In 2022, with the support of the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in Italy a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Republican Inspectorate for Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments under the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Archaeological Center for Prehistoric Research and Rock Art “Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici”.

In order to implement the agreements reached between the parties an introductory seminar “Comparative rock art: The cultural heritage of Kyrgyzstan and the Camonica Valley” was organized from November 25 to 30, 2023 in the Alpine Camonica Valley (province of Brescia, Lombardy region). The event was attended by representatives of the Republican Inspectorate for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments and the Kyrgyz National University named after Zh.Balasagyn, as well as the experts and professors from Italy, Portugal and other countries.

As a result of the seminar an agreement was reached to organize the training of Kyrgyz petroglyph specialists, including students of higher educational institutions of Kyrgyzstan at the archaeological center “Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici” in 2024.

It was also agreed that the Italian specialists would visit Kyrgyzstan on a fact-finding mission to study petroglyphs and exercise their documentation.

Apart from that an agreement was reached to organize an international exhibition on petroglyphs of Kyrgyzstan with the subsequent release of a catalog.

For reference: The Camonica Valley is a UNESCO cultural heritage site that houses the largest collection of petroglyphs in Europe. The CCSP Archaeological Center houses the World Archive of Rock Art, which contains cataloged documents and numerous surveys of sites carried out around the world.