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How Kazakhstan Revives National Traditions Through Cinema

At a recent press screening of the Kazakhstani fantasy comedy All on Mosles: Battle of the Generations, the audience laughed, applauded and, perhaps most tellingly, relived childhood memories. Some even left wanting to play asyki again. The film’s creators achieved what seemed nearly impossible: they transformed an almost forgotten traditional game into a vibrant cinematic adventure appealing to both adults and children. The Times of Central Asia spoke with the film's authors, Yerken Gubashev, Yerkebulan Bekturov, and Mikhail Ulanov, about how the project came to life, the challenges they encountered, and why asyk atu is more than just a game. Now showing across Kazakhstan, the film centers on asyk atu, an ancient game where players aim to knock opponents’ asyk (ram’s knuckle bones) from a designated area using a special, often weighted and decorated, throwing asyk known as a sak. Popular across Soviet Kazakhstan until the 1990s, the game has since been revived by cultural activists. Today, asyk atu is included on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. [caption id="attachment_30806" align="aligncenter" width="797"] Image: TCA, Askar Kubaizhanov[/caption] TCA: Tell us about your film. How did the idea come about? Yerken Gubashev: I was really the initiator of the whole project. I co-wrote the script, co-produced the film, and played one of the lead roles. But more than that, it was my dream to bring asyki back and turn them into something grand. Watching my son and his friends sitting on the street, absorbed in their phones, was tough. When we were kids, asyki was real life. We played for hours, competing, learning dexterity, patience, and respect. I started imagining a world where asyki was the number one sport, with world championships and a whole culture surrounding it. I shared the idea with Yerkebulan and Mikhail, and we couldn’t stop. Mikhail Ulanov: We began to imagine: What if asyks could fly? What if each player had a unique technique? What if one could come to life or transform into a weapon? From this, a fantastical world emerged, rooted in tradition but filled with comedy, fantasy, and even superhero parody. Yerkebulan Bekturov: We shaped the film to resonate with modern youth: short, dynamic scenes, sharp transitions, and vivid visuals. Yet it tells a complete story. We believe it will appeal not just to Kazakhstani audiences but also internationally. There are lots of nods to Hollywood, The Gentlemen, Kill Bill, and others, which helps bridge cultures. TCA: The film isn’t just entertainment, is it? Is there a cultural mission here? Yerken Gubashev: Absolutely. Our goal is to bring asyki back to the playgrounds so kids share, compete, and step away from social media. More broadly, it's about reconnecting with our roots. Kazakh traditional culture is rich but underrepresented in cinemas. Importantly, asyki isn’t only Kazakh, it’s a Turkic game played by Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Bashkirs, Tatars, Yakuts, and even in the Caucasus. It’s a vast cultural universe that unites Turkic peoples. Today, even the U.S., Norway, and Finland have national teams. A...

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Future Nostalgia: Alexander Ugay’s Parisian Debut at NIKA Project Space

