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K Krombie

Senior Editor

K. Krombie is a freelance journalist, lecturer, editor, and the author of Death in New York (published in 2021), which explores death in the Big Apple from experiments in embalming and capital punishment to the vagaries of the mortuary business. Krombie also owns a tour company called Purefinder New York, which focuses on NYC behind the scenes. She lectures on subjects ranging from Oppenheimer and the Cold War to the World Nomad Games.

Articles

Art and Culture

Exploring Uzbekistan’s Cultural Tapestry – Trio Fadolín’s From Near and Far in NYC

Earlier this month, the Library for the Performing Arts at Manhattan’s Lincoln Center resonated with the vibrant sounds of From Near and Far, a new musical project by the New York-based ensemble Trio Fadolín. The performance, part of the New York Public Library’s cultural programming, captivated audiences with its rich exploration of Uzbek musical traditions and beyond. Suspense, melancholy, and drama were interwoven with personal stories shared by Ljova (Lev Zhurbin), a member of the ensemble and virtuoso of the fadolín — a one-of-a-kind string instrument custom-made for him — blending the tonal depth of the violin, viola, and cello. The program featured compositions by Ljova, Uzbek composer Dmitry Yanov-Yanovsky, and Ljova’s father, the renowned Soviet-era composer Alexander Zhurbin. Adding a poignant layer to the evening, Alexander Zhurbin attended the concert in person, providing a tangible connection to the ensemble’s exploration of cultural and familial roots. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guMv_IRHstg[/embed] Alexander Zhurbin, 1985 Much of Ljova’s career has been dedicated to uncovering and performing music from underrepresented regions, introducing audiences to sounds often unfamiliar in the West. Born in Moscow, he immigrated to New York in 1990 with his parents, quickly immersing himself in the city’s multicultural and musical landscape. As a composer, arranger, and bandleader for his ensemble, Ljova and the Kontraband, he has collaborated with globally acclaimed groups including the Yo-Yo Ma-founded Silkroad Ensemble (now called Silkroad). Ljova’s work defies boundaries, blending Eastern and Western influences to honor and innovate musical traditions. The trio's members — Ljova, violinist Sabina Torosjan (born in Estonia), and cellist Valeriya Sholokhova (born in Ukraine) — found a shared connection to Uzbekistan through their personal histories, which became the foundation for From Near and Far. TCA spoke with the trio about their musical and familial ties to Uzbekistan. TCA: Can you share how your personal histories connect you to Uzbekistan? Ljova: My father, Alexander Zhurbin, wrote the Soviet Union's first rock opera, Orpheus and Eurydice, in 1975. It played in stadiums and was in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running musical in Russia. He was born in Tashkent and lived there until his mid-20s when he moved to Leningrad — now St. Petersburg — to study, and then to Moscow to work as a composer in film, TV, musicals, and the concert stage. Sabina: Just like many people from the former Soviet Union, I have a mixed background. I grew up in Estonia. My mother’s side of the family was Ukrainian Jews and my father’s side was Armenian. The interesting connection to Uzbekistan is that it is where my father was born. His father was sent to work there as a veterinarian at the time, in Biruni, Uzbekistan. But shortly after my father was born, his family returned to Yerevan. Valeriya: My grandfather’s family sought refuge there during World War II and survived those difficult years in Uzbekistan. However, they returned to Ukraine as soon as they were able. There are pictures of my grandfather as a child wearing an Uzbek tyubeteyka, and...

1 year ago

Domestic Violence

#ForSaltanat: The Quest for Justice in Domestic Violence Cases in Kazakhstan

In the spring of 2024, the televised murder trial of Kuandyk Bishimbayev, Kazakhstan’s former Minister of the National Economy, captivated viewers across the country. Bishimbayev was found guilty of the brutal murder of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova, in a restaurant in Astana, and sentenced to 24 years in prison. Comparisons to the O.J. Simpson trial of 1995 were inevitable. Both trials involved a prominent figure — in this case, a politician previously pardoned by President Nursultan Nazarbayev after serving time for corruption — a victim who had endured domestic abuse, and a massive viewership. Bishimbayev's trial underscored public fascination with the case, driven not only by its reality TV appeal but by a growing awareness of deeply ingrained gender inequities, particularly regarding the societal expectations placed on Kazakh women within marriage. The trial’s timing occurred shortly before — and perhaps by no coincidence — new legislation was signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on April 15, 2024, amending laws to protect the rights and safety of women and children. However, critics noted an omission: a clear, targeted focus on preventing domestic violence. Two Kazakh women, who shared their stories with The Times of Central Asia, revealed the extent to which domestic violence remains embedded in Kazakh society. Rayana, from Astana, and Aliya, a Kazakh student in New York City, have never met, yet their stories echo shared challenges and hopes for change in their home country. Rayana, a beauty industry professional in her mid-twenties, reflected on her brief and tumultuous marriage, which began when she was 23. “I loved my husband, but felt it was too early to marry. We married just four months after meeting, and within a month of living together, I wanted a divorce. He was unfaithful and violent.” When Rayana sought help from her mother-in-law, she was told that her mother-in-law had also been a victim of domestic violence and that she, too, must learn to endure it. “It is worth mentioning that in Kazakhstan the north is very different from the south,” Rayana added. “I'm a northerner, he's a southerner. I had never experienced abuse before, and then for the first time, I felt a panic attack, which I still live with. In the south, people adhere more to traditions and have a negative attitude towards divorce and washing their dirty linen in public. Women keep silent about domestic violence. I can’t say anything about his family’s attitude. I still don’t fully understand.” Having grown up around domestic violence, she believes that one in two families is affected by it. After separating, Rayana’s family offered her support, while her in-laws disapproved, even throwing out her belongings. Rayana’s life since then, however, has vastly improved. “I have been working in the beauty industry for a long time. In our field, at least, climbing the career ladder is not difficult. My first supervisor helped me a lot. He spoke fondly of his wife and cared about his female employees. This gives us faith that there are good men...

