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| 2009 | |
| December 13th-17th, everyday and the whole day -- from 10am till 7pm, at SRH | “Ancient Gold of Kazakhstan,” the exhibit of Krym Altynbekov, will be open to the public. Krym Altynbekov is a world renowned expert in reconstructing the metallurgy and craftsmanship of ancient artifacts. He will discuss findings at ancient burial mounds in Kazakhstan and presents gold replicas illustrating the artistry of nomadic tribes from the 8th to 3rd centuries BC. |
| December 13th, Sunday, 1-3pm, at SRH | The honorary guest of the Silk Road House, Mr. Bidas Uristembekov, the outstanding Kazakh epic singer (zhyrau) from Kyzylorda, South Kazakhstan, will be performing accompanying himself by the dombra, and Alma Kunanbaeva will be commenting and translating his songs. |
| December 12th, Saturday, 4-7pm, at the Lipman Room (the top, 8th, floor of Barrows Hall.) The Barrows Hall is located on the south side of the University of California Berkeley campus along Bancroft Way (Bancroft Way and Barrow Lane. Berkeley, CA, 94720.) |
“Ancient Gold of Kazakhstan.” The opening of the exhibit by Krym Altynbekov. Krym Altynbekov of Almaty, the artist, conservator and the master restorer of almost all the archeological treasures found in Kazakhstan in the past 25 years, including the Golden Man and all the objects found with him. Krym is coming with his two daughters, Elina and Dana, the twins who are working together with their distinguished father.
The celebration of the upcoming 18th anniversary of the independence of Kazakhstan. The presence of the Embassy of Kazakhstan to the USA as well as Honorary Consuls of Kazakhstan in San Francisco and Los Angeles is highly expected. Reception with catering follows. |
| December 6th, Sunday, 1-3pm, at SRH | "Cotton & Silk, Coral and Carnelian: Costume and Ornament of Turkestan," a colorful PowerPoint presentation by Anita Habdank-Kolaczkowska. |
| November 15th, Sunday, 7pm |
The Tenth Annual San Francisco World Music Festival in association with Silk Road House, Berkeley presents the Master Musician and Teacher Akylbek Serkebaev from Kyrgyzstan who makes his festival debut on November 15 at 7pm at the Silk Road House.
Akylbek Serkebaev hails from Kadji Sai village in Issyk-Kul oblast, Kyrgyzstan. He graduated from the State Music College in Prjevalsk, Kyrgyzstan in 1981, specializing in the Kyrgyz folk music instrument kyyak (a two-stringed fiddle made from apricot wood), where he also worked as the director of an independent folk music instruments orchestra and as a teacher of a Children's Music School at the college. Over the next 5 years, Mr. Serkebaev taught at the Kyrgyz State Institute of Arts in Bishkek, and toured as a concert performer. Today, he still teaches the komuz (a three-stringed fretless lute), kyl-kyyak, and chopo-choor (an end-blown flute) and singing classes in Bokonbaevo village. He plays komuz, kyl kyiak, temir ooz komuz (“iron mouth komuz,” a Kyrgyz jew’s harp) and the chopo choor. He is also a vocalist and an epic singer. In 2002, he and his family founded a musical group, called Kut (“Luck”), which toured US in 2008. The family is dedicated to perpetuating folk music and oral epics of their region, and they play a wide variety of traditional Kyrgyz string and wind instruments. Their CD is produced by Vista 360 in cooperation with the Western Folklife Center. Mr. Serkebaev is not only trained in traditional Kyrgyz music, but is a versatile musician who has worked to educate audiences around the world about the Kyrgyz and Central Asian cultures. Izaly Zemtsovsky will be assisting in interpretation of Mr. Serkebaev’s comments. |
| November 8th, Sunday, 1-3pm |
Silk Road House presents: "Central Asia: A Land of Many Mountains" A slide presentation by Jean-Claude Latombe.
Kumagai Professor in the School of Engineering Computer Science Department, Stanford University.
Here is a foreword to the presentation provided by our dear guest: During the past decade I have traveled many times to Central Asia, mainly to climb and hike in its mountains. I have fallen in love with these countries, their people, and their cultures, and I am returning there every year. This presentation will mostly be about some of my hiking trips. I will show many pictures from the Southern and Central Pamir and the Fann Mountains in Tajikistan and of the Turkestan and Kokshaal-Too ranges in Kyrgyzstan. If time permits I will also show pictures from Xinjiang (ascent of Muztagh Ata, at 7546m) and of Afghanistan (which I visited in 1970). |
| July 12th, Sunday, 1-3pm |
Silk Road House presents: “Singing Children in Tajikistan” a presentation by Galina Rodionova, Ph.D. (Economics), Moscow.
