Overview
The U.S. government, through the embassy’s Public Affairs section, carries out a number of cultural programs, including Jazz Ambassadors, American Cultural Specialists, Exhibition Programs, and the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, among others.
Participants of these programs are professional American artists, musicians and other specialists. The programs demonstrate the achievements of the arts in America, promote mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries.
Through the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, the U.S. government is helping less developed countries around the globe preserve historic sites and manuscripts, museum collections, and traditional forms of music, dance and language.
Also, PDS administers visual and performing arts programs with participation of American and local musicians and artists that allow Kyrgyz people to learn more about diversity of American culture and arts.
U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP)
The AFCP Grants Program supports the preservation of archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression, such as indigenous languages and crafts. Appropriate project activities may include:
- Anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original parts);
- Conservation (addressing damage or deterioration to an object or site);
- Consolidation (connecting or reconnecting elements of an object or site);
- Documentation (recording in analog or digital format the condition and salient features of an object, site, or tradition);
- Inventory (listing of objects, sites, or traditions by location, feature, age, or other unifying characteristic or state);
- Preventive Conservation (addressing conditions that threaten or damage a site, object, collection, or tradition);
- Restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of an object or site, usually appropriate only with fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings);
- Stabilization (reducing the physical disturbance of an object or site).
C5+1 Youth Council
In 2016, the U.S. Embassy in the Kyrgyz Republic created a dynamic C5+1 Youth Council that brings together youth from Central Asia and Afghanistan with diverse backgrounds, leadership skills, and mindsets for positive change.
The current implementing partner of this project is the Center for Civic Engagement of the American University of central Asia.
The goal of the project is to develop a regional network of civically engaged and English-speaking youth leaders across Central Asia who work to advance C5+1 priorities.
The project reaches English-speaking high school and university students from Central Asian countries and Afghanistan and cooperates with C5+1 Youth Council alumni working and studying in Central Asian countries and Afghanistan. The C5+1 Youth Council selects a diverse group of university students residing in Bishkek representing Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan for Youth Council membership through an open call for applications, based on their leadership skills, backgrounds, and interest in the Youth Council’s objectives.
C5+1 Youth Council members and alumni conduct their own youth-led projects in Bishkek and regions of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Youth Council members and alumni conduct their own youth-led projects that align with the C5+1 platform agenda: Peace and Security, Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, People-to-People Connections.
American Song Contest
The three main goals of the American Song Contest are to: (1) promote a creative approach to learning English among the youth of the Kyrgyz Republic; introduce and popularize American art and culture through songs; and (3) encourage the creative potential among students in secondary schools in the Kyrgyz Republic. The project is implemented by a local NGO partner organization. Every year, three to four regions can be selected for conducting the contest.
The primary target audience is secondary school students (9th-11th grades). The secondary audience is English language teachers in these regions who will receive training on creative teaching methods that use English songs in English language lessons. Student participants are selected based on a multi-round selection process that includes judging of filmed and live musical performances. The panel of judges consists of representatives from Ministry of Education and Science, famous local singers, and native English speakers.
The American Song Contest consists of the following activities:
- Training for English teachers in each priority region on incorporating music into English instruction.
- Selection of student participants from each pre-determined regions through an open call for video applications.
- Training selected participants in vocals, English language pronunciation, performing and presentation, and leadership skills.
- Organize regional semi-final concerts and select finalists through live performances in regions.
- Organize a final gala concert in Bishkek with finalist performances.