Kyrgyz Traditional Music and Art




Tompkins Square Branch of New York Public Library
331 East 10th St (between Avenues A & B) in Manhattan
Saturday, March 17, 2007 at 2 PM


Sakhna artists from Kyrgyzstan will perform traditional songs and music to accompany an exhibit of traditional art from Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. The exhibit, organized by Dinara Chochunbaeva, includes traditional felt work and embroideries. The exhibit is open Friday and Saturday from 2 to 5 PM. Both the exhibit and concert are free events.

SAKHNA means "stage" in Kyrgyz. Sakhna has performed since its founding in 2002 in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. Sakhna Theatre is dedicated to reviving the small epics of Kyrgyzstan. The theatre pieces are based on the masterpieces of Kyrgyz oral literatures, one of the richest living folk traditions in the world. The theatre productions use ancient traditional music which the group performs exclusively on folk instruments. They also sing songs in the old traditional style and specialize in "dastans" or Kyrgyz epic songs that are passed orally from masters to students to this day.

Sakhna artists are in New York working on a co-production of a Kyrgyz epic Janyl with Yara Arts Group of La MaMa Exprimental Theatre. Janyl performs Th-Sun March 9-25 La MaMa E.T.C. 74 East 4th St, New York. For more information and tickets www.lamama.org

The events with the Kyrygyz artists in New York were made possible in part with public funds from New York State Council on the Arts, New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as grants from the Nordlys Foundaiton, CEC ArtsLink, US Embassy in Bishkek, Swiss Agency for Development, and the Soros Foundation of Kyrgyzstan.