Galina Rodionova is a rural sociologist. Since 1994 she has been working for international projects of rural development in Russia and particularly in Tajikistan (2005-2007). Her specialization was monitoring and assessment of rural poverty. In 2007 she shot her first film “The Keepers” about Tajik and Uzbek folklore in Tajikistan. In 2008 she participated in the Fourth Visual Anthropological Festival in Moscow with the film “17 Minutes in the Border District”. This spring Galina shot singing children in countryside of Tajikistan. She tried to understand, whether folklore as the oral tradition would be kept there. In her presentation Dr. Rodionova plans to cover the following issues:
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| June 14th, Sunday, 1-3pm |
Silk Road House presents: Slide presentation on Ladakh & Dharamsala by Barbara Rydlander, local art history instructor.
The presenter will show slides and offer commentary on her recent trip to Ladakh (“little Tibet”) in northern India as well as to the Tibetan community in exile in Dharamsala, India. She will be discussing historical Silk Road connections between Tibet and Kashmir. Her focus will be Buddhist monuments including wall paintings and sculpture, and rituals, plus spectacular Himalayan scenery, in addition to colorful markets and traditional crafts. |
| May 24th, Sunday, 1-3pm |
Silk Road House presents songs from the Kazakh steppes. Kazakh guests at the Silk Road House -- the outstanding folk epic singer (termeshi) and dombra-player Elmira Manaskyzy Zhanabergenova, Laureate of the International Music Competition of the Turkic Peoples, singer and dombra-player, with her 12-year old daughter, Saltanat Yersultan, the sixth grade musical school student and the laureate of various competitions, playing the kyl-kobyz, -- two-string bowed Kazakh folk instrument (looks like a small cello). The dombra is two-string fretted long-necked lute.
Elmira Zhanabergenova was born in the epicenter of the Kazakh living epic tradition -- around the Aral sea, in the south-western Kazakhstan. Since her childhood, she has been showing a deep interest in the folk poetry and brought to light her musical-poetical talent. She is the author of numerous songs in the traditional epic style and specifically in the terme genre. She has graduated at the Kurmangazy Kazakh State Conservatory and lives in Astana, the capital of the Kazakh Republic, where she is teaching the epic singing class at the Academy of the Arts. Simultaneously, she is a soloist of the Presidential Ensemble. She traveled to many countries and among them in the CIS [Commonwealth Independent States], in the USA, UK, France, and Turkey. Introduction, comments and interpretation by Alma Kunanbaeva. |
| May 16th, Saturday, 4-6pm | Silk Road House presents a Mongolian painting exhibit with presentation by a distinguish guest Mr. Lkhagvaagiin Bumandorj, Rector of the Institute of Fine Art, Mongolian University of Arts and Culture. Since 1985 his works have been shown in various exhibitions in Mongolia and abroad, including Yugoslavia (1986), China (1988, 1992, 2000), Austria (1989), Russia (1989), Norway (1990), France (1993, 1994), Hong Kong (1993), Korea (1996), Japan (1997), USA (2000) and Germany(2001). Since 1992 his works have been shown in "Oron Zai" Art Association exhibits. At Silk Road House Mr. Bumandorj will give a talk on the Mongolian ger (yurt) in general and specifically in the Ulaanbaatar districts. |
| May 9th, Saturday, 4-6pm |
Join us for the Bay Area premiere of the historical documentary
by Plamen Petkov, a Bulgarian journalist, movie director and screenwriter, the author of "The Bulgarians," the bestselling history book "THE LIBERATORS OF BULGARIA The power of ordinary people to change history".
Dedicated to the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman bondage, the film takes us back to 19th century Europe. It tells about the role of the American journalist Januarius Aloysius MacGahan (1844–1878) in the events of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 which lead to Bulgaria gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire. MacGahan also authored the book "Campaigning on the Oxus and the fall of Khiva" (1874). He covered all the major battles of the Russian-Turkish War, including the siege of Pleven and Shipka Pass. He reported on the final defeat of the Turkish armies, and was present at the signing of the treaty of San Stefano, which ended the war. For the movie, filming was done among other places in Batak, Klisura, Koprivshtitsa, Panagiurishte, at Shipka Pass, in the US capital Washington, DC, in the State of Ohio, in Central Asia and Moldova. Author and narrator: Plamen Petkov. Executive Producer: Miroslava Parsons. Editing Director: Assen Tassev. Music by Ivan Lechev. Camera: Tsvetomir Mihaylo. Episodes: 2. Approximate duration: 58min per episode. English subtitles. The screening is organized by ANTIKA BULGARIA International Cultural Club, Tanya Kostova, founder and contact person: phone 510-666-7701 or email. |
| May 3rd, Sunday, 1-3pm |
Silk Road House presents Silk Road House presents “Uyghur Culture and Architecture: Past and Present” a presentation by Rushan Gul Rozi, PhD in Geospatial Science.