Have you ever had that feeling of “Future Nostalgia” - as Dua Lipa would put it – when looking at old sci-fi movies that imagined a future that never came to pass? The fact that this future didn’t materialise might be as might be seen as both a blessing and a disappointment, as artist Alexander Ugay has us reflecting upon with his Parisian debut. Born in Kazakhstan to a Korean family deported under Stalin’s regime, Ugay’s work is heavily inspired by his own experience and is layered with echoes of ancestral trauma, the faded promise of Soviet modernity, and the flickering ghost of a future once imagined but that never fully came to fruition. A child of engineers and inventors, Ugay grew up among circuits and cyanotypes, and in his art, he uses materials such as 8mm film and VHS tape. With this vintage spirit, his body of work looks at the past to speak of the present, and posits a critique of the techno-utopianism of the Soviet 1970s, as much as today's AI-driven image culture. In his new show, More than Dreams, Less than Things, at NIKA Project Space Paris, Ugay looks at the origins of image-making both literally and philosophically. Inspired by Ibn al-Haytham’s Book of Optics, the artist reanimates the ancient camera obscura, letting light seep through the book’s pages to birth abstract images: faded records of a presence. The exhibition, which opened on March 16, explores the tension between technological progress and the way this can be disrupted by the power of imagination and poetry - eminently human things - by looking at the intersection of photography, technology, and diasporic memory. His show, curated by Elena Sorokina, situates an emergence of Central Asian narratives coming more and more to the forefront of the international art and cultural world of Europe. Through the lens of Soviet futurism, Ugay explores a broader vision of seeing in an age where so much remains invisible. TCA spoke with Ugay about the way he approaches his art, his sources, and how he conceives images not as finished objects but as processes — mutable, unstable, and deeply human. [caption id="attachment_30561" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] 03_Alexander Ugay, More than Dreams, Less than Things. Courtesy of the artist[/caption] TCA: Where does the title for your new show, More than Dreams, Less than Things, come from? The title came about after reading Henri Bergson's book, Matter and Memory. I really liked the idea that an image is not only the relationship between absence and presence but also intensity and density. This idea made up for my dissatisfaction with the notion of resolution in photography. The title, in this case, is not just a definition of the image but a key to understanding its substantive basis. The image is the surface of the ‘grand contract’ between necessity and freedom, memory and matter, entropy and being. TCA: In More than Dreams, Less than Things, you use the camera obscura technique. How does this historical process relate to your exploration...

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Scientists of Ancient Central Asia Still Relevant in the Modern World; The Idea of the Averaged Turkic Language

There is a debate on social media between Uzbek and Tajik communities about the medieval scholar Ibn Sina. The discussion revolves around the question of nationality — was Ibn Sina Tajik, Uzbek, or something else? Similar debates have emerged about other medieval scholars, including Al-Farabi. Ibn Sina (commonly known in the West as Avicenna) and Al-Farabi were two of the most influential scholars of the Islamic Golden Age. Ibn Sina, known for his contributions to medicine, philosophy, and science, wrote The Canon of Medicine, a foundational text in medical education for centuries. First published in 1025, his work stood as the standard medical textbook in Europe from its translation into Latin in the twelfth century through to the 1650s. Al-Farabi, often called the Second Greatest Teacher after Aristotle, made significant contributions to philosophy, logic, and political theory, shaping intellectual thought in the Islamic world and beyond. To explore this further, TCA spoke with two scholars — Fakhriddin Ibragimov, PhD, and Dr. Bakhtiyor Karimov — who have studied the lives and works of Ibn Sina and Al-Farabi extensively. [caption id="attachment_30258" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Fakhriddin Ibragimov; image courtesy of the subject.[/caption] Fakhriddin Ibragimov, a researcher at the Abu Rayhan Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies, has spent nearly 15 years studying Ibn Sina. According to Ibragimov, historical sources provide no direct evidence of Ibn Sina’s nationality. “Ibn Sina (980 – 1037) was born in the village of Afshona, near Bukhara. Nowhere in his works or those written by his contemporaries is his nationality mentioned,” Ibragimov told TCA. “However, he is identified as a Muslim, like most people in Central Asia at the time. Also, many manuscript sources indicate that he was from Bukhara.” Ibragimov explains. Ibragimov also highlights that Ibn Sina himself wrote about his upbringing, describing how he was raised in an intellectual environment where philosophical and religious discussions were common: “We had a lot of scientific discussions, debates, and gatherings at home. Issues of faith were also raised there. My father and brother adhered to the Ismaili faith [one of the religious movements in Islam that was widespread in the Near and Middle East in the 10th and 11th centuries], but I did not join them,” Ibn Sina wrote. However, he did not mention any ethnic identity in his works or in those written by his contemporaries. [caption id="attachment_30260" align="aligncenter" width="575"] Avicenna at the sickbed, miniature by Walenty z Pilzna, Kraków (ca 1479–1480); image: jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl[/caption] The claim over Ibn Sina’s legacy is widespread. While Uzbeks and Tajiks both regard him as one of their own, Iranians also consider him Persian due to the language of his writings. In 2018, a bust of Abu Ali Ibn Sina was installed in front of the campus of the Autonomous University of Madrid as a gift from the Iranian embassy. The inscription on the bust reads, “Persian physician and philosopher.” Even Jewish scholars have cited him as part of their intellectual heritage. However, Ibragimov argues that Ibn Sina should be seen as a global figure rather...

