Aitysh--Kyrgyz County Fair

I just got back from Issyk Kol. They held Aitysh in Barskon, which is a small town on the southern edge of the lake.

Aitysh is seriously one of the coolest things I’ve done in Kyrgyzstan, at least as far as the arts are concerned. I’ve posted numerous videos in the videos section of the site. The first two show some examples of Kyrgyz sports, which usually involve horses. The last ones show some artistic performances.

The word Aitysh itself, if I’m not mistaken, comes from the very ait, which means “to speak.” Basically, it is a contest between two people. Each person needs to insult the other as much as possible. But there are a few rules to the insults:

1. You have to be polite. In other words, your insult can’t sound like an insult.
2. You have to do it in verse.
3. You have to do it to music.
4. You have to improvise the whole thing as you go along.

Seriously impressive. The younger performers tended to get more laughs and applause. The older performers tended to have a richer language—they were more nuanced in the way they went about the competition.

I also have posted a video of a Manaschy performing part of the Manas epic. The one I recorded was pretty good, but the one who performed after him was incredible. I unfortunately couldn’t get a video of that one—he recited non-stop for 22 minutes. By the end, had sweat streaming down his face. When you watch the video, you’ll get a feel for the pace of a recitation. Twenty-two minutes is quite a feat.