Uzbekistan Life & Culture - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 7 - 12 of 377

Art and Culture

Central Asia Steps Out of the Post-Soviet Shadow

Central Asia is rarely presented on its own terms. It is more often viewed through exterior lenses like Russian imperial memory, Chinese reach, Silk Road romance, or great-power rivalry. The result is a region made to look secondary to the forces around it, even as its five countries carry deep histories, distinct languages, and identities that cannot be reduced to a backdrop. That old frame is starting to crack. Central Asia is finding new ways to tell its own story. The shift goes beyond tourism or national branding. It is about who gets to define the region, which is still too often seen through the things done to it or extracted from it. Culture depicts the other side of that narrative, a place that has shaped history, not merely endured it, with traditions and ideas that have long carried influence far beyond its borders. [caption id="attachment_49147" align="aligncenter" width="2048"] Sky above Almaty: Qandy Qantar; image courtesy of Saule Suleimenova[/caption] Kazakhstan offers one visible example. The Almaty Museum of Arts opened on September 12, 2025, adding a major institution for modern and contemporary art. Its arrival builds on a broader shift in which private galleries, international platforms, and artists such as Aigerim Karibayeva and Saule Suleimenova are moving Kazakh art beyond folkloric shorthand toward identity, postcolonial memory, and urban life. The reopening of the Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, in a former Soviet-era cinema, adds a sharper symbolic layer. A building once tied to Soviet public culture has become a platform for modern Central Asian voices, reflecting a scene increasingly rethinking nomadism rather than simply reproducing it. [caption id="attachment_49148" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Image: The Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture[/caption] Uzbekistan has made culture central to its international reemergence. The inaugural Bukhara Biennial brought contemporary art into a city more often seen through its monuments, turning madrasas and caravanserais into exhibition spaces for Uzbek and world artists. The same push is visible in the Tashkent Centre for Contemporary Art, Uzbekistan’s presence at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and design projects such as When Apricots Blossom, which link heritage, craft, and the environmental disaster of the Aral Sea. Artists such as Oyjon Khayrullaeva show a younger generation reworking Islamic ornament, textiles, and public space into new visual languages. At the same time, the State Museum of Karakalpakstan in Nukus, with its Soviet-era censored works, gives the country’s art history deeper heft. In Tashkent, the Islamic Civilization Center is working on a different scale. Recognized by Guinness World Records in 2026 as the largest museum of Islamic civilization, it gives Uzbekistan a stronger role in shaping how that legacy is understood today. [caption id="attachment_49146" align="aligncenter" width="2048"] Image courtesy of Oyjon Khayrullaeva[/caption] Kyrgyzstan’s confidence rests on different ground. The sixth World Nomad Games are scheduled for August 31 to September 6, 2026, with events in Bishkek and around Issyk-Kul. That gives Kyrgyzstan a stage for living nomadic traditions, not a static museum display of them. Its contemporary art scene adds a more intimate layer, with artists such as...

Space Exploration

Uzbekistan Plans to Send First National Cosmonaut Into Space by 2028

Uzbekistan plans to send its first national cosmonaut into orbit by October 2028, according to officials from the country’s space agency, as Tashkent expands its ambitions in the field of space exploration. Uzbekcosmos Deputy Director Muhiddin Ibrohimov said the mission is expected to last about 14 days and is currently under discussion with the three countries capable of conducting human spaceflights: the United States, Russia, and China. According to Ibrohimov, all three countries have expressed their readiness to cooperate with Uzbekistan on the project. He said the future Uzbek cosmonaut is expected to return from space with the results of scientific experiments carried out during the mission. The authorities are planning to establish a government commission responsible for selecting astronaut candidates and coordinating training and flight preparations. Officials said applicants must be between 27 and 40 years old, hold a university degree, and meet physical requirements, including a height between 160 and 190 centimeters and a weight between 50 and 95 kilograms. Knowledge of foreign languages will also be required. The selection process is expected to take the form of a nationwide program open to the public. The mission is expected to include a program involving experiments in medicine, biology, genetics, and other priority fields. Uzbekistan’s plans build on earlier statements from Russian officials offering support for the country’s space ambitions. The Times of Central Asia previously reported that the Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov had said Moscow was ready to assist Uzbekistan in preparing and sending its first national cosmonaut into orbit, as well as launching the country’s first artificial satellite. Manturov said President Shavkat Mirziyoyev had set the goal of developing Uzbekistan’s space capabilities, including human spaceflight and satellite technology. Russia has also recently expressed its willingness to support other Central Asian countries in space exploration. In April, Russian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Ivan Volynkin said Moscow was prepared to help train a Turkmen cosmonaut if Ashgabat showed interest.

