KALYIBUBU ABDYSAKOVA, 87
RAKHAT TOKTORBAEV, 43  At-Bashy village, Naryn oblast

Kalyibubu apa devoted many years of her life to chiy. In her hands, this traditional material became not only part of everyday life, but also a medium for artistic expression. One of her surviving works is a chiy panel depicting a deer.

Today, her knowledge continues through her son, Rakhat Toktorbaev. He inherited his mother’s techniques but does not simply reproduce her work. Using the same material knowledge, Rakhat creates his own compositions and develops an artistic language of his own.

For this project, their story became a rare and important example of heritage truly passing from one generation to the next. From the mother’s hands to the son’s. Tradition remains alive when knowledge is not only preserved, but practised, transformed and passed forward.