Postcard from Bishkek

In the Age of Discovery, voyages of exploration usually had one or two special members of the team … artists or illustrators whose job was to record what happened on the journey, the places they visited, specimens of the the wildlife and plants collected.  Explorers such as Darwin, Captain Cook and even Pyotr Semenov and Nikolai Prezhevalsk took artists on their travels.

On Friday I wrote a brief postcard about Pavel Kosharov who was the artist/illustrator who traveled with Pyotr Semenov on his trip through the Tien Shan.

The results were not only a fascinating record of the journey, they were often also beautiful works of art in their own right.  I am often amazed at the number and quality of the illustrations that they produced, and can’t help wondering at the time and effort taken in producing their considerable output.

That all changed with the development of photography.  Travelers were able to take pictures of their travels and the people that they met.  It wasn’t necessarily any easy than drawing and painting.  Peter Fleming, for example, (in News from Tartary - an account of his journey with Ella Maillart from Peking to India), from  tells how they had to preserve their equipment and supplies through various hardships and then had to set up their cameras and pose their subjects for the few precious exposures.

Of course, the development of film and then digital technology has made taking photographs to provide a record of the trip much easier and widespread.  Travelers and tourists were able to take copious quantities of “snaps” as reminders of their trips.  The instant feedback provided by digital cameras means that if the photographer is not satisfied with the result, it’s easy to try again.

I have already written some posts featuring some of the early photographs of travelers to Kyrgystan, such as:

Nowadays, there is a huge repository of photographs available, covering most of the globe – even remote locations, posted on various photo sharing sites and social media, (for example, on Facebook, Twitter, PinIt, Flickr, Google Earth … and even videos on You Tube … and that’s not counting personal or travel blogs or the services offered by photo agencies such as Getty and ShutterStock).   

I often wonder about the age old process of drawing and painting.  I appreciate that not many people, certainly not as many as in times gone by, actively partake in sketching and painting, but it seems to me that Kyrgyzstan has an awful lot to offer artists, whether professional or amateur.  It just the landscapes, some of which can be very dramatic, but also the people and scenes taken from everyday life.  What’s more, it doesn’t matter what time of year people visit, there is always the possibility of finding a suitable subject and the light tends to be favourable all year round.

If I had a resort in Issyk Kul, I would certainly be interested in providing an Artist in Residence, or providing a space for conducting Master Classes hosted by a local artist.

Here in Kyrgyzstan, (especially in Bishkek), it is relatively easy to find paintings by local artists of beauty spots around the country, or people going about various activities, (especially horsemen).

There’s something special, however, about drawings that someone has done themselves … and I wanted to bring an example to your attention.

A few years ago we ran a competition for visitors to Kyrgyzstan called Impressions of Kyrgyzstan.  The idea was very simple:

 Visitors to Kyrgyzstan, (entry to the competition was open to all comers except the staff of our companies and their relatives), were invited to send their “Impression of Kyrgyzstan” – either in words (a phrase/sentence, or a longer description), a photograph, a video clip or other format.

The idea was that entries should be something which encapsulates the impression and/or memories of their visit to Kyrgyzstan: a place, a feature; an incident; …

Although there weren’t as many as we would have liked, we received various entries including phrases (or slogans), descriptions, pictures, slide show and some drawings. Each gave us material on which to reflect and will help us in planning for the future development of our tours and services. Besides, after summing up

One of the winners was Suzy Gaussent from France.  She was a teacher of German, before becoming an inspector of the Academy in Paris.  At the time of her visit she was a grandmother with two grandchildren and had already retired. She had been drawing since childhood, and had also taken up painting.  She had already taken part in many exhibitions, and also has organized two of her own, in Paris and in the south of France.

Her submission was ”A Kyrgyz Diary“, illustrated travel notes.

On her trip, she brought with her a sketch pad which she filled with drawings from time to time, and little notes, (in French, of course), which would serve as a momento of her trip.  When she returned to France she scanned the pages and created a Power Point presentation which she then sent to us as her entry.

Here are the pages from her sketchbook:

 

 

 

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