UFO Files

Pentagon UFO Files Include 1994 Tajik Air Report Over Kazakhstan

On May 8, the Pentagon released the first batch of U.S. Department of War files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), including a State Department cable describing a 1994 sighting by Tajik Air pilots over Kazakhstan. The new archive, called the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters, was created in response to a directive from U.S. president Donald Trump. It covers unresolved cases where the government cannot make a definitive determination from available data, with further releases expected “every few weeks.” The department uses the current term UAP as well as the older term unidentified flying object (UFO). The release includes a three-page unclassified State Department cable from the U.S. embassy in Dushanbe. Dated January 31, 1994, it is titled “Tajik Air Pilots Report Unidentified Flying Object” and carries a State Department “Released in Full” stamp dated February 25, 2026. The same cable had previously appeared in CUFON’s archive of State Department UFO records, released in 2000 in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. According to the cable, Tajik Air chief pilot Ed Rhodes, identified as a United States citizen, and two American pilot colleagues reported that they had encountered a UFO on January 27, 1994, while flying at 41,000 feet in a Boeing 747SP. The location was given as latitude 45 north and longitude 55 east, over Kazakhstan. The pilots described the object as an intensely bright light approaching from the east at high speed and at an altitude far above their aircraft. They said they watched it for about 40 minutes as it moved in circles, corkscrews, and 90-degree turns. Rhodes reportedly took several photographs with a pocket Olympus camera and said copies would be sent to the embassy and to the Tajikistan desk at the State Department if they came out. No such photographs appear in the released cable. The crew could not identify the object’s shape because it was dark. They described its light as resembling a “bow wave,” and later said the aircraft flew beneath contrails left by the object after sunrise. Rhodes estimated those contrails to be at about 100,000 feet. The embassy suggested that the object might have been a meteor entering and skipping off the Earth’s atmosphere. Rhodes and the other pilots rejected that explanation, saying their years flying passenger aircraft for Pan Am had given them extensive experience with meteors and space junk. Based on the object’s reported speed and maneuverability, Rhodes expressed the view, which the cable says his crew seemed to support, that it was “extraterrestrial and under intelligent control.” The U.S. government recorded what the pilots said, but the cable does not confirm what they saw, as demonstrated in the file’s cautionary note: “We have no opinion and report the above for what it may be worth.” The release adds an official U.S. record to a regional history in which unexplained aerial reports have surfaced in Soviet research programs and, more recently, in media and online claims. During the Soviet period, reports of anomalous...

Yulduz Usmonova

Campaign Targets New York Concert by Uzbekistan’s Yulduz Usmonova

A campaign has been launched in the United States against a planned concert by singer Yulduz Usmonova from Uzbekistan, according to a report by Brighton Beach News. The controversy is unfolding in Brooklyn, where Usmonova is scheduled to perform on May 9 at the Oceana Theater in the Brighton Beach area. Local politicians have voiced strong criticism and announced plans to hold a press conference calling for the event to be canceled. Among those involved are New York State Assembly members Michael Novakhov and Alec Brook-Krasny, as well as Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. According to statements cited in the report, the officials accuse the singer of having made remarks in the past that they consider offensive toward the Jewish community. The issue has drawn particular attention due to the location and timing of the concert. Brighton Beach is known as a major center for Russian-speaking and Jewish communities in New York, and May 9 is widely observed as a day marking the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. Organizers of the campaign say they have called on the singer to publicly reject and apologize for the alleged statements but claim that she has declined to do so. They have also reportedly submitted a request to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking for the revocation of her visa. This is not the first time a concert by Usmonova in New York has come under pressure. In 2024, another planned performance in the city was canceled after protests over remarks attributed to the singer that critics described as antisemitic.

