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Aral School

“It’s Not the Whole Story”: Aral School Participants Rethink Karakalpakstan

A proverb about seasonal food caught the attention of Australian researcher, multimedia artist, and producer Jess Nikitina-Li while she was at the Aral School in Nukus. “I’m interested in language, art and storytelling, and I didn’t really know what I would be working on during the program, but I became obsessed with this proverbial wisdom that kept coming up when we started asking questions about food systems in Karakalpakstan,” she told The Times of Central Asia. One proverb in particular became important to her work: “Three months of pumpkin, three months fish, three months melon, three months milk. All four seasons of the year the people are well fed and a lot of sweet fruit we have in our lands.” “This really grounded my thinking because it reflects my belief that people are not inherently depleted,” she said. “People become depleted through extraction. Seasonal abundance has always been in this land, and people know how to work with the seasons; people are adaptive.” The school is an initiative of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF). Its first cohort studied food and water at a household level. Applications for the second cohort, which will explore the theme of “Climate and Landscape” from January to June 2027, are open until October 25. [caption id="attachment_56507" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Image: ACDF[/caption] TCA spoke with participants about their work in Karakalpakstan. Nikitina-Li became particularly interested in the role of women within households, including kelin, a term referring to a young bride or daughter-in-law. “One of the key projects I worked on was a project called Tabak,” she said. “Tabak is a specifically resonant symbol in Karakalpakstan. It is the iron plate that everyone traditionally eats from.” Her work with women eventually led to the creation of a cooking collective called “The Wild Kelin,” through which participants explored traditional recipes, nutrition, seasonality, and the knowledge passed between generations. “I wanted to see what was important to them, what was relevant to their households, because that to me is the test of what is relevant to this region,” she said. “We did a lot of community programming, textbook research, field research, field recordings and filmmaking, but the most important thing for me was done in close collaboration with our local colleagues,” she told TCA. “This was really a priority for me. It was why I came here, to have this strong intercultural exchange and to make solidarities with the land and with the people who understand the land the best.” “We didn’t do this through this lens of people as victims, but through a lens of empowerment and understanding people as having agency - that they have an inherent capability of keeping themselves, and each other, alive,” Nikitina-Li said. “Something unique to this program was understanding how to create a community - a community of thinkers and makers who are grounded in the same principles, values and ethos, but who work so differently.” “My biggest takeaway from the first cohort is wow - this was very...

Cultural Heritage

The Art of the Witty Reply: How Uzbek Askiya Works

Imagine two people standing before an audience. One throws out a joke. The other has only a few seconds to grasp the meaning, pick up the wordplay, and fire back – preferably with something even sharper. The first responds again. Hesitate, miss the implication, or simply fail to make the audience laugh, and the round is lost. That is how askiya works – a traditional Uzbek contest of wit in which the conversation cannot be scripted in advance. In 2014, UNESCO inscribed askiya on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. But the genre lives on beyond festivals and recordings of old masters. Today, schoolchildren compete in askiya, young performers learn from their elders, and short performances circulate on social media. The Joke Is Only the Beginning Askiya usually involves two or more participants. They choose a common theme, one begins, and the others respond by seizing on words, double meanings, and unexpected associations in the previous speaker’s line. There is no time to step away and think of a better answer. A good askiyachi – an askiya performer – needs a keen sense of language, quick reactions, and the ability to instantly recognize where someone else’s thought can be taken. Almost anything can provide material: everyday situations, human habits, relationships, and events familiar to the audience. Humor also makes it possible to address subjects that are not always easy to laugh about in ordinary conversation. Askiya can poke fun at human weaknesses and comment on events around it, but it does so through verbal play rather than moralizing. UNESCO notes that the tradition is particularly closely associated with the Fergana Valley and the Tashkent region. Historically, most practitioners have been men. How Do You Teach Improvisation? The hardest part is passing the skill on to the next generation. A famous comedian’s joke can be memorized. In askiya, that is not enough. A performer has to hear the other person’s line, spot the trap hidden inside it, and find a way out before the audience loses interest. Traditionally, performers learned directly from a master. In Uzbekistan, this principle is known as ustoz-shogird – “master and apprentice.” It is used across many traditional arts, from music to crafts. The system is still at work in the Fergana Valley, one of the main centers of askiya. At a recent regional competition marking the 116th anniversary of Uzbek actor and comedian Soyib Khodjayev, the askiya club from School No. 57 in the city of Karasu took second place. The school of mastery named after Abdulkhay Makhsum Kazakov from Kurgantepa district won first place, while a team from Jalakuduk district finished third. Askiya was judged separately from other comic performances and theatrical miniatures. The distinction matters: a sketch can be rehearsed; a verbal duel cannot. Special schools of mastery also operate in districts of the Fergana region. Young performers train with experienced artists, preserving the traditional method of learning directly from a master. But a paradox remains: how do you teach...

