Tuva.Asia / The New Research of Tuva

At Tuvan State University, a final meeting of Tuvan scholars  with representatives of South Korean educational canal EBC ltd. Production Purme took place. At this meeting, the guests shared their impressions of Tuva after a two-week stay in the republic. Remember that the guests arrived to the republic at the end of February to film a fifty-minute documentary film about Tuvan culture, shamanism and way of life.

During their stay in our republic, Korean reporters visited a shepherds' camp at Aldy-Shynaa near the town of Shagonar, ascended to the top of Mt. Buura, met with shamans and learned about Tuvan folklore.

Today the head of Tuva, Sholban Kara-ool met with Japanese musicians who arrived in Kyzyl on the invitation of  the Center of Tuvan-Japanese Friendship  "Kargyraa". Yanagiya Koharu, Makigami Koichi and Udai Shika left Tokyo  next day after the earthquake. Sholban Kara-ool, first of all, expressed through them deep condolences to the entire Japanese nation.

-  We live right in the heart of Asia, and  we feel special pain for the tragedies that happen to our Asian friends, - said the Premier . - I have been to Japan, and I know what a courageous nation strong in spirit the Japanese people are. We, in our turn, are prepared to offer any kind of support and help to Japanese families who were impacted by the elements.

45 kilometers from Kyzyl in the west direction of Kyzyl-Shagonar highway by the Ulug-Khem river at the place "Balyktyg-Kharaar", there has been constructed an ethno-cultural complex  "Aldyn-Bulak" .  Yesterday, the official presentation of the complex took place; it is expected to become one of the strategic objects of tourism business, as well as to make a substantial contribution into the piggy-bank of tourist attractiveness of Tuva.   More than 30 million rubles has been allocated for its  construction out of the republic's budget. The finished ethno-cultural complex has become the last note of the Year of Tourism.

The school memorial museum of Nadia Rusheva published a set of postcards of the young artist's drawings - devoted to her illustrations to Mikhail Bulgakov's novel "Master and Margarita". This is already the second postcard set; the first was published in 2009 (for the occasion of  the 40^th anniversary of N. Rusheva's death), and consisted of reproductions of drawings of various of Nadia's series.

In the words of Natalia Usenko, the head of the museum, the aim of publication of the sets  is to make people acquaintanced with Rusheva's work or to give her fans an opportunity to see their  long-loved drawings. The series "Master and Margarita" was scanned at  A. S. Pushkin State Museum, where the drawings are kept.

Before he left for Sakhalin, Premier-Minister of RF Vladimir Putin went to Abakan, to the Khakass sanctuary. Under  the aegis of the Premier, there are many programs in protection and study of animals, including the rebirth of leopard population in Sochi and snow leopard in Khakassia and Tyva. He also initiated the allocation of means in the form of grants to the Russian Geographic Society.

Several days ago, a male snow leopard was captured. He was documented by photo-traps several times before; he has been walking around with a poacher's noose around his neck for six months. The scientists found wounds on him, and  treated them for a few days. The head of the government took a look at the animal and listened to the specialists.

The former successful mathematics teacher of Elista intermediate school No.3, Ekaterina Adyayeva, after she left for her well-deserved retirement, was not confused, as so often happens in our times. Since she knew how to do practically everything at home with her own hands, she became involved in in learning folk crafts - Kalmyk embroidery and a type of handicraft that is very exotic today - felt-making.

- I became enthusiastic about felt-making the first time I saw it done, - says Ekaterina Lidzhievna. - in winter of 2009, together with doll-maker Elena Lukina,, we took part in an international symposium "The art of felt in the Turkic world: history and the present", which took place in Kazan.

Not just folk craftsmen were there - there were scientists, scholars and officials, who were all seriously interested in the rebirth of felt-making.

It was sad to hear that this type of decorative-applied art belongs to Bashkirs and Tatars. After all, this is a traditional occupation of many nomadic peoples, including the Kalmyks.

A miracle? Yes, to a certain extent it is a miracle. The group performs very rarely in Eastern Siberia, and  in Russia in general. It is not surprising that even professional musicians in Buryatia do not know Albert Kuvezin, and if they have heard of him,  it is only  in  connection with world rock-festivals and European charts.

