Bishkek Events This Week: An Ethno-Festival, New Films and Exhibitions

Bishkek’s cultural calendar for September 7 to 11 brings together exhibitions, traditional crafts, live music, theater, cinema and fashion.

The Gapar Aitiev Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts is hosting permanent displays of painting, graphics, sculpture and decorative arts. It is also showing an exhibition dedicated to Urkun, featuring works from the museum’s collections and installations based on oral histories gathered during research. From September 8 to 20, the museum will hold the “When Heritage Is Revived” festival, with a photo zone, workshops, meetings with craftswomen and handmade goods.

On September 8, the “Shyrdak Maker of the Year” national contest will bring together leading craftswomen from across Kyrgyzstan. Visitors can see traditional ornaments and the Kyrgyz shyrdak-making technique, passed down through generations. That evening, People’s Artist of Kyrgyzstan Syy myk Beishekeyev will perform at the Toktogul Satylganov Kyrgyz National Philharmonic in a birthday concert featuring new songs, live instruments, duets and familiar hits.

The same day, the QARASH LAB film club will screen and discuss Melis Ubukeyev’s 1969 poetic film legend Ak Moor. The Bishkek Fashion & Textile fair will run from September 8 to 10 at Zhashtyk Arena, offering collections, fabrics, lingerie, leather and fur goods, bags and accessories, as well as direct contact with suppliers.

On September 9, the Chingiz Aitmatov State National Russian Drama Theatre will stage These Free Butterflies, a love story about the son of a famous writer and an extravagant aspiring actress. September 10 will bring the film premieres Adamga Adam Kerek, a melodrama about a woman whose controlled life collapses, and Zhasalma Zhigit, a comedy about an auto mechanic who pretends to be a successful businesswoman’s fiancé.