A. Kasteev National Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan
The Abilkhan Kasteev National Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the leading scientific-research, cultural-educational, and artistic-educational center of the country in the field of visual arts. The history of the museum begins on September 23, 1935, when the Council of People's Commissars of the Kazakh SSR adopted a resolution to organize the Kazakh State Art Gallery. This resolution provided for the holding of a jubilee art exhibition dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Kazakh SSR, which marked the beginning of the formation of the museum’s collection.
In 1965, by the decision of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR, the gallery received a separate building, specifically designed for the museum's needs by Kazakh architects Elza Kuznetsova, Olga Naumova, and Boris Novikov. In 1976, the art gallery was granted the status of the State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan. That same year, it incorporated the Republican Museum of Applied Arts, founded in 1970. The new museum building was opened to visitors on September 16, 1976. In January 1984, the museum was named after the People's Artist of the Kazakh SSR and the founder of Kazakh visual arts, Abilkhan Kasteev (1904 - 1973).
Currently, the A. Kasteev National Museum of Arts is the largest museum of visual arts in Kazakhstan. Its collection includes over 25,000 exhibits of high artistic and historical-cultural value. The museum's collection encompasses works by masters from Kazakhstan, Europe, and Asia, spanning a wide historical range from antiquity to the present day.
The museum operates several scientific structural divisions: the Department of Kazakh Visual Arts; the Department of Decorative and Applied Arts; the Department of Classical Foreign Art; the Department of Contemporary Foreign Art; the Department of Collections and Storage; the Restoration Department; the Department of Exhibitions and Displays; the Department of Management and External Relations; the Department of Scientific Expertise; the Excursion Department; and the Department of Information and Publishing Activities. These divisions ensure the multifaceted operation of the museum and a high quality of scientific and cultural work.
Each year, the museum implements more than 60 exhibition projects. In addition to permanent exhibitions, it organizes solo exhibitions of Kazakh artists, as well as curated exhibitions and private collections from both near and far abroad. Furthermore, the museum regularly conducts cycles of lectures, popular science programs, thematic and review excursions aimed at enhancing artistic education for a wide audience, developing aesthetic taste, and fostering the cognitive activity of viewers.
The museum's research activities are focused on studying, expertise, and introducing into scientific circulation the artistic heritage. Annual international and republican scientific conferences, seminars, and round tables are held at the museum. Museum staff participate in international forums and publish research results in monographs and specialized publications. Issues of visual and decorative-applied arts are regularly covered in the media, including print, television, and radio.