Tuva.Asia / The New Research of Tuva

A presentation of photo-album "Black and White Tuva. Unfinished history…", which was published on the initiative of Sergei Shoigu with the support of Russian Geographic Society, took place at the National Museum of Tuva. The event had additional ceremonial aura because of the presence of  artists from the National theatre of Music and Drama in historical costumes; Kaigal-ool Khovalyg, National khoomeiji, played the igil. Huge numbers of photographs from personal archives of travelers and residents of Tuva were collected in the album, but the majority belongs to the first director of Tuvan State Museum Vladimir Yermolayev.

The album encompasses a century - from 1889 to 1989. It includes six sections, including photographs from the time of Uriangkhai Krai, Tannu-Tuva in 19818-1940, expeditions of the Imperial Geographic Society to Uriangkhai Krai until 1917, and other significant periods in the history of our republic.

Tuvan singer  Sainkho Namtchylak, who has long been living abroad and who conquered world renown, will conduct a throat-singing workshop at the Museum of History of Ulan-Ude on 19-20 November.

As the government press-service of  Buryatia explains, Sainkho Namtchylak, who is a singer-experimenter, improviser,  composer, sound-poet, and specialist in archaic singing techniques, vocal techniques of people of Siberia and Far East, represents a unique phenomenon of world vocal culture.

The music she performs includes avant-garde jazz, "electronic music', contemporary composition, Tuvan heritage, Tibetan chanting and music of the peoples of the world.

There will be a concert of Sainkho Namtchylak at the Youth Art Theatre on 23 November.

Yesterday at the Moscow University of Humanities, a successful defense of  dissertation seeking the scholarly degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the founder of our site, its Editor-in-Chief and the main inspiration, Chimiza Lamajaa. She presented for evaluation her dissertation "Archaisation of society in the period of social transformations (socio-philosophical analysis of Tuvan phenomenon)", (in the specialty 09.00.11 - social philosophy).

The scientific consultant was - Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Merited  science worker of RF, Valeriy Lukov.

The main organization which prepared the expert conclusion regarding this work is the Institute of Philosophy of RAN.

First-hand about the "Kyzyl - Kuragino" expedition. Minister of Emergencies and President of Russian Geographic Society tells us how to get into an archeological expedition, shares his memories of his past in the field, and offers advice to neophytes. -  Why was this place in Tuva in particular chosen for excavations? Why has everything been calculated for four years? -  There are three combined reasons. First - vital necessity, because this is where the "kyzyl - Kuragino" railroad will be constructed. All the expert evaluations have been done already, the project is ready, and the construction should begin soon. According to all the rules and laws, both ours and international ones, until the entire route is studied from the point of view of archeology and history, until all the archeological and historical monuments are discovered, studied or preserved for later times, the construction in that area can't begin. Second - the sheer volume. The volume is huge, and it is impossible to get all of it done in one year, otherwise we lose the quality, and won't be able to study everything thoroughly. In four years, we would like to leave a good record both in the railroad construction and in the history of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Khakassia and Tuva.

In the Sayans, not far from the well-known mountain pass, an expedition started studying the habitat of the rarest and most mysterious large cat in the world - snow leopard. Before the start, expedition members gave some new, unique photos of  the irbis to the Russian Geographic Society. The snow leopard, or irbis, is the only permanent resident of the high mountain zone among the large cats. It personifies the majestic, mysterious and brutal world of Central Asia mountain ranges. Russia is the possessor of the northernmost population grouping of  this practically unstudied species, which inhabits the mountain ranges  of South Siberia, Altai, Sayans and Tuva. The irbis population her, according to various evaluations, numbers about 70-150 individuals. Three to five individuals live in various districts, more rarely nine to twelve. The habitat of snow leopard in Russia comprises 2% of the contemporary range of the whole world, and the irbis population is also about 2% of the world total snow leopard population.

In Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Mongolian archeologists discovered a mausoleum of an ancient Turkish emperor. The find, dated to 7^th century, is sensational in itself, as scientists of the world confirm. The mausoleum was preserved in the original state and was not damaged during the excavations, which is due in many ways to a new method invented together with Mongolian scientists. Karzhaubai Sartkozhauli, Doctor of philology, professor, and director of Gumilev scientific research center "Turkology and Altaistics" of  ENU called it a skill of scientists of two countries. "Turkic culture has not changed much in centuries. As you know,  our ancestors built yurts in such a way that the entrance  faced south-east. The door of the corridor leading into the mausoleum also faced south-east.