May 15, Dushanbe. The sixth regional Go Viral Festival ended in Dushanbe with a gala concert by Daler Nazarov, one of the most popular singers in Tajikistan, who performed his legendary acoustic compositions live.
1,120 people registered to participate on the final day of the Festival. In just three days, this grand event in the capital of Tajikistan brought together about 2,500 thousand people – guests, participants, speakers, and volunteers.
According to the participants, it was one of the most significant events in the last few years.
Farzona Sharipova, a student at one of the universities in the capital, said she was participating in such a high-profile event for the first time.
“High level of organisation, excellent speakers, I met so many new people here! I think that over the past two years, this is the best festival I have ever been to in Dushanbe,” said Farzona.
Panel sessions, master classes, and interesting discussions held by specialists and experts in four sectors – media, business, culture, and technology – were supplemented with documentary screenings, exhibitions of young artists, tours of the architectural objects of the capital of Tajikistan, music, and dances.
Many speakers and guests of Dushanbe, who have not been in Tajikistan for a long time, were pleasantly surprised by the young Tajiks’ potential and their desire to gain new knowledge.
Traditionally, the third day of the Festival started with the awarding of the contest’s winners – the participants who posted the best videos from the second day of the Festival on their Instagram stories. Three winners received a tripod, power bank, smartwatch, and GoViral branded merchandise.
A screening and discussion of Anisa Sabiri’s film “Rhythms of Lost Time” took place in the main room of the event. Journalist and documentary author Makhpora Kiromova moderated the session. A film crew also participated in the discussion. They were Roman Buryak, camera operator and documentary photographer, Sergey Chutkov, director of the international ACTED NGO, and Ismail Zibai, film producer.
The film tells about people from different regions of Tajikistan who managed to preserve their unique culture, ancient traditions, and customs despite external and internal factors. In different years, these factors were the expansion of the Arabs, Mongols, Turks, and, ultimately, the Soviet Union.
Anisa Sabiri’s film shows the history, philosophy, and development of various subcultures of Tajikistan, its traditional music and musical instruments, dances, museums, as well as the people who preserve this unique culture.
After the film screening, a discussion took place, during which the problems and obstacles to the development of modern documentary filmmaking were raised. The experts discussed the difficulties in reporting on sensitive topics, the impact of globalisation on culture, and the technical and post-production process of creating documentaries.
“Documentary filmmaking in Tajikistan requires support,” Makhpora Kiromova said.
The participants interested in architecture took a tour of the Ismaili Centre, one of the most beautiful buildings constructed according to the Central Asian and Islamic cultures. The architect Oyat Shukurov, co-founder and author of the self-published magazine “Abraxas”, held the tour in collaboration with local guides.
During the panel discussion “Professions in IT: Opportunities for Youth”, which brought together many young people, the experts discussed the reasons for choosing jobs in the IT sector and the opportunities they open up.
The panel discussion speakers debunked the popular myths that only the developers are representatives of the IT profession and it is important to learn to code to work in this sector. The experts told the young people that, in fact, this sector offers a wide range of professions: from system administrators to managers and from Scrum masters to instructors and mentors.
The participants and speakers also discussed the importance of having a university degree to enter the IT profession. The speakers, as well as the audience, were divided into two groups: some were convinced that obtaining an IT profession in universities is a necessary step, while others, on the contrary, did not consider this step mandatory. There was also an opinion that this is important only if an IT specialist wants to pursue an academic career in their field.
Umed Babakhanov, founder and editor-in-chief of Asia-Plus media holding, spoke at another parallel panel discussion on the topic “How to Remain the Leader of the Media Market and Where to Search for Creative Solutions to Overcome the Crisis”.
“There is no magic formula for success,” Babakhanov said with a smile at the beginning of the presentation.
He spoke about how in 1987, he gave up his career as a highly paid translator for a journalist position at the “Tajikistan’s Komsomolets” newspaper, how later, he decided to open a news agency, and what difficulties he encountered.
Babakhanov shared his own rules for success with the young people:
Rule No.1. Chase your dream, not money.
Rule No.2. Do not be afraid of doing something you have never done before. Be flexible.
Rule No.3. Study the market. Know exactly who you work for.
Rule No.4. Follow the trends. Be able to adapt.
Rule No.5. Do not be afraid of problems. The new problem is the opportunity for development.
“The main key to success and a source of inspiration is the Asia-Plus team – the team of enthusiastic people, each of whom is an expert in his/her field,” said Babakhanov.
In another room, the General Manager of Coca-Cola Tajikistan Sunay Şanlı taught the young people to set and achieve goals. His master class was called “The Power of Purpose, and Why Does It Matter NOW?”
“To achieve the bright future, we must be ready for it, change something, and not forget that the goal is, first of all, energy. To create value, we must set goals,” the speaker said.
On the evening of the third day, the Festival’s closing ceremony took place.
Charles Martin, the Go Viral founder and American Spaces Director, delivered an inspiring speech. He said he enjoyed the Festival, thanked all the participants, and expressed hope that all the participants had greatly benefited from it.
Abakhon Sultonnazarov, IWPR Central Asia Regional Director, whose office became the organiser of the Festival this year, thanked all donors, speakers, moderators, and everyone who was involved in it, and reported on the results achieved during this huge event.
“I hope that for all of you, just like for us, these three days were extremely useful. I am sure that you, just like us, spent three unforgettable days filled with bright impressions and effective work, enjoyed meeting new and old friends, received aesthetic pleasure, and learned something new,” Sultonnazarov said.
He said that during three days, more than 25 volunteers, more than 50 speakers and experts from four sectors, and most importantly, more than 2 thousand people – Festival participants – took part in the Go Viral Festival in Dushanbe.
“Now, we are passing the baton to Tashkent, Bishkek, Almaty, where the Festivals will take place very soon,” said IWPR CA Director.
The next Go Viral 2022 Festivals will soon be held in Tashkent, Bishkek, Almaty, and Ashgabat cities.
The Go Viral Network is implemented by IWPR and by a grant from the United States Department of State. This press release was funded by a grant from the United States Department of State. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.