Young Voices: Uzbekistan's Culture Online
Young bloggers are showcasing Uzbekistan online, including Asal Saparbayeva who, together with her Littos team, creates videos with elements of sports and Uzbek culture.
Words by Sevinch Umarova
Asal Saparbaeva is a 29-year-old athlete, blogger, actress, stuntwoman, wife, daughter and human. Asal loves outdoor activities, travelling, meeting interesting people, expressing her creativity and adrenaline rushes. Though she is the face of Littos, the channel is supported by a whole production team.
During her 17 years as a professional artistic gymnast, Asal achieved the title of International Master of Sports and multiple championship winner of Uzbekistan. She competed for the Uzbek national gymnastics team for seven years, and after five, she was made team captain. In 2014 she finished her professional sports career and after 9 years, in 2023, started learning street and break dancing and has already made the national team of Uzbekistan.
Before the pandemic, Asal was an artist. With her husband and team, they toured internationally in many countries. But after the pandemic, they returned to their homeland and started filming three to four videos a day for TikTok and Instagram. They got an offer to shoot a video with Uzbek music and got 1 million views. It was difficult to find costumes for an “Uzbek Kelinka” (a traditional, recently married woman) due to the lockdown, but they figured it out and got over a million views in just a few hours.
Asal’s videos are very active with lots of sports elements, particularly gymnastics, and always feature traditional Uzbek outfits in the image of “Kelin”. The fact that Asal’s videos are high-quality, entertaining and also carry a deep meaning is what helps garner her so many likes and followers.
“I want to be a clear example that a woman can succeed in any field and contribute to the development of the country at a decent level,” she says.
Asal always wanted to emphasise the fact that she is from Uzbekistan. Through a childhood in sports, she learned how to stand in the international arena and represent her country as well as possible, and to be both memorable and worthy! When she goes out in a traditional Uzbek costume, she is often showered with compliments and asked where to such beautiful material comes from. Uzbekistan, of course!
Backstage
Issue 38 of Visit Uzbekistan features a ‘wellness’ theme. Wellness is a topic that increases in relevancy all the time as people all over the world have begun to think more about their health, not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. This issue is a guide to wellness tourism in Uzbekistan and serves as a handy companion for your wellness journey.
We have also tried to convey the issue's theme on the cover. Our creative team worked hard to represent healthy and active lifestyles through our photography and articles, always using Uzbek elements, design and culture.
The face of the cover is the inimitable Asal Saparbaeva, who is profiled in more detail on the previous page. The photoshoot was held at the BeFit PRO (befitpro.uz) premium sports complex, which features the latest fitness technology and combines a mix of options for both fitness and comfort.
The model’s outfits are from the newest collection of Uzbek designer Azukar Moreno (azukar_moreno_). Founder Kamola Rustamova focuses on sustainable Uzbek fashion, creating outfits from natural fabrics of extraordinary beauty.
All the images were captured by Javakhir Mirsalikhov (java.mir), a talented and versatile photographer who has worked in the field for more than six years and works for a number of noted Uzbek magazines and brands. Leading a team of more than 10 people, he is also a Canon Ambassador in Uzbekistan and often leads creative masterclasses.
