Kyrgyzstan: After the Revolt

Men at the Invalid House outside TokMok, Kyrgyzstan

Men at the Invalid House outside TokMok, Kyrgyzstan celebrate the visit of sponsers for the center from Canada on Jan. 4, 2012.

Come listen to and view the work of 10 student photojournalists, a professor and a photographic assistant from the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications at a free event Wednesday, February 1 at 6 p.m., at The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

During their three weeks in Kyrgyzstan â?? an emerging country in which there is great need â?? the students worked on documentary photography projects, including video and audio, about life in Kyrgyzstan after the fall of the Soviet government.

Kyrgyzstan declared its independence on August 31, 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union. Since that demise, there has been instability economically, politically and culturally.

Antigovernment protesters helped topple the government in April 2010, when extensive violence and unrest broke out across the country. Hundreds of people were killed during this time. The president fled the country.

Kyrgyzstan approved a new constitution in June 2010. A new president was elected November 1, 2011.

Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country located in Central Asia. It is surrounded by China on the east, Tajikistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west and Kazakhstan to the north. Kyrgyzstan has about the same number of square miles as Nebraska.