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Segiz: Exploring Kazakhstan’s Beauty on the Road Less Traveled

The Times of Central Asia’s cinematographer for the World Nomad Games, Ilyas Otan, is on a mission to put Kazakhstan's tourism on the map. An independent film producer and fixer, Otan took a bold step to showcase his vision, producing Segiz with director Almas Maksut, a captivating short documentary that brings together eight international travelers to uncover the secrets of a mysterious mountain lake in Central Asia. The film premiered at the 2021 Eurasian Film Festival and snagged the Best Documentary award at Czechia's International Road Movie Festival. Now, it is available to stream. A Werner Herzog quote opens the film, setting the tone for a brooding, atmospheric nod to late sixties and early seventies indie cinema. It’s not about the plot or commercial tourism — it’s all about ambiance, feelings, and the road less traveled. The narrator paints Kazakhstan as a land steeped in epic history, from Genghis Khan's sweeping conquests to the first nuclear test. Then the adventurers are introduced, and lured by the wild unknown they share what drove them to wander off the beaten path. A vivid taste of Kazakhstan’s rich culture and rugged beauty, this film dives headlong into an existence deeply connected to nature. Sampling the charms of nomadic life such as camel milk, majestic falcons, galloping horses, and cozying up in yurts. It’s a meat lover's paradise — not exactly a menu for vegans, vegetarians, or the fainthearted. The soundtrack amplifies the sixties' folky vibe, layering guitars, ukuleles, kalimbas, lutes, shakers, drums, harmonicas, and flutes for immersive incidental music. Two of the travelers, both talented singers and musicians, perform 20th-century ballads on the move, transporting listeners to long-lost worlds and forgotten eras. It’s rare to see a short documentary road movie about Kazakhstan hit streaming platforms. You can now catch this unique short film on TV+, Megogo and venture into the pioneer tourism of Kazakhstan today. [video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Trailer-SEGIZ.mp4"][/video]

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Uzbekistan at the 2025 Venice Biennale: Ekaterina Golovatyuk on the Modernist Legacy of a Soviet-Era Solar Furnace

Is it possible to preserve architectural heritage while working towards sustainability? And what to make of the architectural relics of the past century? Can they somehow take on new meaning rather than remaining a representation of dystopias and utopias of the past? All these questions and more are addressed by the Uzbekistan Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. Running alternate years with the Art Biennale, this is undoubtedly one of the most important architectural events in the international arena. Promising to be a thought-provoking exploration of Soviet-era scientific ambition, modernist architectural heritage, and the challenges of sustainability in a rapidly changing world, the pavilion hosts the research of GRACE studio - an architectural firm established by Ekaterina Golovatyuk and Giacomo Cantoni - which operates at the intersection of built heritage, contemporary urbanism, and cultural production. Commissioned by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), the pavilion responds to the theme of the Biennale’s curator, Carlo Ratti’s overarching Biennale concept of 'Intelligens'. The pavilion focuses on the Sun Institute of Material Science, originally known as the Sun Heliocomplex, a vast Soviet-era solar furnace built outside Tashkent during the Cold War to test materials at high temperatures. What emerges is the paradox of a structure designed for technological advancement that now faces questions of obsolescence and adaptation in contemporary discourse. TCA spoke with Ekaterina Golovatyuk to understand how the pavilion evolved from years of research into Tashkent’s modernist legacy and why this solar furnace has become the focal point of Uzbekistan’s presence at the Biennale. [caption id="attachment_30103" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Heliocomplex Sun, field of heliostats, Tashkent, Uzbekistan; image: Armin Linke[/caption] TCA: The Uzbekistan Pavilion for the 2025 Venice Biennale builds on your previous research, Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI. Can you tell us how this project began? This is a project commissioned and initiated by Gayane Umerova of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation that works with cultural heritage, museums, and other culture-related initiatives in Uzbekistan but also promotes Uzbekistan’s culture abroad. They have curated large exhibitions in the Louvre, in the British Museum, showing historical artifacts from Uzbekistan, but also art of the 20th century, and Tashkent Modernism is part of their mission in regards to architecture. The Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI project began in 2021, when it became clear that Tashkent had started to change so rapidly that special tools had to be put in place in order to protect the recent architectural heritage that, at the time, was mostly not listed and therefore at risk. Our project team consisted of multiple experts from Uzbekistan and abroad, including a historian, Boris Chukhovich, a team of preservation specialists from Politecnico di Milano led by Davide Del Curto, urbanists Laboratorio Permanente, and an artist [photographer], Armin Linke. For this project, we started by selecting 40 buildings and then narrowed it down to 24, for which we created monographs and statements of significance that described the important values of the building as well as what parts should be absolutely kept and what parts could...

