had to be built on mountaintops, further increasing the difficulty level. [caption id="attachment_28532" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Image: Internet Society, Kyrgyz Chapter[/caption] Donkeys Carrying Solar Panels The project’s designers also had to deal with the fact that there was no paved road leading to Zardaly, nor any electricity in the village. So, to get this modern technology up and running, the team turned to the traditional transport mode of donkeys to move the equipment needed to install the network of hubs and towers, which meant traveling along a treacherous unpaved path etched into the mountainside. “Our engineer suffered a broken arm from falling boulders, and another nearly fell off a cliff,” said Sultanov. [caption id="attachment_28533" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Image: Internet Society, Kyrgyz Chapter[/caption] To overcome the lack of electricity, the team had to bring in solar panels and batteries to store the energy. Sophisticated gel batteries were initially used but later had to be swapped out for traditional car batteries, which locals were more familiar with and able to repair on...

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Kyrgyz Engineer Develops Unique Air Purification Filter

Amid rising air pollution in Kyrgyzstan, hydraulic engineer Amantur Salymbayev has developed an innovative smoke filter that operates without electricity or water, relying solely on aerodynamic principles. The device is currently undergoing patent registration with Kyrgyzpatent. According to the Department of Environmental Monitoring, research has confirmed that the filter captures 98% of harmful pollutants, including soot and carbon dioxide (CO₂). A key feature of the Salymbayev filter is its complete autonomy - it requires no connection to power or water supplies. This makes it particularly effective in reducing harmful emissions and improving air quality in highly polluted areas. So far, six filters have been installed in various locations, including Bishkek and Naryn, as part of a pilot project. The installations were carried out free of charge to demonstrate the filter’s effectiveness and affordability to the public. With a lifespan of five to six years and no maintenance requirements, the filter offers a cost-effective and durable solution. Each unit is priced at 25,000 soms (approximately $285), but as Salymbayev emphasizes, his primary motivation is environmental improvement rather than financial gain. “Earnings are not my priority. I want my grandchildren to breathe clean air. I am a patriot of my country,” Salymbayev said. If widely adopted, the technology could significantly reduce harmful emissions in Kyrgyzstan and serve as a model for eco-friendly innovation.

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Citizens of Kyrgyzstan Can Now Choose Traditional Surnames Under New Law

Kyrgyzstan’s parliament has approved a bill allowing citizens to adopt surname spellings that reflect national traditions and historical heritage, rather than the conventional Russian-style endings. The legislation passed its third and final reading. MP Mirlan Samyakozho, one of the bill’s authors, explained that the changes will allow citizens to choose surnames without Russian endings while retaining the option to keep them. According to amendments to the Family Code and the Law on Civil Status Acts, new naming formats can now be used in official documents. Specifically: The suffix "uulu" (meaning "son of") may be added to male names. The suffix "kyzy" (meaning "daughter of") may be used for female names. Other variations using the genitive and initial case endings will also be permitted, such as "dyn/tyn," "din/tin," "dүn/tүn" for boys and "dan/tan," "den/ten," "dөn/tөn" for girls. In these cases, a patronymic name will no longer be required. Under the new law, a name like Baktybekov Uson Zhakshylykovich could now be recorded as: Baktybekov tegi Uson Baktybektegi Uson Zhakshylyktyn Baktybek Uson Baktybek Uson Zhakshylyk uulu Similarly, Baktybektegi Nurgul Zhakshylykovna could now be recorded as: Baktybektegi Nurgul Baktybektegi Nurgul Zhakshylyktan Baktybek Nurgul Baktybek Nurgul Zhakshylyk kyzy Following Kyrgyzstan’s independence in the 1990s, many citizens adopted traditional Kyrgyz surnames incorporating "uulu" and "kyzy." However, in the 2000s, a mass return to Russian-style surnames occurred, which authorities attributed to increasing external migration. The new law is intended to restore the option for Kyrgyz citizens to preserve their historical naming traditions in official documents.