NEWS
The Museum of Happy Childhood, located in a nineteenth century mansion near pedestrian Bauman street, opened this spring. Like the Museum of Soviet Lifestyle, it is one of its kind in Russia and was opened to commemorate the Soviet era. "The brand was born in Kazan. When similar museums appear in other cities, we will help them," said the museum director Rustem Valiakhmetov.
The museum first floor is almost entirely filled with exhibits related to Soviet childhood. Desks with peeling paint, yellowed wall newspapers and primers, rigid backpacks with heavy metal buckles – all immerse visitors in the atmosphere of the Soviet model school. The common thread of the exhibition is the theme of Young Pioneers and proletarian slogans, inextricably linked with the personality of Lenin. A special feature of the museum is that it is completely interactive: visitors can try on red scarves and knitted hats, flip through books, sit on bikes and rattle toys.
The Day of Cyrillic Writing System and Culture, commemorating the Slavic alphabet’s founder Cyril and Methodius, is marked by many Slavic countries, including by Russia, on 24 May.
This year, the celebrations began with a national vocal marathon, participated including by Kazan.
The choral flashmob began in Russian cities at the same time, at noon.
On a stage installed in Kazan Kremlin’s Cannon Quad, Tatarstan’s State Chamber Music Choir, conducted by Milausha Tamindarova, Kazan Higher Military Command School’s orchestra, conducted by Jan Orekhov, New Music chamber music orchestra, conducted by Anna Gulishambarova, State Song and Dance Ensemble’s choir, led by Niyaz Garaev, as well as junior teams, performed.
A combined children’s choir sang some famous songs. Pieces by the composers Fedor Glinka, Petr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Prokofiev and Georgy Sviridov were performed. The singers presented military songs as well.
he Kazan’s Lenin museum, built in 1937, opened earlier in the day after a lengthy reconstruction. Distinguished visitors at the ceremony were acting Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, Russian Communist Party Central Committee Chairman Gennady Zyuganov, Tatarstan Culture Minister Airat Sibagatullin, and others.
The museum is one of the oldest in Kazan and a significant culture monument commemorating one of the 20th century world’s most prominent political leaders in his younger years.
The reconstruction that lasted four years has allowed to conserve the piece of wooden urban mansion architecture of the 19th century’s second half. The Ulianov family lived in Orlova mansion’s two-storey extension between September 1888 and early May 1889. The phased work has resulted in the restoration and major renovation of the main building.
For the first time in many years, the exhibits were restored as well, allowing to preserve the memorial rooms’ unique atmosphere. The interiors, reproduced in the Soviet era with the help of family members’ recollections, have been added with new pieces, making the picture of the Ulianov family’s everyday life more complete.
Museum’s director Tatiana Basova said the museum had never been closed for visitors, except during the restoration period.
Following the tour, Gennady Zyuganov and Rustam Minnikhanov shared their impressions with reporters.
“It is a unique building,” Gennady Zyuganov said.
He then thanked Tatarstan authorities and Rustam Minnikhanov for the work done in Tatarstan to restore historical monuments.
History should be treated with care, Rustam Minnikhanov responded, saying many mistakes had been made in Kazan, resulting in valuable buildings being lost.
From Saturday, the Lenin museum will be available for visiting for general public.
Best theatrical pieces from Turkic world theatres, including from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Altai, Kazakhstan, Crimea, Tatarstan, Tyva, Khakasia and Yakutia, will be presented. Kamal Theatre’s artistic director Farid Bikchentayev said the previous forum had greatly influenced the 2015 festival.
“The forum and Nauruz are known to alternate: one year it is the festival, the next it is the educational forum. The last year’s forum was focused on ritual. Judging by the programme, the last year’s forum was a great influence, as many shows this year are based on some kind of ritual.”
The purpose of the festival was to allow “ethnic theatres to find their own path”.
“After the Soviet Union collapse it was very difficult to do, because the Soviet theatre’s influence was very strong, so that local theatres tried desperately to detach themselves and were in a state of search. Nowadays, I think there is some certainty. The trend is to conserve one’s identity without missing the current European and Russian theatre influences. It will probably be the focus of this festival,” the director stressed.