However, Albert Kuvezin's name is well known in Germany and Belgium, Spain and France, USA and Canada.  Already by the late 90's, "YAT-KHA" participated in  world tours with some of the best known American and European rock groups. That is super-level!  All concert halls of "Carnegie Hall" class! There were recordings of discs in Toronto and London, films, clips and soundtracks in Japan, France, Hong-Kong.

Today, on 14 March 2011, Japanese musicians came to Kyzyl, despite the destructive earthquake which took place in their native country.

On 18 March 2011 at the House of National Art,  a major concert of Tuvan-Japanese music, "Music without borders", will take place, dedicated to the opening of the regional public organization  "Center of Tuvan - Japanese  friendship "Kargyraa".

The chief founder of this organization is the famous musician Otkun Dostai.

The condition of the snow leopard population in the south part of Shapshal ridge and on the Tsagaan-Shibetu ridge in Tuva is favorable, but the main menace to the irbis still comes from poachers. That is the conclusion reached by the experts of the expedition which took place with the support of the Altai-Sayan section of WWF after calculation of the numbers of snow leopard and mountain goat. The participants in the project, which ended on March 6, were workers of the "Ubsunur depression" preserve and inspectors from State Committee of Republic Tuva  for Hunting and Fishing. Evidence of irbis activity was found in all the observed river valleys - from the upper Khemchik and Shui, and also in the basins of rivers Toolaityg and Barlyk. 23 tracks were found, which, in the opinion of experts, belong to 15-17 leopards, and one visual sighting of this rare predator was registered.

Today is the birthday of the star of world ethnic music -  one of the most internationally famous Tuvan women - talented, inimitable Sainkhoo Namchylak. Lyudmila Okan-oolovna Namchylak - that is the singer's real name - started her life in a small Tuvan village in a family of schoolteachers in 1957. Her parents loved music very much, and played musical instruments when they were young. Her father had a pleasant baritone, and he often performed with musicians - amateurs in concerts in Tuva. Later the family moved to Kyzyl,, because the head of the family received a new position, and became apolitical supervisor of TASS in Tuvan television. On Sundays, he liked to teach his daughter to sing and dance. Her father also often read poems and verse to his wife and daughters.

On March 6, the Maslenitsa festivities will take place in the national park with all the necessary  attributes of  seeing off the Winter:  Russian folk games and contests, including a competition in the fastest eating of pancakes. There will be a pillar with a prize all the way on the top, and the burning of Maslenitsa effigy. The example of  last year, when the Maslenitsa and Shagaa (Lunar new Year) fell to the same date and a competition in "tevek" was held,  turned out to be infectious. It was decided to continue the tradition this year. Only the status of the competition will be designated as "Championship" in "tevek" - the first in history.

Tevek is an international game. It is known that  already in  Old Rus, one of the favorite children's games was "pochekushki", which is an analog of Tuvan  "tevek". A similar type of sport is still widespread in Great Britain, where it is called "socks".

Since December 2010, Tuva has been actively evaluation the question about the form of a planned monument to the founders of Tuvan statehood, which will be 90 years in 2011.

The government of Tuva has set up a curator committee, which is expected to evaluate all the proposals concerning the monument and to make a final decision. But to take personal responsibility for the final decision is not simple, because the opinions are strongly divided: during the process of evaluation, four distinct variants have separated - and the essence of the differences is very simple together or separate.

The event which took place 90 years ago in the small place of Sug-Bazhy, which later became the village Sug-Bazhy of Kaa-Khem district, really was of historical significance.

Respected colleagues!

We are pleased to inform you that a new electronic periodical publication "Medical Anthropology and Bioethics (MAiB) has been registered  in Russia (El No. FS77-39035). This is the first international journal in our country of scientific, educational and popular-science profile, oriented towards the above scientific directions.  Its founder is the institute of RAN of the Order of Friendship of Peoples of the N.N. Miklukho-Maclay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (119991, Moscow, Leninskiy Prospect, rm. 32A).

Dear friends!

We are happy to present the next issue of the journal  - No. 1 for 2011. The key sections of this issue contain interesting publications:

Article by prominent economist A. D. Begzi about economy of Tuva on the background of  the perspectives of development of Siberia;  another by archeologist D. K. Tulush, about the problems of destruction of monuments of Tuva; and  by the Kazakh scholar  E. I. Rudenko , about  the Indian model of modernization. The issue has a new section for works of pedagogical nature -  "Science of Education", and it started off with three articles by researchers of Tuva. These and other materials are available in this issue of the  journal,  the total volume of which is 316 pages.