World Nomad Games

Kyrgyzstan Beats Kazakhstan 12-0 to Win World Nomad Games Kok Boru Gold

Kyrgyzstan has won the kok-boru title at the 6th World Nomad Games after overwhelming Kazakhstan 12-0 in Sunday’s final at the Kok-Boru Arena in Cholpon-Ata. The hosts dominated the match and shut Kazakhstan out entirely. In the third period, Baytegin Omorbekov, Ernazar Koshumbaev, and Mirbek Mukashev added to Kyrgyzstan’s total, before Anarbek uulu Seitbek scored again as the margin widened. [video width="478" height="850" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/A-gY_JlG.mp4"][/video] The victory gave Kyrgyzstan the gold medal, with Kazakhstan taking silver and Russia bronze. The medal ceremony was held later on Sunday in Cholpon-Ata. The sport combines horsemanship, strength, and close physical contact, and remains one of the biggest crowd draws at the Games. Kyrgyzstan also defeated Kazakhstan 7-2 in the kokpar final, completing a sweep of the two major mounted team events on the final day of competition. Before the final, several men reportedly tried to force their way through a police cordon into the stands and were detained. The incident did not disrupt the match.

World Nomad Games

One Target, 145 Meters: Kyrchyn’s Archers Take on Korea’s Long-Range Test

The archers formed a long, uneven line across the grass at Kyrchyn Gorge on Friday, bows rising almost in unison beneath a bank of clouds. Their target was 145 meters away, far enough for the arrows to climb visibly before dropping back toward the range. It was the final and most unfamiliar test in the World Nomad Games’ traditional ground archery program: a Korean-style competition at a distance many of the international entrants had never attempted before. [video width="1024" height="576" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/WhatsApp-Video-2026-09-04-at-17.18.45.mp4"][/video] A total of 196 archers from 51 countries took part in the traditional archery program at Kyrchyn. The first two days used Kyrgyz and Turkish targets at shorter distances. Friday’s Korean round pushed both men and women out to 145 meters. Under the special Korean rules, each competitor shoots 15 qualification arrows across three rounds. The top 16 men and top 16 women advance to a 10-arrow final. Korean national team archers served as judges and officials rather than competing, leaving international archers to take on one of Korea’s defining traditional distances. For Kristina Dolgilevica, coach of Great Britain’s ground-archery team and president of the UK Traditional Archers’ International Association, the distance changes almost everything. “You have to adjust and adapt in so many ways,” she told The Times of Central Asia. “Not just your technique, not just your aim. You have to also adjust and tweak your equipment.” The British longbows were only one part of a field whose equipment, experience, and expectations varied widely. Germany’s Jürgen Junkmanns had at least faced the problem before. The German prehistoric-archery specialist and bowyer has spent decades studying historical bows and said he had travelled to Korea several times to shoot there. Even so, he described the distance as unusual at home. “In Germany we don’t shoot these distances, so we’re not used to it,” he said. For Canada, there was no opportunity to practice it at all. Vancouver-based Patricia Gonsalves, founder of Lykopis Archery, has more than three decades of experience in traditional archery and was accompanying Canada’s sole competitor. “We can’t train this distance in Canada,” she said. “There’s nowhere that we can train for this.” The weather added another variable. Gonsalves said archers from British Columbia were accustomed to rain, but Kyrchyn’s rapid changes had forced them to think differently about their arrows and fletching. A strong gust matters more when an arrow remains airborne for so long. Austria’s Kunda Kiba came to Kyrchyn with far less experience. She said this was her first World Nomad Games and her first competition in this form of archery. Her assessment was simpler: “It was wonderful. It’s very fun, and that’s what I wanted.” The international mix was part of the appeal for Britain’s John Stanley, who was also writing about the Games for World Archery. He had only shot 145 meters once before, but the distance was not what made the week feel unusual. “Every 20 minutes, there’s some brand-new experience you’ve never had before,” Stanley said. “You’re sitting on...