An international conference themed Theatre Development Vector: Europe – Asia will gather prominent Russian and Turkic world theatre representatives, including from Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Hungary, Germany and Tatarstan.
The festival will for the first time revolve around a particular Turkic nation’s theatrical culture, the 12th Nauruz being dedicated to Kazakhstan.
“We want Kazakhstan to show what their theatre does and how their culture, traditions and rituals are reflected in the theatre. We will carry on with this tradition. Next year, it will possibly be Bashkortostan or Azerbaijan, we will see,” the festival’s artistic director commented.
Festival’s panel of critics member Niyaz Iglamov said the repertoire was diverse, featuring Shakespeare’s plays, ethnic parables, national classics and contemporary pieces.
The festival is founded by Tatarstan Culture Ministry with the support of Russia Culture Ministry, Tatarstan Union of Theatre Workers and Tatarstan Academic Theatre named after G. Kamal.
Competition in seven competences will be held on open-air sites. The total number of competences the finalists will compete in has substantially increased versus last year, from 36 to 55. Besides, two competences will be presented by Republic of Tatarstan.
The federal and local sponsors support the organisers substantially, Tatarstan Education and Science Ministry’s Department of Vocational Training chief Timerkhan Alishev said. The funding was the same as last year, 70-80 million roubles, he added.
This year’s new competences include stove setting, roofing, house painting, landscape design, prototyping, production automation, metal working, aircraft maintenance, and more. Each competence is required to feature at least three participants.
In average, each competence has 10-12 workstations.
A total of 510 contestants and 415 experts from 50 Russian regions have been entered in the competition as of the moment, nearly one fifth being Tatarstan residents.
The finalists will be provided accommodation at the Unviersiade Village, where they will be offered an entertainment programme. Participants from Finland and Morocco will compete out of the main competition.
All the assignments and criteria are available on the internet, Timerkhan Allishev said, so participant can start preparing a few months in advance.
The national championship’s agenda includes a great number of business conferences and round tables as well.
Kazan had filed a bid to host the 2019 WorldSkills Competition’s world championship’s final round, the official said, which was why official technical experts from as many as 35 countries had been invited to the 2015 event.
The idea to hold the festival had come up due to a heightened interest in tango among Kazan residents, Gulnara Khamzina, festival organiser, said. People are ready to learn the dance and watch the show. Tango is poetry, love, friendship, relations between a man and a woman.
“We thought Kazan was worthy of hosting an event of this level. We could not reject the chance of making it international. Travelling here from other countries is easy. Tango festivals like this are held in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. We called our festival Fuego De La Noche Kazan [the fire of the Kazan night]. We will receive five famous pairs with a teaching experience. We managed to invite a live orchestra. We want to draw the attention of the general public who have not yet touched on this culture,” Gulnara Khamzina shared.
No age limitations were imposed on participants, she added.
“Argentine tango is done by intellectual, educated people who have a profession. They are doctors, teachers, engineers and programmers. Age does not matter, because in tango a man holds a woman - and they dance. At a festival in Dubai I saw Muslims dancing the Argentine tango in their clothes. The dance allows to enhance the culture of communication between men and women. My main purpose is to introduce the Kazan audience to this culture and promote it.”
Some 3,000 people were expected to participate in the festival, she concluded.
The event was timed to coincide with International Museum Day marked on 18 May, he said. In 2007, Tatarstan hosted the drive for the first time, some 40 thousand citizens taking part in it last year.
This year, entrance to all the Tatarstan’s state-run museums is free. The museums will also arrange some extra events at a price.
The Day And Night At Museum’s this year’s theme is the 70th Victory Day.
The purpose of the campaign is to promote Russia’s cultural heritage and tell the younger generation about museums. To attract children, museums develop new techniques employing latest technologies and 3D visualisation.
The campaign’s main venues in Kazan will be Tatarstan National Museum, Tatarstan Fines Arts Museum, Contemporary Art Gallery and the Kazan Kremlin.
The event will run from morning till two the next morning.