Aga Khan Development Network: Silk Road Musicians Performing at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Washington, DC, USA, 26 June 2002 - "A search for new forces of stability," was how His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims, today described one of the pressing needs of the moment in Central Asia. One such force "that seems particularly essential," he said, "is the validation and vigorous promotion of human and cultural pluralism ... For the new countries of Central Asia, the inherent pluralism of their societies can be an asset rather than a liability. In a wider sense, it can be a means for enlarging the frontiers of global pluralism... This is a goal, with which we can all associate and should all associate."

	His Highness the Aga Khan meeting musicians from the Kyrgyz Republic. The troupe was brought to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. - Photo: AKDN/Zahur Ramji


	From Afghanistan, Homayoun Sakhi on the lute (rabab), Araa Zalmai on the doyra and Toryalay on the tabla. The troupe was brought by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. - Photo: AKDN/Zahur Ramji


	Ruslan Jumabaev of the Kyrgyz Republic, one of the most brilliant exponents of the three-string lute (komuz). Jumabaev was brought by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. - Photo: AKDN/Zahur Ramji


	Satar Fozilov with the frame drum (dap) and Tughluk Rozi with the lute (tanbur) perform the Uyghur Muqam, a repertoire of vocal and instrumental music in widely varying tempos and rhythms from Chinese Turkistan. The troupe was brought by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. - Photo: AKDN/Zahur Ramji