World Nomad Games

Britain’s Horseback Archers Ride Into Kyrchyn at the World Nomad Games

At Kyrchyn Gorge on Thursday, a British rider released an arrow at a target from horseback as her steed carried her between the course markers, with the green slopes of the Tian Shan rising behind the World Nomad Games venue. Horseback archery brings the two disciplines together in a single run. Riders must control the horse while nocking, drawing, and releasing arrows at targets as they move down the track. The official Kyrgyz-style rules require the horse to remain in motion throughout the run. [video width="1024" height="576" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/This-one.mp4"][/video] The Games use two horseback archery formats. In the Kyrgyz style, riders race along a 100-meter track and shoot at small targets while keeping the horse moving. The Hungarian, or Magyar, style changes the challenge: riders pass a central tower carrying targets that can be shot repeatedly as the angle changes. Speed therefore counts alongside accuracy, but riders must also adapt to a horse they may have known for only a short time. [caption id="attachment_55346" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Image: TCA, Stephen M. Bland[/caption] The venue is part of the spectacle. Beyond the course, a newly built clay fortress rises from Kyrchyn like a Silk Road settlement. It forms part of the Games’ “Universe of Nomads” ethno-town. Its buildings draw on regional architecture dating from the Middle Ages and were constructed with natural materials including soil, clay, and stone. [caption id="attachment_55352" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Image: TCA, Stephen M. Bland[/caption] Inside the walls, visitors crowded around long tables and food stalls beneath traditional textiles as vendors bustled. Outside, rows of white yurts spread across the verdant valley floor. Golden eagles and falcons pealed nearby, as Kyrchyn is also hosting the Games’ traditional hunting with birds and other events. [caption id="attachment_55351" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Image: TCA, Stephen M. Bland[/caption] In the gorge, the boundaries between competition and cultural festival largely disappear, with sport unfolding inside a temporary nomadic settlement rather than around a conventional arena. [caption id="attachment_55347" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Image: TCA, Stephen M. Bland[/caption] Among the British riders competing at Kyrchyn are Becca Sweetman and Kristina Schapiro. TCA spoke with them after Thursday’s Kyrgyz-style runs. TCA: Is this a sport you have been doing for some time back home? Becca Sweetman: We’ve both been doing it for about eight years and competing for the British team for more than four years. TCA: How did it go today? Becca Sweetman: It’s a challenging competition because you have to change horses for every single run, which we don’t do at any other international competition. Kristina had a few amazing runs, and she’s currently in second place. Half the competition is done, so we’ll see how it continues. I managed to hit some targets, which is always good. [caption id="attachment_55349" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Image: Mae Pollard[/caption] TCA: Have you been to the World Nomad Games before, and what has your general impression been? Kristina Schapiro: It’s our first time competing in horseback archery at the World Nomad Games. It’s a little disorganized, but it’s an incredible experience. At the opening ceremony, I...

World Nomad Games

Kyrgyzstan Beats United States 16-7 as Kok Boru Opens at World Nomad Games

Two years after Kazakhstan beat Team USA in Astana, the Americans again faced a World Nomad Games host in kok boru. Kyrgyzstan won 16–7 at the Cholpon-Ata Kok Boru Arena on Wednesday, but the U.S. riders were a markedly different proposition from the side that failed to score in 2024. Kok boru, whose name means “gray wolf,” occupies a special place in Kyrgyz culture. UNESCO added it to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2017, recognizing its place in the country’s cultural identity, while the arena commentator repeatedly described the sport as a point of national pride. Tradition traces the game to mounted hunters fighting for possession of a wolf killed while protecting livestock, an old practice later developed into a team contest. The modern game uses a prepared headless goat carcass, which a rider must carry across the field and get into the opposing tai kazan, the raised circular goal at either end. Kyrgyzstan restored the real carcass for these Games after Kazakhstan used a synthetic rubber serke in Astana, making the object’s weight and bulk unmistakable whenever a rider leaned almost to the sand to seize it. Under the current rules, four riders from each team compete on the field during three 15-minute periods. The carcass normally weighs 30–32 kilograms, and although riders may press one another with their bodies or use their horses to nudge for position, striking is prohibited. [video width="848" height="478" mp4="https://timesca.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/WhatsApp-Video-2026-09-02-at-21.55.39.mp4"][/video] Team USA started strongly, trading scores with Kyrgyzstan early and holding its own in the scrums for possession. Horses pressed flank to flank in what could look like an impossible embrace as riders bent low into the crush. When one came free with the goat held against the saddle, the tangle opened immediately into a gallop toward the tai kazan. Nurzhan Melisbek uulu opened the scoring for Kyrgyzstan after just 23 seconds, but Team USA answered and kept the opening exchanges close. By the middle of the first period, Kyrgyzstan had begun finding more openings and closed it 7–2. During the first break, Ennio Morricone’s theme from Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars played over the speakers in what appeared to be a nod to the American cowboys. The Americans returned to the field with renewed energy and scored almost immediately, with the board soon showing 8–3. Kyrgyzstan did not loosen its grip for long, but neither did the second period become the one-way procession seen in Astana. The hosts added five points to the Americans’ three, taking the cumulative score to 12–5. During the second period, U.S. No. 33 Zanen Pitts fell from his horse but quickly recovered. No. 2 Nick Willert was also back with Team USA, two years after explaining in a 2024 interview with The Times of Central Asia that the Americans combined techniques learned from Central Asian players with Western horsemanship. Finding suitable horses and having enough time to become familiar with them, he said, had always been a major difficulty for the team. Kyrgyzstan controlled...