1 year ago

World Nomad Games

A Yurt Full of Culture: Immersive Theater Meets Nomadic Traditions at the World Nomad Games

In and amongst the many yurts at the 2024 World Nomad Games Ethnoaul (Ethnic Village), the inhabitants of a specific yurt — not only delight and surprise passersby with boisterous renditions of Kazakh music, dance, and comical stage combat — but they energetically beckon people inside to experience the traditional familial rituals of a nomadic Kazakh marriage proposal. Guests are seated on the floor while segments of the ritual are played out and translated into English by the host, Ernur. The experience is immersive to the point where some of the observers from far-off regions were overheard congratulating the bride-to-be on her upcoming nuptials. Inside the yurt, Ernur set the scene by pointing out the players, among them, the fathers of the future bride and groom, the future bride, her future mother-in-law, and a strumming dombra player. After the union was established, the mother-in-law bestowed her daughter-to-be with gifts of jewelry. As the dombra rhythm accelerated, the fathers-in-law embraced, and the two families exchanged gifts of — in this instance — fur-collared cloaks. The wedding, Ernur explained, would occur in March, the month of the traditional Central Asian New Year (Nauryz). Upward-facing palms aided declarations of goodwill and thankfulness, followed by more music, merriment, and horse-related appetizers. A sense of genuine formality and inclusive pomp was fully realized in under ten minutes. [video width="848" height="478" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WhatsApp-Video-2024-09-13-at-12.10.55.mp4"][/video] The Mukanov Theater, named after Kazakh Soviet writer and poet Sabit Mukanov, is based in Petropavl, approximately 300 miles north of Astana near the border with Russia. Ernur, the aforementioned host and cast member, has been acting with the twenty-one-year-old Mukanov Theater for a year. Back in Petropavl, the company, which has a 200-seat theater building, performs traditional Kazakh plays, modern plays, and Shakespeare, which Ernur described as “so difficult for us!” 2024 marks the first year that they have performed at the WNG with their debut marriage proposal ceremony. Additionally, the theater company has enacted different nomadic traditions in other yurts around Kazakhstan. Ernur, who said he’d enjoyed his time in Astana, added that the Mukanov Theater was “proud that the World Nomad Games are here [in Kazakhstan].” [caption id="attachment_23140" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Left to right: Brandon, Albert and Jan at the World Nomad Games; image: TCA, K. Krombie[/caption] Three Western traveling companions, who met each other only recently on the backpacker trail of Central Asia, were ushered into the Mukanov Theater yurt. They each provided reviews of the immersive theater experience, and also, their individual opinions regarding the wider connotations of the performance, proportionate to Kazakhstan’s post-Soviet cultural heritage. Brandon, an American from San Francisco, has been traveling the world for nine months and thought it would be “really funny” to come to the Stans for a couple of months. “I was in Turkey, and I was like, you know what, where's the weirdest place I can think of to go to that's not too far from where I am right now? Who's ever been to Uzbekistan, right? Kazakhstan is my last stop...

