If a nation does not know its history, if the country loses its history, then its citizens have nowhere to go.
Mirzhakyp Dulatuly

Developing the culture of contemporary Kazakhstan

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One of the main achievements of the independence period is the revival and further development of the Kazakh culture, as well as cultures and traditions of ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan.

From 1990 to 2000 was undoubtedly a new stage in the history of the Kazakh culture. Ancient holiday Nauryz, musical and poetic art of improvisation - aitys, were revived. For Kazakhstan, in general, this period also marked the formation of a new quality of its diverse culture. The musical repertoire of groups and at theaters in Kazakhstan has become the main theme. Festivals dedicated to the anniversaries of culture, science: Abay, Kurmangazy Sagyrbajuly, S. Seifulin, Beimbet Mailin Zhambyl Zhabayev, Magzhan Zhumabaev and others. State policy in the sphere of culture is reflected in such works of President Nursultan Nazarbayev as "In the stream of history", "strategy of creation and development of Kazakhstan as a sovereign state",  "The Future of Kazakhstan - in the ideological unity of society" and the other, in the decisions of the National Council on State policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1993) Development of the Kazakh culture conducive to socio- cultural and moral rebirth of society as a whole, as well as the development of cultures of ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan, strengthening international ties.

In the years of independence were created dozens of ethnic and cultural centers, creative teams. Sustained economic growth has allowed to carry out reforms in the socio- cultural sphere. State program were developed to support culture, which was implied for 1998-2000. The year 2000 was declared the Year of Culture. The number of theaters - at that time the country had two opera and ballet theater, 33 drama theaters, four musical comedy theatre, , the same amount of theaters for young people, five puppet-show, 73 permanent and 266 mobile cinemas. In the late 2000s in Kazakhstan, there were 48 theaters, 62 concert organizations, 3539 libraries, 154 state museums, 2259 clubs and similar institutions, eight cultural and historical reserves-museums, 42 parks and amusement park and four zoo.

To strengthen the national identity and understanding of modern processes played a significant role initiation individual years major events and themes. Thus, the year 1997 was declared the Year of the memory of victims of repression,1998th - the Year of history of the National Accord and, 1999th - the Year of continuity of generations, 2,000th - the Year of Culture, 2001th - the Year of Independence, 2002th - the Year of Health, 2003-2005 years - the Years of the village head. In the 2000s in the field of culture have been achieved. Since 2001 the number of existing museums increased by 17 percent in the average during the year. The increasing demand for bibliographic information were observed alongside with the increasing level of education. This led to growth of library users by an average 2.3 percent from 2002, which , in turn, has given rise to the need of technical support libraries (46 per cent computerized

After the crisis and degradation of many libraries in the 1990s, gradually started revived the librarianship. Thus most of the libraries - 2900 (81 per cent) was in the countryside. The number of clubs increased by 20 percent each year, in 2004 there were 2200, most of them also located in the villages. In February 2001, there was one of the most important events in the cultural life of the country - presentation of the musical heritage of Kazakhstan "Asyl Mura".

The purpose of the project is systematization, processing and recording on digital media national musical heritage. The second life was given to the examples of folk, classical and modern music. The main theme in the works of writers and poets became the history of the development and prosperity of the Kazakh people in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. In the 2000s, the number of works Orazakyna Askar , Nesipbek Aituly, Alibek Askarov and other masters of the pen were released. A significant event in the cultural life of the country was the emergence of novels Mukhtar Magauin, Sher Khan Murtaza, Zhaksybaya Samrat."Stars" of Kazakh classical art - violinist Aiman ​​Musakhodjaeva, tenor Alibek Dnishev, gorgeous soprano opera singer Mayra Mukhamedkyzy, Nurzhamal Usenbaeva and others - became widely known not only domestic, but also for the foreign connoisseurs of classical art, regularly speaking on the stage of the world 's largest .

On the domestic scene, along with recognized masters such as Bibigul Tulegenova Rosa Baglanova, Ermek Serkebayev Rosa Rymbaeva Myra Ilyasova, Altynbek Korazbaev, Makpal Zhunusova and others, successful performance young singers Stamgaziev Ramadan, Madina Sadvakasova, Tokhtar Serikov Dosymzhan Tanatarov deserved glory ... in the country and abroad have earned creative collectives "Ulytau", "MuzArt" ensemble "Gulder" duo "Nur Mukasan" and others. Organizers of the international festival "Voice of Asia" in 2003 held the first international contest of Kazakh song "Astana 2003". In Kazakhstan, the annual competitions, festivals devoted to the works of young artists - "Shabyt", "Altyn Alma" and others. Kazakh government paid great attention to the promotion of Kazakh culture abroad.

For example, students of Almaty Choreographic School demonstrated their talents in the United States, Switzerland, the Republican Korean music and drama theatre took part in the international ethnic festival in the Republic of Korea, in a number of countries hosted events dedicated to the art ... Abay Kazakhstan signed an agreement on cooperation in the sphere of culture with 49 countries near and far abroad. Significant events in the life of the country became a meeting of culture ministers of the SCO member states, the meeting of the Permanent Council of International organization of Turk culture. All this testifies to the fact that during the period of independence was a real revival and further development of the Kazakh national culture and the culture of the people of Kazakhstan in general.

Igor Kornilov

Academician of the Academy of history and social sciences of Kazakhstan