Programming, cryptocurrencies, start-ups, creative spaces and professions – these are all topics of Day 2 of the Go Viral Festival in Bishkek dedicated to creative economy.
The final day of the festival was no less vivid and intensive than Day 1. Over 500 enthusiasts and experts in media, business, culture and technologies took part in workshops, panel discussions, master classes and discussions.
The topic of this year is “Search. Invent. Solve.” The programme is based on the idea that creative inspiration is inside us. We need to start cooperating within the region by taking a close look at every country and revising old decisions.
Go Viral Festivals have been held since 2017. Previously, the events had been held in Kazakhstan only, but this year it’s the first time when the festival travels across Central Asia. In May, the Go Viral festival started in Dushanbe, then in Tashkent, and now Bishkek has taken up the baton. Then, the festival will be held in Almaty and Ashgabat.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of Day 2, Anand Krishna, chief of department for press, culture and education of the United States Consulate-General in Almaty, made a stitch on the chapan, which travels to the capitals of Central Asian countries together with the Go Viral Festival. He emphasised that today local issues become global rapidly, while global issues require global solutions.
“We started Go Viral 6 years ago to find solutions to local and global issues together and created the space, where we could learn more about the media, business, culture and technologies. After all, we are all in one team and we need to cooperate and work together to create a more stable and thriving world,” he said.
Start-ups and digital nomads
The special guest of the festival was Brandon Andrews, US-based entrepreneur, co-founder of Gauge + Casting, Shark Tank, senior adviser of Values Partnerships. He held a workshop for participants on how to sell your business idea to the investor, and also how an entrepreneur should solve problems, and how important it is to analyse the market to develop your business.
He said that many people often think that an entrepreneur ranks below the investor when pitching the start-up.
“This is not so. You as an entrepreneur need influence and money for business development. But investors also want to accumulate their capital. Therefore, investor can get more by investing in your idea than investing in real property, bank instruments, or playing the market. So, when you pitch your business, remember that you are on equal terms. Investor needs you just as you need him,” he said.
If you have your own business, you should think about its growing. That’s what speakers spoke about when discussing how to create companies based in Bishkek and working with the whole world. The panel discussion aroused great interest. There were no seats available, yet many participants wanted to stay in the hallway to listen to the speakers.
During the discussion, experts said that one of the most critical skills for the founder is to create a team because start-ups need very ambitious and striving people. However, few start-ups are successful, so the first year of work can be the hardest. Therefore, speakers provided advice to those who wanted to enter new markets.
“In the first year, you should strengthen your positions in certain countries and only after that you can enter new markets. Because when you start focusing on new countries, your team resources will be diffused and you can lose your main income-generating market,” said Syrga Tilekova, co-founder of NB FIT start-up.
However, it can be otherwise, you can work from any part of the work for Kyrgyzstan or any other country. You will need only a suitcase, flexibility and risk assessment skills. Panel discussion participants also shared their digital nomadism experiences, including Charles Garrett, ambassador of Great Britain in Kyrgyzstan. He emphasised that there are two important components to attract digital nomads to a country. First, comfortable environment and favourable conditions for business development. Second, interaction between the state, entrepreneurs and creative sector representatives.
“Interaction gives rise to unique and original ideas, which is important for development of the sector. We often criticise the government, but there are many specialists in it who honestly want to attract digital nomads to the country,” the ambassador said.
The speakers also discussed the conditions for those who travel with a laptop.
“Most of digital nomads are from America and Europe. Therefore, our services must be provided in English. I mean commercial signs and service staff. Secondly, infrastructure. Public transportation must be accessible and safe for them, it also concerns transportation between towns. They should have an opportunity to buy tickets online,” said Altynai Mambetova, journalist, data analyst, co-founder of Data School of Kyrgyzstan.
Aliya Mambetalieva, mentor in Makers IT company, held a workshop “Programming for beginners” for those who wants to become a part of digital nomadism. Participants could try coding and feel themselves as IT experts.
“Our task made us feel like programmers. Today I have learned that one can be manager, designer in an IT company, not just a developer because not everyone can write a code. I have also learned that one can work online – stay in Kyrgyzstan and work for another country. This profession does not care about your appearance, clothes, or something else, it’s only your knowledge that matters,” Nurzhan Abdyrakhmanova, second-year student of programming department of Razzakov Kyrgyz State Technical University, said.
Cryptoexchanges and cryptocurrencies
The topic of cryptocurrencies always attracts many people, and sessions during the festival were no exception. Askar Begaliev, founder and general director of Oracle Digital IT company, presented the cryptocurrency of Kyrgyzstan Netex to those who are new to the digital money market, told how it works and how to start investing in cryptocurrency on it.
Nurislam Nurgalyi, founder of FoxLand project and member of blockchain department of the Kyrgyz Association of Software Developers and Services, held a workshop for advanced users on financial market bots specially designed for crypto enthusiasts and programmers. He said that bots can open and close positions on the crypto currency, place take profit and stop loss orders.
“Bots follow a certain strategy written by programmers and traders. You just enable it on and it will trade. If you have traded before, you have surely used some signs. So now you can set them to the algorithm the bot uses and it can do it for you,” Nurgalyi said.
Altynai Karasaeva, doctor of medicine, professor, lawyer and bioethicist, told festival participants about what a non-monetary economy is.
“There is a new trend in the world – non-monetary economy, i.e. do something free of charge. What is it based on? First, high level of spirituality. You should think not only about yourself, how to earn more money, how to provide your children. But you should think bigger,” she said.
Creative spaces and platforms
Another large block was the topic of creation and development of creative spaces. Go Viral Festival participants discussed how musical and creative platforms shape the society, and help people involve in social decision-making. According to the speakers of the panel discussion, there is no demand for creativity in Kyrgyzstan and many projects and works are created against all odds.
“In my opinion, such things as music, films, videos, etc. have the best influence on young people. Because people can see and hear. Moreover, music is a segment for young people aged 14+. These are trends, they influence people and let us be proud of our country,” said Kamilla Orozalieva, producer of Curltai music community.
Sezim Muratalieva, founder of Shiba Concept Store project, told how to think creatively and create conditions for creativity.
“To think creatively, everything matters: high quality of air, aesthetic pleasure from the space you are inside, quality noise reduction, inspirational things. It is important to keep focusing on work because creative people should also meet deadlines,” she said.
Representatives of the art community of Kyrgyzstan also discussed how to develop creative spaces in Kyrgyzstan. According to Daniyar Amanaliev, co-founder and business director of Ololo group of companies, the country needs to change its mentality towards creativity and physical, not virtual, spaces are very important here.
“We understood that spaces should be created so that the people could be creative. People should use their brain instead of working eight hours per day. A creative person works differently, and he needs special conditions. We’ve figured out that once you have creative conditions, new creative ideas emerge,” Amanaliev said.
Meder Akhmetov, co-founder of Art Bazar platform, which unites modern artists across Central Asia, said about how it emerged and the prospects of its development. According to him, the project emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic and was an experiment. Artists used the platform to sell their artworks, organised auctions and charity sales in favour of other participants of Art Bazar, who had some health issues.
“You can encounter severe problems in modern art, which can be censored by Facebook because its algorithms identify a naked body, not the point. Because of the peculiarities of Facebook news feeds, we have invented “stalking”, we have commented interesting artworks, untrending feeds, and activated them again. The pandemic triggered the emergence of the group, and afterwards our activity decreased,” Akhmedov said.
Creativity as profession
Participants of the panel discussion “Handicraft pays off” spoke about how to make one’s handicraft a source of income. They discussed the demand for and prospects of this trend, as well as strengths and weaknesses of Kyrgyzstan handicraftsmen.
“Our handicraftsmen should also learn. They don’t have time to do their artworks properly because of high demand for them, and their works lack perfection. In other words, they depart from traditional methods and their works lose value,” Cholpon Tentieva, fine art expert, art manager and founder of Oyoum group, said.
Cholpon Alamanova, ornamental artist, founder of kurak school, spoke about the Eco-Kurak initiative, when her students take fabric chips from sewing rooms. According to her, every kurak is like a breath of fresh air saved for the country because fabric chips are not incinerated, not decay at the landfill, but turn into something new.
“I have made a panel picture “The sky of our reality.” The patches I gathered for it were of grey colour denoting smog and azure and blue colours denoting our sky. By this kurak, I wanted to show that soon we would be short of blue and would have too much of a grey mess that we breathe in and that is above our heads,” she said.
However, if you don’t like traditional art, but still want to do something creative, you could choose the animation industry. The choice is great: from scriptwriter and director to storyboard artist and character artist. Anastasia Ten, manager of animation department of Tentek studio, founder of animation courses Line art, spoke about that.
“It’s not necessary to know how to draw characters to be engaged in animation. Because there are background artists, and prop artists, who do not draw people. There is a profession of foley artist in our industry. It’s a person who creates sounds in animation: tapping, ice cracking, etc.,” she said.
In her closing speech, ambassador of Go Viral in Kyrgyzstan, Nazik Mamasadykova, summarised the outcomes of the festival.
“We hope that these two days have become a source of useful knowledge, new acquaintances, creative collaborations and unforgettable time for you. In these six months, Go Viral has brought new faces to it. I see the family, the community of people united by one common project,” she said.
Begaiym Adzhikeeva, programme manager of the Institute for War&Peace Reporting (IWPR), said that the main purpose of the festival was to expand regional links, support economic development and strengthen civil society in Central Asian states.
“I can proudly say that over 60 volunteers, 70+ speakers and experts of four sectors took part in the Bishkek-based festival. Now we pass the baton to Almaty, which is to hold the same festival soon,” she said.
Chapan, as the symbol of friendship between all Go Viral community members, with the decorations from Kyrgyzstan is already on its way to Almaty. The festival will be held there on June 24-26.
Singer Tamga performed at the closing ceremony of Go Viral. She sang popular foreign songs, and then her hits in Kyrgyz. The festival was closed by cover band Cool Band.
The key partners of the festival are the I.Razzakov Kyrgyz State Technical Univeristy, Association of Creative Industries of Kyrgyzstan, KFC.
International and national sponsors of the Go Viral 2022 Festival in Bishkek are State Innovations Centre, Shoro, Toiboss, Kulikovsky, Keks.kg, Baialinov Library, “America Borboru” American information and resource centre.
Media partners: Kaktus.media, Weproject.media.
Partners of the festival are also the 48 Hour Film Race short films contest, the New York Film Academy, Makers Bootcamp, Mancho Devs start-up, and the cyber sport community of the Kyrgyz Republic ESK KG.
Go Viral is a platform for sharing experience, a community of representatives of media, business, culture and technologies in Central Asian states, and the annual regional festival. The project is funded by the Department of State with the support of American diplomatic missions in Central Asian states. From October 2021, the project is implemented by the Institute for War&Peace Reporting (IWPR) Central Asia, whose programmes and events are held across the region.