Image: Transformation mask of the Kwakwaka'wakw people of the Pacific North-West, used during ceremonies and dances
Hello,
This week I’m going to trial a format for the newsletter that I’ve had in mind for a while.
Focussing on a region of the world in the headlines during the week, I want to share bits of the culture and history not seen on the news. It will require a little bit more research, but let’s see how I go…
Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan
In the small, landlocked, ex-Soviet country of Kyrgyzstan, protesters have broken into government buildings to demand a do-over of the recent election. Allegations of vote buying and cozying up to Russia are at the heart of the protests, the Kyrgyz people are fed up and demanding more of their young democracy. You can read more about this here.
Linguistically, the Kyrgyz language is closest to Kazakh, and the two countries share a sibling relationship, with the little brother Kyrgyzstan choosing to live it up in the mountains. A majority Islamic state, the country has been at the crossroads of empires and trade routes for centuries, being a Silk Road stopover, fighting off the Uyghur, conquered by Mongols, and subsumed into both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Traditionally semi-nomadic farmers, the Kyrgyz have been playing catch up to ‘modernity’ over the last thirty years, mostly with money from a strong mining sector. However, the spectre of colonial Russia, and interference from post-Soviet Union Moscow, haunts the country’s ability to self-govern. The political class is rife with corruption and the lure of opulent authoritarianism in its Central Asian neighbours.
You can learn more about the country here.
Image: 11th Century Burana Tower, northern Kyrgyzstan
The legend of the Burana Tower is reminiscent of the tale of Rapunzel. Instead, a powerful khan learns from local mystics that his newborn daughter will die at the age of sixteen. The cause of death — a spider bite. So, he builds a 45 metre tower, with a twisting staircase inside, and a room for his daughter to live in. Servants would bring her food up a ladder leaning on the outside of the tower, checking it over for any hitchhiking arachnids. Sure enough, on the daughter’s sixteenth birthday, a sneaky stowaway hid in the fruit basket sent up in celebration. She was bitten as soon as her hand reached for an apple, and then died. The wailing of the distraught khan was so loud it shook the earth and the top of the tower crumbled away to its current 25 metre height.
Much later, seismologists would date earthquakes back to this time.
The Kyrgyz are known for their love of dancing and the particular folk style which involves a lot of shoulder isolation moves.
These movements probably influenced Kyrgyz modern dancer Solto Esengulov’s unique form of dance, popping out his joints and defying gravity with his core strength and flexibility:
Content warning: nonconsensual acts
In various places around the world throughout history, there has been a custom of bride kidnapping. This nonconsensual ‘marriage by abduction’ is outlawed in most countries, but the practice can still be seen today in rural areas from Indonesia to Rwanda to Kyrgyzstan. In Kyrgyzstan it’s called ala kachuu (to take and flee). While in some cases, the act is reported as consensual and more a symbolic nod to tradition, as recently as 2018, a victim of the practice was murdered when police failed to separate her captor from her in custody. The United Nations Development Programme considers bride kidnapping a human rights violation, and women’s rights NGOs are still working to gather data on the ground. In many Kyrgyz villages, captors are rarely prosecuted because local councils are protected by a pluralistic legal system which gives them the final say on cultural practices. Watch more about this here:
The Caucasus
Republic of Artsakh
Image: the flag of the Republic of Artsakh, or Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh
Also in the news this week is the escalating conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the small unrecognised republic that sits between them like a child of divorced parents, Artsakh (pronounced Ar-tsach, ch as in loch, and not ‘art sack’). Similar to Kyrgyzstan, the region suffers the same colonial line drawing by the Russians and then the Soviet Union’s strategic final touch. Politicians now use arbitrary divisions to stoke patriotic fervour, even though the history and cultures of the three countries share more in common than not. Here is an explainer on the conflict by a great geopolitical channel, CaspianReport, who is incidentally Azerbaijani:
Now, Artsakh sits over several valuable energy pipelines of interest not only to Armenia and Azerbaijan, but to neighbouring superpowers Iran, Turkey and Russia. As of Monday this week, the Artsakh capital, Stepanakert, suffered shelling while its residents hid in underground shelters. The following video was taken in September last year by an intrepid American YouTuber visiting Stepanakert for the first time. The conflict feels very far away:
It fascinates me how locals have to navigate the line between the realistic dangers of living where they do and the positive selling points of tourism. There’s a mix of determination and desperation for people who want a tourism economy to give their region a boost into more autonomy. It must be so frustrating to be at the mercy of unstable politics. More beautiful scenes from Artsakh here.
Image: the ‘We Are Our Mountains” statue in Stepanakert, a symbol for the Artsakh region
Hopefully that gave you a little bit more insight into the countries in the news at the moment. Let me know if you’d like more or less on each place.
And now, some leftovers from the week:
This YouTube channel is really cool. Weird Explorer tries fruit and other delicacies from around the world. Lots of videos to watch, too!
Sir David Attenborough has gone on ‘socials’ to promote his new film on Netflix. Here are celebrities asking him some questions:
And this news is ridiculous and aggravating: Australia to block visa for partners if they don't study English
World’s biggest wind and solar producer now worth more than ExxonMobil
Thanks a lot for reading!
Oh, and if you’re in Melbourne, tune in to ABC Melbourne on Thursday night (15/10) around 19:30 to listen to me talk to David Astle about my recent piece in Kill Your Darlings! I’m sure it will be available digitally for everyone else afterwards.
Love the idea behind your new format! Also love your selection of eclectic facts and stories from each region. Great stuff! Keep it up (if it's not too much extra work). (Please. And thank you.)