Behind Tuvan new year traditions: Shagaa

Every year, the transition from the harsh Tuvan winter into the promising spring is celebrated through Shagaa (шагаа), the Lunar New Year, a festival steeped in the deep-rooted traditions of the Tuvan people. This celebration has seen a revival, particularly among those who were disconnected from their cultural heritage during the Soviet regime. Today, there …

Journey to Tuva – Otto Mänchen-Helfen- 1929

Otto John Mänchen-Helfen ( 1894 in Vienna, Austria – 1969 in Berkeley, California) was an Austrian academic, sinologist, historian, author, and traveler. Between 1927 and 1930 he worked at Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow, he then he moved to Berlin from 1930 to 1933, till the rise of Nazisms when he then decided to go back …

Kongar-ool Ondar

My wife told me while I'm writing this article that she hasn't heard that many songs by Kongar-ool Ondar in a day since her childhood in Tuva. Kongar-ool Borisovich Ondar (Ондар Коңгар-оол Борис оглу,  in Russian/Tuvan, 4 December 1962 - 25 July 2013) was an influential Tuvan musician of the 20th century and one of …

fistful of promises

Up to today there's no yet a wide bibliography about Republic of Tuva in English. The main information available are mostly related to "Tuva Or Bust" by Ralph Leighton (1991), "In Siberia" by Colin Thubron (1999) and few other readings on Khoomei throat singing. Fistful of Promises offers an image of the Republic of Tuva …

Mongolian Wrestling – Nadaam 2007 in Xilamurenzhen

The Location In 2007 we went to Xilamurenzhen (Darhan Muminggan, Baotou) in Chinese Inner Mongolia to assist to the Nadaam Festival. The name Xilamuren comes from the Mongolian word for "Yellow River". Located at 100 km from Hohhot, capital of Chinese Inner Mongolia, Xilamuren is a typical plateau grassland which is covered by grass and flowers during the …

A cup of tea with a Tuvan Lama

The reformation of the actual Russian Federation and the political independence of the Tuva Republic in 1993 had lead to a return in the traditional values and to a rediscover of local religions. Of the 300,000 people living in Tuva Republic, around the 82% of it is composed by Tuvan ethnicity, and most of the …

Sciamanism in Tuva: meeting Kuzhuget

During our last day of staying in Kyzyl a famous Shaman, Kuzhuget, accepted to receive us. The shaman accepted to be filmed, but for his respect I will only include some freeze screen and comments to this story.   In Tuva, by the end of the 19th century, there were around 7000 shamans, more than …

The soul of Mongolian horseman – documentary-

This is the documentary about Omba, an old Mongolian women, choose by UNESCO to transmit the principles of a traditional instrument Morin Khuur to four kids. Morin Khuur reflects the deep relation between man and horses in the Mongolian steppes daily life. The instrument its composed by wood and horse hairs, used to make the …