In 2016, in France, in the Jura region, I organised the first Yhyakh, a traditional and sacred festival of the Sakha people, transposed into the European cultural space. For me, as a representative of the Sakha people living far from my native land, this gesture constituted an act of cultural presence, a form of inner return, and a way of extending the tradition beyond its usual geographical boundaries. I sought to allow it to resonate within a new landscape, without altering its cultural depth or its sacred essence.
The Yhyakh is one of the most ancient festivals of the Sakha people, linked to the summer solstice. It is based on a cyclical understanding of life, the renewal of the world, and harmony between the human being, nature, and the spiritual order of the Aiyy. It is a moment of gratitude and transition, when the Sakha people gather to reaffirm their connection with nature, the sun, and the future.
The festival took place in the park of the Château de Sainte-Marie in Montigny-les-Arsures, in the Jura, and became the first event of its kind in France. It brought together ritual, movement, bodily presence, and collective experience, creating a space for intercultural dialogue in which the sacred was not displayed, but lived. It was essential for me to preserve the symbolic and ritual integrity of the festival, while allowing it to enter naturally into another cultural context.
As part of the Yhyakh, I also organised the exhibition Nomadic Scrolls of Siberia at the town hall of Arbois. The exhibition presented works by contemporary Sakha artists, created in the form of scrolls, as an image of nomadic memory and of cultural time unfolding. The project received significant public attention and became an extension of the festival within an artistic dimension.
Sakha people living outside their historical homeland came from the United States, New Zealand, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Armenia, England, as well as from various regions of France. Participants brought with them traditional adornments and national costumes, took an active part in the rituals, and welcomed French visitors, sharing their culture through collective presence and action.
During the festival, dishes from traditional cuisine were prepared and the sacred drink koumys, a symbol of vital force and blessing, was presented. Horses of the local Franche-Comté breed were incorporated into the rituals, highlighting the possibility of a subtle interaction between Sakha tradition and the French natural context.
A special place was given to traditional sporting competitions, notably the mas tardyhyïta, an ancient Sakha form of stick pulling. Two participants, seated facing each other and bracing with their feet, hold a wooden stick (mas) and attempt either to pull their opponent off balance or to wrench the stick from their hands. This contest requires not only physical strength, but also technique, stability, and inner balance. In Sakha culture, mas tardyhyïta is perceived as a test of character and bodily discipline, shaped by the conditions of life in the North.
This Yhyakh became for me an experience of cultural exchange and of adapting tradition to a new context, as well as a search for points of connection between Sakha culture and the country in which I live. The project was conceived as a space for discovering a culture that is still little known, or almost unknown, in France, through ritual, art, and sharing.
I am now open to considering proposals for the organisation of similar projects and events in different regions and cities of France.
Carnet
