East Kazakhstan Museum of Arts
The East Kazakhstan Museum of Fine Arts is one of the leading institutions in Kazakhstan in the field of visual arts and cultural heritage. The museum’s primary mission is to collect, preserve, promote, and present masterpieces of fine art to the public, thereby contributing to the development of both national and global culture.
As of today, the museum's collection includes 8,358 items. Of these, the main collection consists of 5,238 exhibits, while the auxiliary scientific collection holds 3,120 items. The main collection is categorized based on content and typological features: works of visual art - 2,788 items; materials related to literature - 1,213 items; musical heritage - 510 items.
One of the museum’s unique areas of activity is the support and promotion of children's creativity. To this end, a children's art collection was established, which contains 499 works in the genres of painting and graphics. This collection represents an important initiative aimed at identifying the artistic potential of the younger generation and supporting young artists.
The museum’s collection is regularly enriched with new works. For example, in 2011, the museum acquired the painting Spring. The Bride by Talgat Abikenovich Tatiev, a member of the Union of Artists of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the painting In the Steppe of Baikonur by Uke Azhiev - an Honored Art Worker of the Kazakh SSR, member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, and laureate of the Sh. Ualikhanov State Prize of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Additionally, Zholashy Turdygulov - member of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan, holder of the title “Honored Cultural Worker,” and professor - donated traditional Kazakh musical instruments to the museum: dombyra, dauylpaz, dabyl, syzgy, zhetygen, kylkobyz, and sazgen. These items make a significant contribution to the preservation and promotion of the national cultural heritage.
The East Kazakhstan Museum of Fine Arts carries out extensive exhibition activities not only in the region but also beyond its borders. Traveling exhibitions from the museum's collection are regularly showcased at other cultural institutions. For instance, the A.S. Pushkin East Kazakhstan Regional Library hosted an exhibition titled My Kazakhstan, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s Independence. The exhibition featured works from the "Graphics" collection by renowned artists such as G.G. Merkasymov, L.E. Ageykin, V.T. Titov, E.V. Chubuk, and A.T. Shokanov.
The museum’s activities go beyond organizing exhibitions. It also performs scientific and methodological work aimed at preserving, studying, and passing on cultural heritage to future generations. Scientific descriptions of artworks, their analysis within an art-historical context, and modern methods of display are implemented in accordance with current museum standards. In this context, each item in the museum’s collection is regarded as an important subject of research in Kazakhstani visual art and intangible cultural heritage.