Victory Day

Victory, Memory, and Moscow: Central Asia’s Changing May Calendar

May is when Central Asia’s past crowds into the public square. Workers, soldiers, veterans, constitutions, unity campaigns, and the legacy of World War II all compete for space on the calendar. The dates are familiar across the region, but their meanings are no longer the same. Kazakhstan marks People’s Unity Day on May 1, Defenders’ Day on May 7, and Victory Day on May 9. Kyrgyzstan has a May calendar built around Labor Day, Constitution Day, and Victory Day. Uzbekistan has recast May 9 as the Day of Remembrance and Honor. Turkmenistan lists May 9 as Victory Day of the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, but it no longer carries the same public weight as the country’s main state holidays. Those choices show how each state is handling its Soviet past. May 1 can mean labor, unity, or almost nothing. May 9 can mean victory, mourning, family memory, or careful diplomacy. In Central Asia, the politics of memory rarely move through open rejection. It works through renaming, recalibrating, and changing the optics. Russia still treats May 9 as a central ritual of state power. Victory Day marks the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War. Under Vladimir Putin, it has become a display of military strength, national sacrifice, and confrontation with the West. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, that message has become more direct. This year, the image projected from Moscow will be weaker. Russia is preparing to hold its May 9 parade on Red Square without the usual display of military hardware. Tanks and missile systems, long central to the spectacle, are being kept away. Russia’s Defense Ministry cited the “current operational situation,” while the Kremlin linked the change to Ukrainian attacks. For Central Asian governments, that image will be hard to separate from their own handling of Victory Day. Moscow has long used May 9 to gather friendly leaders and place the post-Soviet region inside a shared wartime story. Attendance in Moscow has become a diplomatic signal. Absence has become one too. In recent years, Victory Day diplomacy has shown how Central Asian governments try to respect wartime memory while avoiding full alignment with Russia’s narrative. This year, at least some Central Asian leaders are again expected in Moscow. Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Kyrgyzstan’s Sadyr Japarov have been reported among those planning to attend, though the Kremlin has not yet published a full list of foreign guests. Central Asian states cannot simply discard May 9. Millions of people from the region served in the Red Army or worked behind the front during World War II; from Kazakhstan alone, around one million people contributed to the war effort, with nearly 271,000 soldiers still listed as missing. Families still carry those memories. Monuments, veterans’ payments, school events, and wreath-laying ceremonies remain important. For many people, Victory Day is personal before it is geopolitical. Yet governments have changed the tone. Kazakhstan still marks Victory Day as a public holiday, but large military parades...

Sports

European Athletes Dominate World Triathlon Championships in Samarkand

The city of Samarkand hosted the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) from 25-26 April, further cementing Uzbekistan's reputation within the Olympic Movement. The event saw more than 150 athletes from over 40 countries compete on Samarkand’s Olympic-distance course, weaving through UNESCO World Heritage sites and historic Silk Road landmarks, including the breathtaking Eternal City complex. In the elite races, the world’s top triathletes battled for crucial ranking points. Vasco Vilaça from Portugal took gold in the men’s category with a time of 1:43:33, while the UK's Beth Potter secured the top spot on the podium for the women’s race after a dramatic final run segment through the historic city centre. "This weekend marked another landmark sporting occasion for Uzbekistan," said Otabek Umarov, Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Deputy Chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Uzbekistan. "By bringing the World Triathlon Championship Series to Samarkand, we have once again shown that Uzbekistan can successfully deliver some of the world’s biggest sporting events, blending our warm hospitality with world-class sport." This event follows a series of major international sporting events recently hosted in Uzbekistan, including the record-breaking World Taekwondo Junior Championships in April, the Fencing World Cup and the Judo Grand Slam, alongside the largest-ever OCA General Assembly. These successes underline a national strategy driven by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who has made the promotion of healthy and active lifestyles a cornerstone of the country's development. With 60% of Uzbekistan’s population under the age of 30, Mirziyoyev's initiatives focus on leveraging world-class sporting events to inspire the next generation to engage in physical activity and pursue excellence on the global stage.