State program "Мәдени мұра" - "Cultural Heritage"

The state program "Cultural Heritage" was developed on the initiative of the President of the Republic of
Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev. The program provides for the creation of an integral system of study of the
huge cultural heritage of the people, including modern national culture, folklore, traditions and customs;
restoration of historical, cultural and architectural monuments of particular importance to the national
history; generalization of centuries-old experience of the national literature and writing; creation in the
state language of a complete fund of humanitarian education based on the best achievements of world
scientific thought, culture and literature.
The State program "Cultural Heritage" is the main document in the sphere of development of spiritual and
educational activity, a strategic national project.
The purpose of the Program is study, restoration and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of
the country, revival of historical and cultural traditions, promotion of the cultural heritage of Kazakhstan
abroad.
The main directions of the Program implementation are:
Restoration of historical and cultural, architectural monuments of national history;
Archaeological research;
Scientific research on the cultural heritage of the Kazakh people (development of scientific projects);
Socially significant projects related to propaganda of cultural heritage of Kazakh people and development
of tourism industry on the objects of history and culture;
Implementation of publications on the history, culture and historical heritage of the peoples of
Kazakhstan.
Within the framework of the Program in 2004-2011 there were carried out:
Restoration works on 78 monuments of history and culture were completed.
26 scientific and applied, 40 archeological researches were conducted, which enriched the science with
thousands of artifacts, giving an idea of the history of our ancestors. Excavations of Shilikty and Berel
burial mounds in the East Kazakhstan region and findings of gold items belonging to the "Scythian-
Siberian animal style" or Sak art (5th-3rd centuries BC) became world famous.
More than 5 thousand valuable archive documents, manuscripts and printed editions on history,
ethnography and art of Kazakhstan, which were earlier unknown in the domestic scientific circles, were
acquired during research expeditions to China, Turkey, Mongolia, Russia, Japan, Egypt, Uzbekistan,
Armenia, and also to the USA and Western European countries.
Systematic work on the development of a series of publications of national scientific thought, culture and
literature has been carried out. More than one and a half million copies of 537 books were published,
including unique series on history, archaeology and ethnography, new encyclopedic dictionaries,
including series "Babalar sozi", "The Ancient World of Kazakh Law", "Anthology of Kazakh Music",
"Dictionary of Synonyms of Kazakh Language", "Orthographic Dictionary".
Modern cultural processes, in particular science, are unthinkable without reference to the heritage of
world philosophical and historical thought. A series of books has been published:
"World Historical Thought" in 14 volumes in the Kazakh language:
"History of Kazakhstan in Foreign Sources" in 20 volumes (12 volumes);
"Materials on the History of Kazakhstan in Russian Sources" in 10 volumes;
"History of Kazakhstan in Ancient Sources in 2 volumes.
There is an extensive network of state museums of historical and ethnographic profile and memorials
dedicated to memorable events of Kazakhstan's history. Now in Kazakhstan there are more than 25
thousand monuments of history, archeology, architecture and monumental art, 11 thousand libraries, 147
museums, 8 historical and cultural reserves-museums, 215 archives. The unique monument of history and
culture of Kazakhstan - Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui (Turkestan) has been included in UNESCO
World Cultural Heritage List in June 2003.
The unique restoration and transfer to modern carriers of sound recordings of the outstanding performers
of oral professional tradition, which are in the funds, archives and depositories of the country, have been
carried out. For example, research has been conducted into the music of the Middle Ages, in particular,
into such genres as cuisines and historical songs. The anthology of the Kazakh traditional music
"Myngilik saryn: thousand kyuis, thousandәnі" has been published. This is a grand and unprecedented
work on collection, preparation, processing, restoration, digitalization and release of CDs of the Kazakh
traditional music in authentic performance in the history of the national culture.
The JSC "Kazakhfilm" film studio has created 20 documentary films about particularly important
historical places and the heritage of national culture. These are documentaries from the "Cultural
Heritage" cycle "Qorkyt. Musical Heritage of Nomads", "Architectural Monuments of Ancient
Turkestan", "Mausoleum of Zhusup Ata", "Tamgaly Petroglyphs" and others.
The program "Cultural Heritage" implements activities aimed at the development of tourism (pilgrimage
tourism, historical and archeological tourism). Recommendations of archaeologists are used in the
development of tourist routes.
Every year about 200 events are held, aimed at popularization of historical and cultural heritage in the
country and abroad.
The scale of the project is testified by the fact that the whole intellectual potential of modern Kazakhstan
is involved: academic institutions of literature and art, philosophy, history and ethnography, linguistics,
etc., National Library, higher educational institutions of the country.
Having become an unprecedented in the history of Kazakhstan humanitarian action, the program
"Cultural Heritage" opened the wealth of national spiritual treasury of the Kazakh people to the whole
world.