Rushan Rozi worked as an architect, urban planner and researcher on variety of projects, and taught at a number of universities; currently working for government. Her book "Uyghur Vernacular Architecture: Cultural Identity and the Built Environment" is currently in press. In “The History of Civilization of Central Asia” (UNESCO, Paris, 2005) she published the entry “Contemporary Uyghur Art and Architecture: Uyghur Vernacular Architecture.” Her interests include such topics as ethnic identity in architecture and the built environment, belief systems and settlement pattern of the Uyghurs, the cultural identity of the Uyghurs and its expression on Uyghur vernacular architecture, and the like. |
| April 26th, Sunday, 1-3pm |
Silk Road House presents “Tajikistan: Journey to Countryside” a presentation by Galina Rodionova, Ph.D. (Economics), Moscow.
Galina Rodionova is a rural sociologist. Since 1994 she has been working for international projects of rural development in Russia and particularly in Tajikistan (2005-2007). Her specialization was monitoring and assessment of rural poverty. In 2007 she shot her first film “Keepers” about Tajik and Uzbek folklore in Tajikistan. In 2008 she participated in the Fourth Visual Anthropological Festival in Moscow with the film “17 Minutes in the Border District”. In her presentation Dr. Rodionova plans to cover the following issues:
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| April 4th, Saturday, 2-6pm |
The Silk Road House is organizing a celebration of Nawruz (Nauryz, Norooz) 2009.
Taking into consideration the high attendance at the Silk Road House Nawruz celebrations of 2007 and 2008, we decided that, for Nawruz 2009, we would rent a special place – the Hillside Club of North Berkeley (at 2286 Cedar St. Berkeley, CA 94709). The event will take place on April 4th, from 2 PM- 6 PM, thanks to the generous support of the Embassy of Kazakhstan. We will have the privilege of meeting Mr. Erlan A. Idrissov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA, Mr. Dastan Yeleukenov, Counselor, and Mr. Zhanbolat K. Ussenov, Assistant to the Ambassador.
The Hillside Club has a wonderful stage with a grand piano and microphones. Anyone with a musical or dance talent is welcome to participate in the concert program which will be videotaped for the history of our community. Please contact us as soon as possible if you would like to present a musical or dance performance! Silk Road House will provide red and white wine, soft beverages, grapes, pilaf and eggplant dishes from the Afghan restaurant, as well as plates, cups, utensils and so on. This occasion will also provide an opportunity for others to show their talent in Central Asian cooking. We ask that those who wish to contribute in this way to bring such Central Asian dishes as nauryz kozhe, sumalak, varied pilafs, kuyrdaks, baursaks, beliashi, chebureki, samsa, pirogi, chek-chek and other favorite dishes (meant for about 8-10 people). Again, please consult with Alma or Izaly if you plan to bring such a dish. For those who do not participate in the musical performances or make an offering of food, we ask for a contribution of $25.00 per adult and $10.00 per teenager. The presence of children is always a blessing, and they are free of charge. As always, any other donations for the support of ongoing Silk Road House activities would be gratefully accepted. Our contacts are growing, and we expect that at the Nawruz festivities we will have the opportunity of greeting many cherished guests from both the East Coast and southern California. While the Hillside Club is quite commodious, reserved places at a table will no doubt be filled rapidly. So that everyone will have the chance to enjoy the festivities and entertainment in comfort, we ask that reservations made by April 1. |
| March 15th, Sunday, 1-3pm |
Silk Road House presents “The Global Art Lab: an Exchange of Ideas through Social Practice Art Projects in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan” a presentation by Gordon Knox, a social anthropologist, Stanford University.
