Aalam Ordo

Aalam Ordo (or the ‘Centre of the Universe”), was an epic project initiated under a president now long removed from power.

Constructed in 2009, the complex is situated on the southern shore of Lake Issy-Kul in Kyrgyzstan and was supposed to be a centre for culture, science and spirituality. This would be a place where the Kyrgyz youth would meet elders to exchange ideas and learn. The hope was that this would foster and develop a new generation whose ideas could reach all countries and bring a Nobel Prize to Kyrgyzstan.

Unfortunately, Aalam Ordo never became the cultural centre it was intended to be – In 2010, then-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev was removed from power in the Second Kyrgyz Revolution. The project was never completed, and the complex was abandoned in 2010.

The murals feature traditional Kyrgyz images like eagles and events from recent history. One of the artworks depicts a dragon terrorizing a village + stealing all its riches. One by one the men in the village go to fight the dragon and finally one of them succeeds; but instead of returning to the village with all his riches, he himself turns into a dragon that continues to terrorize the village – this symbolises the cycle of corruption in Kyrgyzstan, and how those fighting it have become just as corrupt once they became part of the system.  Ironically, corruption was very reason the president was removed.