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Travelling Through Naryn’s Ancient History
The Naryn region of the inner Tien Shan is a museum under an open sky. This region is an archaeological journey of several epochs, including unique petroglyphs, nomadic burials, remains of ancient cities, and caravan serais that were witness to some remarkable events of the past.
Over the course of two years, the University of Central Asia (UCA) has supported a televised expedition Remains of the Past devoted to the historical and archeological heritage of the Naryn region. The TV series include ten episodes that have been aired on local Kyrgyz channel with well over 150,000 viewers and is also available on YouTube.
Through voices of experts and residents, these docuseries explore the uniqueness of the Naryn region, and provides entertaining insights into life at Naryn’s ancient sites, through personal stories of some of its colourful characters.
Supplementing the newly filmed footage and interviews with archival footage and photography, Mirkhamid Toktogulov, the author of the programme employs narration to create a cohesive story. According to Mirkhamid, such projects educate modern population about the importance of preserving ancient remains. The series will play an invaluable tool in teaching the history of Naryn.
One of the leading Kyrgyz archeologists and contributor to the series, Dr Kubat Tabaldiev said, “Archeology is important because it brings us back to our roots while lighting up the road ahead. The collaboration between UCA and Kyrgyz Public Television has produced an amazing outcome.”
The series has been funded by UCA’s Cultural Heritage and Humanities Unit in partnership with the Institute of Strategic Sustainable Development. It has been airing on the “Culture, History and Language” programme of the Kyrgyz Public TV Corporation. The programme “Remains of the Past” was launched in 2014, and over the years, the authors have explored historical and archaeological heritage of Mongolia, Khakassia, Tuva, Buryatia, Altai Republic, and Kyrgyzstan. This is the first regional television project which has highlighted the common cultural and historical heritage of these regions.