Gordon Knox has served as the Director of Global Initiatives at the Stanford Humanities Lab where he continues to advance his belief that the focused, critical, innovative understandings developed by creative thinkers need to be brought to the plane of social action in order to provide humanity with maximum benefit. Gordon Knox is currently a core collaborator at the Stanford Humanities Lab where he develops opportunities for artists to advance their work in contexts and under circumstances that provide unusual and challenging opportunities. The Global Art Lab is a new initiative by the CEC ArtsLink in Central Asia that aims to support an international exchange of ideas and perspectives held by communities and individuals and to develop a vehicle and infrastructure for the circulation of these ideas based on contemporary art practice. According to the plan, during a three week residency in September 2009, the artists will conduct a project in the local community as well as participate in public programs, such as lectures at universities, workshops with children, and presentations at arts centers. The four participating partners will present Bactria Cultural Center – Dushanbe Tajikistan (1), B’Art Center – Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (2), Educational and Cultural Center Sogdiana Arts – Khujand, Tajikistan (3), and Osh State University – Osh, Kyrgyzstan (4). |
| March 7th, Saturday, 11-12:45pm |
Dr. Alesandar Iliev, multitalented personality -- actor, artist, musician, poet, writer, historian, scenarist, stage manager, director, dramatist, anthropologist, and determined traveler, -- currently is working at Georgetown, Texas, directing the new opera (Singspiel) “The Color of Dissonance” that is based on the friendship between Wassily Kandinsky, Gabriele Münter, and Arnold Schoenberg. About our guest see more at www.theatredreams.hit.bg
In his presentation "A Hypothesis on Proto-Bulgarians and the Great Migration of People: Toward Ethnocultural Dialogues Across Centuries in the Light of Various Disciplines", Dr. Iliev will be discussing the recent work of a special team of Bulgarian scholars united in the FOUNDATION TANGRA (for details see their website: www.tangra-bg.org). In August-September 2008, the Bulgarian interdisciplinary scholarly expedition organized by that foundation worked in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan trying to test a hypothesis about the Iranian legacy in the ethnogenesis of the ancient Bulgarians. According to that hypothesis, the ancient Bulgarians came from the Valleys of the Pamir Mountain from where their dispersion began to other parts of the world. In Europe the Bulgarians founded three more states – 1/ Bulgaria under khan Kubrat, 2/ Bulgaria on the Volga river, and 3/ Bulgaria of today, founded by the great Khan Asparuh on the Danube river in the 7th c. |
| February 22nd, Sunday, 1-3pm |
Tatar guests at Silk Road House: Members of the American Turco-Tatar Association (ATTA) from the Bay Area in a Joint Presentation of TATAR SONGS, COSTUMES AND DISHES.
Presenters are: Dilare Capanoglu (Tatar poem and songs), Anita Kolaczkowska (Tatars and Tatar Culture), and the "Ay Bulbulum" singing group. The pictures, clothing and artifacts on the walls will complement the introductory presentation. In the program:
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| February 11th, Wednesday, 7:30pm |
Silk Road House in association with Afsaneh Art and Culture Society presents: Sacred and
Secular Music of the Bukharan Jews.
Performed by "Hai, Nozanin" [“Hi, Beauty!”], the Bukharan Jewish Folk Ensemble of New York, Queens, which is for the first time in California. Izra Malakov: singer, hereditary chazzan, and director; Tamara Katayev: sozanda (singer and dancer); Ochil Ibragimov: rubab, gidjak; David Davidov: tar; Osher Baraev: doira, tanbur; Rafael Nektalov, producer. The group performs sacred songs and prayers, secular classical music (fragments of maqoms), traditional wedding rites and songs, tunes and rhythms of Bukhara. The Bukhara tradition as a unique blend of Turkic-Persian-Arab-Sephardic Jewish roots is a distinctive phenomenon along the historical Silk Roads. The group’s colorful Silk Road attire, folk instruments, the way of singing, dancing and spectacular presentation will give a rare and fascinating opportunity to hear the leading proponents of an ancient musical tradition saturated with inimitable rhythms and captivating tone colors. JCC East Bay 1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley, CA 94709 $18 General, $15 Seniors, Students, JCC members This Silk Road House event is sponsored by the Silkroad Foundation and co-sponsored with the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay (as part of the 24th Jewish Music Festival) and Stanford University (as part of the “Sounds of Eurasia” series). |
| February 8th - March 15th |
Photography exhibit at SRH: Jian Wu is the official photographer of the Dunhuang Research Institute in China. He has won several awards in nationwide professional art exhibitions and competitions. Jian Wu's works have been collected throughout the world. His best album is “Scenic Spots & Historical Sites On Silk Road” (Xingjian People's Publishing House, 2000). All twenty photographs by Jian Wu have been generously donated by the Silkroad Foundation.
Photographs include landscapes and the interiors of Dunhuang Grottoes -- the stunning Buddhist art of the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang, a province of Xinjiang. Known as Mogaoku - ''peerless caves'' - and filled with paradisiacal frescos and hand-molded clay sculptures of savior-gods and saints, they are like nothing else in the Chinese Buddhist world. Of the 800 or so caves created here from the 5th to 14th centuries. Set between Mongolia and Tibet, Dunhuang was a vital juncture on the Silk Road. Because of its gateway position, it was where Buddhism spilled out of India and Central Asia into China, leaving a residue of spectacular art. Read more on-line. Composer Zhou Long created "Tales from the Cave," a remarkable one-movement concerto, which will be played during the exhibition among other relevant musical pieces. The Sunday 8th of February opening will be following by demonstration of the film “Mongol” commented by Alma Kunanbaeva. The exhibit will be open for public four times weekly – by Thursdays and Fridays (4 to 7pm) and by weekends (1 to 4pm). |
| For the 2008 events, go to here. | |
| For the 2007 events, go to here. | |