2 years ago

World Nomad Games

Celebrating Female Pioneers at the 2024 World Nomad Games

Like most dominating worldwide sports, the World Nomad Games are top-heavy with male athletes. Yet while women don’t participate in all the categories, in the 2024 WNG, a noteworthy number of them have become the center of attention. Among the packed crowds of the Hippodrome and Ethnoaul venues, one competitor and two ticket holders had a few things to say on the matter of WNG women. Timea Janurik, known as Timi, is a folk musician and a PhD student in folk teaching methods, from Budapest, Hungary. She is competing as a player of the citera, the national stringed instrument of Hungary, at the Ethnoaul. The Hungarian representation at the WNG includes three men and three women, but Timi, who specializes in Turkic folk songs, is the only musician among them. While rehearsing in Astana, Timi chanced upon a Kazakh girl singer and asked her, “Do you want to join me in the concert?” Hence, a female alliance and a makeshift band were formed because Timi only knew how to sing one song in the Kazakh language. According to Timi, her new partner “can sing beautifully.” In Timi’s native Hungary, folk musicianship is an art form split evenly among men and women, but citera playing is dominated by women (and violin playing by men). [video width="848" height="478" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WhatsApp-Video-2024-09-12-at-00.21.19.mp4"][/video] Timi is also participating in the female Assyk games, a type of traditional Kazakh board game in which players use small animal bones — assyks — to knock out multiple lines of their opponent’s assyks. The game rules differ according to gender. The male version of the game “is more popular,” says Timi, “because it’s more visible and looks so fancy to play.” [caption id="attachment_23070" align="aligncenter" width="1577"] Image: TCA, K. Krombie[/caption] British visitors Naomi Ocean and Andy Myer (an archer), from Wales and Devon, respectively, came all the way from the UK to Astana to watch the horseback archery. Even though they are well-traveled in other regions of Central Asia, this is their first visit to Kazakhstan and the WNG. They remarked that they hadn’t noticed the UK team participating in anything they have witnessed thus far, but what they have seen has been “interesting and exciting.” Having just seen the Turkey team being “trashed in the kok boru,” they were happy to see Turkey’s subsequent victory in the Traditional Turkish Archery, in particular the female team member who performed victory laps before an exhilarated, mostly Kazakh crowd. “We were glad,” said Naomi, “and we loved seeing the female archers.” Naomi was equally, if not more impressed by the “mixed teams” in the horseback archery category. Having watched and enjoyed the 2016 Kazakh language documentary film, The Eagle Huntress, Naomi and Andy look forward to the Kusbegilik games. “We’re expecting to see women handling eagles, which should be good.” [caption id="attachment_23071" align="aligncenter" width="2000"] Image: TCA, K. Krombie[/caption] A Turkish team victor, competing in Traditional Turkish Archery (mixed gender team), and an Uzbek athlete in horseback archery (with no specific male and female categories)...

2 years ago

World Nomad Games

Kazakhstan’s Rich Cultural Heritage: Thirteen Elements in One Yurt

Nestled among the yurts of the 2024 World Nomad Games Ethnoaul (Ethnic Village), one yurt in particular provided a promotional VIP space for the distinguished Russophone poet, politician, UNESCO ambassador, International Democratic Party Chairman of the People’s Congress of Kazakhstan, and anti-nuclear activist Olzhas Suleimenov. A hushed silence spread inside the circumference of the AZ i YA (a Russian play on the word “Asia”) yurt, named in honor of Suleimenov’s 1975 book about the conceivable Turkic origin of the epic Old East Slavic poem The Tale of Igor's Campaign. Bystanders were ushered out when the Almaty-born Suleimenov arrived. The aforementioned book caused controversy when it was released in the Soviet era and was almost banned when Suleimenov was accused of “national chauvinism” and “glorifying feudal nomadic culture.” By contrast, the purpose of the AZ i YA yurt is to educate the unenlightened and celebrate the thirteen elements of “Kazakhstan's Rich Cultural Heritage.” Those thirteen elements, as explained by the yurt’s translator and self-proclaimed “young scientist” Dana Tursynova, include Aitysh, a spoken word poetry contest with dueling dombra (two-string instrument), or the Kyrgyz komuz (two or three strings), in which two protagonists improvise on the topics of opposing ideas, retorts, and general frustrations. Tursynova described it as “conveying political problems” and “the sound of a nation [aimed at] the government.” At a neighboring yurt, Aitysh—delivered with gravelly belligerence—was audibly comparable with a modern battle rap. Another element is Nasreddin Hodja, a 13th-century folklore storyteller who—similar to the Aitysh tradition—used humor to air political grievances and other types of narrative. [video width="848" height="478" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/WhatsApp-Video-2024-09-10-at-23.43.20.mp4"][/video] A further element is Korkyt-Ata (translated from Kazakh as “granddad”), a 9th-century philosopher, who, in his pursuit of immortality discovered that death was always waiting for him. As he gained enlightenment, he somehow had enough free time to craft the kobyz, an ancient Turkic stringed instrument. Thus, he is known as the founder of Kazakh string and bow instruments. The yurt, the round portable homes of the nomads, is an element, as is orteke, where the dombra musician surpasses the average one-man-band status by operating moving wooden puppets connected to his fingers via the strings to convey multi-task theater. The sports elements comprise kazakhsha kures, traditional Kazakh wrestling, which in recent times has traded the long-established grass turf for a mod con carpet, board-type games, such as Assyk, designed to sharpen the intellectual and physical development of children, and Kusbegilik, or hunting with birds of prey, a Kazakh cultural heritage as well as a major sport in the WNG. Edible elements combine katyrma flatbread, an important part of Kazakhstan’s communal relations in the interchange of goodwill (e.g. “have a good life”) when sharing the bread, and horse breeder festivities, where kumis, fermented horse milk, is the culinary highlight. The main heading of the yurt’s pamphlet handout is the substantially worded International Centre for the Rapprochement of Cultures Under the Auspices of UNESCO. In one small yurt (on one Great Steppe), the cultural round-up of folklore, tradition, and...

2 years ago