In the framework of further implementation of the "Cultural Heritage" program the Concept for 2009-
2011 outlines the priority directions:
To continue works on restoration and conservation of the objects of historical and cultural heritage.
It is planned to restore the golden treasures of our statehood - Issyk, Berel barrows and a number of
important monuments in Turkestan city (mausoleums and burials of Esim, Tauke, Zhangir, biy Kazybek,
Batyrs Bogenbai, Zhanibek, Zhaugash and Koygeldy) and the ancient city of Otrar, which was the cradle
of the largest library in the world history, and to shape them into national symbols. All the listed objects
are sacred symbols and sacred places that consolidate the people.
To promote the national historical and cultural heritage at the international level. To study and recreate
historical and cultural monuments, directly related to the history of Kazakhstan in the near and far abroad
(to restore copies of ancient Turkic stone sculptures with runic inscriptions, found in Mongolia and other
countries). Foreign projects have been successfully implemented, including restoration of the Sultan Az-
Zahir Beibars Mausoleum in Damascus and the Sultan Beibars Mosque in Cairo, and construction of the
Historical and Cultural Center and the Al-Farabi Mausoleum in Damascus. High quality and informative
documentary films will be created about the Berel and Issyk Burial Mounds, monuments in Turkestan
City and the site of Otrar, and other historical sites in Kazakhstan, and shown on world TV channels such
as the BBC and Discovery Channel. Such projects will promote worldwide recognition of the Kazakh
land and increase the flow of tourists.
To carry out large-scale scientific research on the cultural heritage of the Kazakh people, including
historical and cultural, architectural and archaeological monuments of special importance to the national
culture (the only unique open-air museum of Sak culture in the world is planned to be established in the
north-west of Almaty).
To continue the generalization of the centuries-long experience of the national literature and writing, to
publish serial publications on the history, archeology, ethnography and culture of Kazakhstan.
To develop cultural tourism on the basis of historical places of the Great Silk Road, to conduct events,
revealing their role in the history of the state as values that unite the people, will be one of the main
strategic directions of the state. The territory of Kazakhstan should be presented to the world as the main
branch of the Great Silk Road, and a system of specific routes through the museum-reserves should be
created. Each museum should reflect the route traveled by the people, showing the history of Kazakhstan
step by step. Museum-reserves will vividly represent the way of life of nomads, conveying the
atmosphere, creating a sense of that era.
To include the saved up and systematized knowledge in educational process. One of the main tasks - to
bring up the generation which is well aware of traditions of the native culture, loving history of the
people, the generation which can be entrusted the future of the country. There is an active and purposeful
young generation growing in the Republic of Kazakhstan, fluent in several languages and mastering
modern information technologies. But the young people who have not mastered the spiritual values of
their people, the lessons of their native history, may be swamped by the wave of globalization and be led
astray by various dogmatic currents. The duty of the State is to educate the young people of Kazakhstan
in the spirit of patriotism and love for their native land.
To provide training for professional personnel. It is necessary: to provide training of specialists -
translators, historians and ethnographers, who would be able to translate historical heritage and national
folklore in other languages and to translate the most important materials on various spheres of world
science and social thought into Kazakh language; restorers to restore ancient treasures;
Ensuring the participation of young professionals in international training programs;
Organization of training of cultural workers on the basis of the best cultural organizations in the country
and abroad;
Organization of experience exchange in the near and far abroad countries.
President Nazarbayev about the perspectives and meaning of the program "Cultural heritage" (Astana,
February 13, 2007): "Why was such a large-scale program conceived, what does it give us? I want to
underline that the program "Cultural heritage" is not limited by purely utilitarian purposes of restoration
of our historical and cultural heritage. Its main purpose is to achieve positive shifts in the public
consciousness, and in this context, it has an important ideological, national significance. Firstly, it means
to strengthen the role and expand the limits of historical consciousness of the nation which is one of the
most important spiritual foundations of our statehood. National revival can happen only when it rests on
the fertile soil of centuries-old culture, when it feeds on the noble sap of the historical past... Restoration
of historical and cultural heritage also means recreation of such connection of times which has a clear
projection into the future. By asking questions about the real content of our past, we enrich our
understanding of the present and can construct inspiring images of our future. Secondly, the program
"Madeni mura" was a response to the demands related to the formation and strengthening of national
identity and consciousness. In the epoch of globalization, the historical and cultural heritage is the basis
of self-identification... Thirdly, the efforts on realization of this program lead to gradual formation of new
cultural and historical landscape of the country... Fourthly, realization of the state program "Cultural
heritage" is very important for increasing the interest of Kazakhstan people to their history and culture.
The possession of cultural heritage is the basis of the historical memory of the people, without which, in
turn, there can be no true patriotism. Overcoming of this inertia of historical unconsciousness is
especially important for rising generation education".
The complex solution of the designated problems within the framework of the State program "Cultural
Heritage" continues to promote further development of the system of study, preservation and
popularization of the cultural heritage of the people of Kazakhstan.