Aga Khan Trust for Culture

Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia

AKMICA Home

About AKMICA

Music of Central Asia CD/DVD Series

Supporting Tradition Bearers

Countries

Documentation and Dissemination

Music Education

International Performance and Outreach

Instrument Glossary

Contact

AKTC Home

Other AKDN agencies

Rss

About the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia

The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA) was created by His Highness the Aga Khan in 2000 to support the efforts of Central Asian musicians and communities to sustain, further develop and transmit musical traditions that are a vital part of their cultural heritage.

Among the traditional arts of Central Asia, music occupies a unique place, for it has been at once a means of expressing social identity, preserving spiritual practices and beliefs, cultivating the performance of poetry and transmitting history, philosophy and ethics.

Illustration from the Akhlaq-i Nasiri of Tusi: "Musical entertainment at a scholar's house", Lahore, c.1595, opaque watercolour, gold and ink on paper. Aga Khan Museum Collections.This venerable social tradition of music was severely ruptured during the twentieth century, when society and culture in Central Asia were forcibly reshaped under the influence of Soviet modernisation. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, patronage of music and other arts languished as the new nations of Central Asia struggled to achieve social and economic stability. Yet much of Central Asia’s rich and diverse musical legacy survived, albeit in forms that were altered or incomplete. Today, this legacy is being actively recovered and revitalised. In an era of rapid social change, music is recognised within the region as an invaluable resource for educating Central Asians about their history and traditions as well as for exploring new forms of artistic creativity, both locally and transnationally. The Music Initiative’s strategy is to contribute to the revitalisation and continuing evolution of music in Central Asia by identifying and supporting outstanding musical talent, cultivating new approaches to musical performance and pedagogy, documenting and disseminating the work of leading exponents of Central Asian music, and stimulating interest in the region’s music worldwide. Through this multifaceted approach, the Music Initiative aims to help musicians address a principal artistic challenge of the present time: nourishing global connections while retaining a link to art that’s rooted in place and tradition.

Revitalising Traditional Culture. Download Case Study (76KB, PDF)

The Music Initiative’s first major undertaking was a multi-year collaboration with the Silk Road Project, the international arts initiative founded and directed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Collaborative activities introduced distinguished musicians from Central Asia to audiences in the West and also brought Western musicians to Central Asia. Highlights included a concert tour of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan featuring Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, and a multi-media production in the atrium of the British Library devoted to the Kyrgyz epic poem Manas. The largest collaborative event also involved a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution through which the Music Initiative provided curatorial expertise and support for a major representation of Central Asian musicians and artisans at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival “The Silk Road: Connecting Cultures, Creating Trust”. The ten-day festival took place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in summer 2002 and attracted 1.3 million visitors. The partnership with the Smithsonian continues today in the form of a ten-volume CD-DVD anthology, Music of Central Asia, co-produced by the Music Initiative and released worldwide by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

Collaboration with the Silk Road Project served as a catalyst for developing the Music Initiative’s own community-based activities in Central Asia. These activities focus on three programme areas: Supporting Tradition-Bearers, Documentation and Dissemination, and International Performance and Outreach. As the Music Initiative continues to evolve toward new forms of collaboration with a range of educational and cultural organisations both in Central Asia and outside the region, its goals and strategies remain rooted in its core mission: helping assure the transmission of musical skills, knowledge and experience from one generation to the next, raising the prestige of traditional music and musicians in their own communities, and stimulating innovative collaborations between musicians from Central Asia and beyond the region.