EURASIA INSIGHT
KYRGYZSTAN: DARK DAYS FOR PERFORMING ARTS IN OSH

Usman Khakimov 2/11/10

Southern Kyrgyzstan is a region where residents experience plenty of
every-day drama, much of it rooted in a prevailing sense of financial
uncertainty. The preoccupation with economic issues is such that the
performing arts are an afterthought. Yet, one troupe of young Uzbek
thespians based in the southern capital of Osh is defying long odds
against them, filling a niche and finding a small audience.

The troupe is named Navnihol, which translates from Uzbek as Newest
Sprout. Now in its 11th year, it is the brainchild of Ravshan
Tursunov, who heads the Uzbek Language and Literature Department at
Osh State University. His mission is to both entertain and educate.

"Through our performances, we try to evoke interest and love for
literature and the arts. Also, in our plays, we touch upon vital
problems in our society like [challenges with] education and raising
children, including inter-ethnic relations, adolescent problems and
the consequences of drug addiction," said Tursunov.

"So far, we have staged over 10 plays and acts written by Uzbeks,
Kyrgyz, Armenians and others," he adds. Ethnic Uzbeks, numbering over
700,000, form the largest ethnic minority group in southern
Kyrgyzstan.

The troupe has participated in a number of drama festivals, and has
received critical acclaim, including praise from authorities in
neighboring Uzbekistan, a country that has had bouts of tension with
Kyrgyzstan over the past few years. In 2006, representing Kyrgyzstan
at the Nihol Theater Festival in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent,
Navnihol took second place among the 21 student drama troupes
competing.

Back at home, Navnihol mainly tours schools and other venues in
southern Kyrgyzstan. In 2004, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Education,
Science and Culture recognized the group’s popularity and
contributions, and granted the ensemble status as an official Folk
Theater.

"The [troupe] is making a great contribution to the development of
spiritual values as well as the ideological upbringing of our
students," says Zamir Bojonov, the Director of the Educational
Department at Osh State University. "In addition, Navnihol promotes
the image of our university across the whole region. We have students
from Uzbekistan, too, who study here at our university."

Navnihol actors say they love what they do, but they wonder if the
theater has a future in Central Asia. Interest in the performing arts
continues to fall off at an alarming rate, they report.

"It is sad, but I have to admit that very few people among my
relatives and friends care for the theater," says 21-year-old actress
Malokhat Batyrova. "People simply don’t want to go to the theater.
However, when we deliver our performances to primary and secondary
school students, certain interest in the dramatic arts arises. But
maybe our efforts are not enough."

Ganijon Kholmatov, former director of Osh’s Uzbek Drama Theater, said
that in the not too distant past, state-supported theater enjoyed
widespread popularity. "Uzbek dramatic arts in Kyrgyzstan were so
strong and in such great demand that you had to buy tickets in
advance. Nowadays, people do not want to go to the theater," Kholmatov
lamented. "People are struggling to feed their families. People will
want to enjoy performing arts when they enjoy prosperity and don’t
have to be worried about survival."

Economic conditions aren’t the only factor contributing to the decline
in attendance. Falling education standards are also playing a role,
some local observers contend. "Lack of interest in the drama arts has
emerged due to little interest in literature, which is, in turn, the
result of poor quality of education at Uzbek language primary and
secondary schools [in Kyrgyzstan]," Munojat Tashbaeva, an ethnic Uzbek
sociologist based in Osh told EurasiaNet.

"Secondly, now textbooks for Kyrgyzstan’s Uzbek language schools are
developed and printed here in Osh, not in Tashkent like in Soviet
times. This makes it impossible to trace and reflect new trends in
Uzbek dramatic arts," she adds.

Erkin Bainazarov, an Osh-based playwright, expressed concern that a
shift in social values, in particular a growing emphasis on
materialism, is negatively influencing aesthetic tastes.

"Even when the Uzbek Drama Theater has so-called open-door days [when
tickets are free], not many people come to the theater," said
Bainazarov. "The main reason is that people nowadays are more
interested in material rather than spiritual values. This is,
unfortunately, the current reality."

Despite giving such a gloomy assessment, Bainazarov said he remained
optimistic about the future of theater in Osh, and throughout Central
Asia. "I am still positive that the local dramatic arts will not
perish, and the old days when we had many theater lovers will return,"
he said.

Editor’s Note: Usman Khakimov is the pseudonym for a journalist in Kyrgyzstan.