The Altai republic is a mountainous country of high peaks (up to 13,500 feet) and glaciers. It borders China, Mongolia, Tuva and Kazakhstan. Three-quarters of the 200,000 Altaians live in the country areas.
The Altai is the cradle of a number of very old civilisations. The Scythians left an abundance of standing stones, burial grounds and rock paintings. Many other peoples also passed through the Altai including Huns and a succession of Turkic tribes.The Altai language is Turkic, and like some neighbouring people, they have a form of throat-singing.
Altai kai singing is softer than other styles. They use a range of stringed instruments like the topshur and they are known for their khomous (jaw-harp) playing.
The 1998 project was co-ordinated by Eugene Kolbashev who secured
the sponsorship of The Healthy Living Association in Barnaul. Co-sponsors included a mineral water and fruit juice bottling plant in Bisk, a pharmaceutical company and a Siberian newspaper.
The RTI tour of villages in the Altai mountains was conducted in three four-wheel drive vehicles with a lorry carrying the tents, and cooking facilities.
The 17-person "Snow Mountains" expedition included Siberian film-maker Alfred Pozdnyakov, and Tuvan singer and multi-instrumentalist Gendos Chamzyryn.
This was Gendos Chamzyryn's first visit to the Altai - even though he was brought up just a few miles away over the mountains.
As Tuvans also speak a Turkic language, Gendos was able to communicate more directly with villagers and to strike an instant obshennia with them.
Gendos, Ken Hyder, and Tim Hodgkinson performed as K-Space - both in impromptu riverbank settings in villages, and in village halls and concert halls. Here's a RealAudio sample from a concert in Belokurikha or Barnaul .
Although K-Space is principally an electric band using sampling technology, they played according to the circumstances.
They played acoustically, for example, to Altaian heavy-vehicle drivers who had stopped at an ovaa - a shamanic shrine - on a mountain pass. K-Space also turned up and played at a village near Chemal, and were astonished to find an electronic drumkit onstage.