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How Nauryz Was Celebrated in Kazakhstan: Traditions and Festivities in Astana, Almaty, and Taraz

Nauryz, one of Kazakhstan’s most cherished holidays, marks the arrival of spring and the renewal of nature. This year, cities across the country held vibrant celebrations, blending national traditions with festive performances and heartfelt hospitality. Astana: Festivities at the EXPO Site In Kazakhstan’s capital, the main Nauryz celebrations took place at the EXPO site, where a grand stage hosted performances by folk artists. Attendees enjoyed traditional dances, songs, and theatrical productions that showcased the cultural legacy of the Kazakh people. The city was adorned with national ornaments and bright spring-themed decorations, creating an atmosphere of renewal and joy. In addition to the cultural program, sports competitions were held, drawing both professional and amateur participants. A bustling crafts fair was a central attraction, offering handmade felt goods, traditional attire, and jewelry crafted by local artisans. Almaty: Ethno-Festival Meets Innovation In Almaty, Nauryz was marked by large-scale festivities in Central Park, headlined by an ethno-festival featuring yurt villages and traditional Kazakh delicacies like baursaki, koumiss, and Nauryz kozhe. Folk ensembles performed kui and songs, immersing visitors in a celebratory ambiance. A standout feature of the event was its integration of modern technology. A robot chef, for instance, fried baursaki on-site in an eye-catching fusion of tradition and innovation. Prominent brands showcased their goods, and interactive workshops for children included felt weaving, ceramic painting, and dombra playing. As night fell, the city transitioned into lively Nauryz-themed parties, where national melodies blended with contemporary hits. Themed cocktails inspired by spring renewal added a modern twist to the age-old celebration. [caption id="attachment_30089" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Image: ТСА, Tamila Olzhbaekova[/caption] Taraz: Art, Crafts, and Nomadic Spirit In Taraz, the streets came alive with folk art exhibitions. Inside ornately decorated yurts, local artists displayed paintings depicting Kazakh landscapes, mountains, rivers, and historic sites. Woodcarvers showcased their craft through traditional musical instruments, utensils, and intricately carved animal figures and jewelry. Every detail reflected national symbolism, echoing the life and spirit of the steppe. Visitors were also greeted by performers in authentic Kazakh armor, with men dressed in nomadic attire reenacting historical scenes. Batyrs holding majestic eagles evoked the ancient tradition of falconry, drawing crowds eager to connect with Kazakhstan’s nomadic past. [caption id="attachment_30085" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Image: ТСА, Tamila Olzhbaekova[/caption] Nauryz in Kazakhstan is more than just a spring festival, it's a heartfelt return to cultural roots, a celebration of heritage, and a joyful embrace of a new beginning. Whether in Astana, Almaty, Taraz, or beyond, the holiday brings people together in a shared spirit of kindness, unity, and renewal.