About Inherited Skills

This video features stories of three Kalmyk women, namely Ekaterina Dorzhieva, Anna Antonova, and Galina Tikeeva. Ekaterina’s mother was an accomplished singer. Ekaterina’s two sisters, one of whom is 87 years old and the other 84, are also good singers and dancers and can skillfully play on the national musical instrument, the dombra. Younger members of the family have also inherited artistic skills. In her youth Ekaterina sang well and was even invited to join a local House of Culture. But she declined the offer and did not develop her singing skills further. Anna’s grandfather on her maternal side was a man of many skills. He played dombra and could work with wood, metal, bones, and pelt. Anna’s maternal grandmother was also a good singer and dombra player. This skill was passed on to Anna’s mother. Anna’s husband Pavel and his siblings are good at calligraphy and writing, which they have inherited from their father. Anna and Pavel’s children have inherited the best from both paternal and maternal sides: they can sing, dance, play dombra, and are good at writing. Galina had a famous ancestor, Nim bagshi, who was a Buddhist monk who emigrated to the US following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Galina says that Nim bagshi’s wisdom has been passed on to his descendants, including Batyr Elistaev who is a well-known Buddhist lama and scholar in Kalmykia.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin