Kostanay Regional Museum of Local Lore

The Kostanay Regional Museum of History and Local Lore was opened on August 1, 1915 by decision of the Kostanay City Duma. By this time, for many years, local historians, ethnographers and members of the Orenburg department of the Russian Geographical Society had collected rich material on the history, economy, and culture of the region.

The museum is housed in a small wooden house. Initially, the museum's exhibits were mainly visual aids on zoology, botany, geography, and astronomy. The museum's exposition was replenished with household items, stuffed animals, and antiquities found during the excavation of burial mounds. Since the 1920s, the museum did not have a permanent building or funding; during this period, its existence was supported only by a few enthusiastic employees who independently went around the houses of the region, collecting exhibits. In 1925, the formation of a collection of weapons and a photo-documentary fund on the history of revolutionary events and the civil war in the region began. Since 1936, the museum became regional, and since January 1937 it received permanent premises in the city center at 60 Lenin Street, in a building built in the 19th century. It has 3 departments: the nature department, the history department, and the social construction department. Throughout the history of the museum, its employees have actively participated in various studies. In the 30s of the 20th century, having traveled around the region, they collected valuable information about the region’s agriculture and presented it at the first exhibition. At this time, a living corner was opened at the museum, which became the prototype of the exotarium that was opened later. In 1995, the museum moved to a new building - a monument of civil architecture of the early twentieth century. At the moment, the museum exhibition houses over 109 thousand exhibits. The museum's funds are represented by rich paleontological, botanical, zoological and entomological collections. Among the archaeological treasures stored in the museum, finds of the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Early Iron Age are of particular interest. Amazing works of primitive art are world famous: the stone sculpture “Tobolsk Thinker”, the altar with the head of an argali, on top of the sacrificial hammer “Hammer-God”. The ethnographic collection, the formation of which the museum traditionally pays special attention to, includes one of the best collections of jewelry from Kazakh zergers of the 19th-20th centuries in Kazakhstan and an excellent collection of national costumes. The clothing collection includes Kazakh women's and girls' costumes and samples of gold embroidery, costumes of Russian peasant women of the Moscow and Kursk provinces, Mordovian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Mari, Khakass costumes.

The art collection is about 4 thousand works of painting, graphics and sculpture by the founders and leading masters of Kazakh fine art, including works by artists: Abylkhan Kasteev, Nikolai Gavrilovich Khludov, Zhanatay Shardenov, Gulfairus Ismailova, as well as famous artists from Russia, Ukraine, Transcaucasia. The museum presents many exhibitions reflecting the history of the region and the culture of its people. The exhibition “We are the people of Kazakhstan” consists of rare archival photographs, a collection of national clothing and household items, recreated interiors of a Kazakh yurt and the house of a Slav migrant and other exhibits. The exhibition “My Native City” displays the interior of a city apartment from the late 19th century. The exhibition “History of the Kostanay Region” presents items related to the life of Kostanay residents during the Great Patriotic War, their participation in the development of virgin and fallow lands, industrial development, construction and improvement of the city. In 2006-2008, large-scale archaeological research in the region was resumed. Museum employees regularly organize interactive projects and special events, themed evenings aimed at popularizing the history of the region and the museum collection, and attracting new visitors. Among them, the fascinating folklore holidays “Nauryz”, “Visiting a Fairy Tale”, “Christmastide”, the annual interactive event “Night at the Museum”, and youth creativity competitions stand out. Particular attention is paid to the visitor's right to exercise freedom and creativity in the museum space.