Paints of the Great Steppe: an art exhibition dedicated to Kazakhstan opened in Paris
Paris, April 9, 2019 – The opening ceremony of the exhibition «Paints of the Great Steppe» took place at UNESCO headquarters, which aroused keen interest among Parisians and representatives of the organization’s member states. The project was implemented within the framework of the «Ruhani Zhangyru» and «Year of Youth» programs by the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy and the Kazakhstan National Federation of UNESCO Clubs with the support of the Permanent Representation of Kazakhstan to UNESCO, and is aimed at promoting national art in the international arena.
Among the objectives of the exhibition is the promotion of theses of the article by the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev «Seven Facets of the Great Steppe», which became a continuation of the program «Ruhani Zhangyru», and promoting the implementation of the UNESCO International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures program (2013-2020 y.) implemented by UNESCO.
The exhibition «Paints of the Great Steppe» is a collection of works by young Kazakhstani photographers who won grants from the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and paintings by young winners of the International Festival under the auspices of UNESCO «The Planet of ART-2018». This exposition allows each visitor to discover amazing and unexplored places in Kazakhstan, to get in touch with the richest culture of the country and to be inspired by the work of talented Kazakhstan photographers and gifted children-artists from the Asia-Pacific region, united by a mission to convey their vision of the capital of the Great Steppe through photographs and paintings.
– In the light of the Year of Youth announced in Kazakhstan, I would like to emphasize the important role and significant contribution of the Kazakhstan National Federation of UNESCO Clubs, which gained wide international recognition in supporting the cultural and educational development of the talented younger generation, for the global activities of our Organization. We sincerely appreciate the multilateral initiatives of Kazakhstan and the Federation, aimed at improving the world for the benefit of future generations, and look forward to continuing our cooperation in empowering the development of children and young people around the world. I express special thanks to the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy for the comprehensive support of this exposition, – said in his welcoming speech Firmin Edouard Matoko, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO.
In turn, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to UNESCO, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to France, Zhan Galiyev, addressing the participants of the opening ceremony of the exhibition, said: «Such events make a significant contribution to the popularization and promotion of a positive image of Kazakhstan vividly demonstrating the creative potential of our youth and its understanding of the intransient value of the rich natural, historical and cultural heritage of our country. Supporting young people, as one of the foundations of our social policy, has always remained a priority for all government agencies, including domestic diplomacy». The ambassador also presented a specially published album of children’s creativity «Astana – City of the World», dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the capital. The book opens with welcoming addresses of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev and General Director of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay.
– The project «Paints of the Great Steppe» is a unique creative symbiosis of children-artists and a team of young photographers, which showed us all a completely different vision of the sacred places of Kazakhstan and modern architecture of our capital. The name of the exhibition is very symbolic in the context of promoting the article «Seven Facets of the Great Steppe» by Elbasy. Indeed, each face described by Nursultan Nazarbayev in the article found its artistic reflection in this exhibition. This is a national style in art, and the majestic mountains of Altai, and the heritage of the Great Silk Road, and the birthplace of apples with tulips – all this and much more have been depicted in the project by talented Kazakhstanis. And we are very proud to acquaint the world viewer with the «Paints of the Great Steppe» – a project that demonstrates unique originality, culture, rich nature and unsurpassed architecture of Kazakhstan, – said Sergey Tokhtarov, the Director of the Representative Office of the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy in Almaty.
The event was accompanied by the neo-ethno-folk group «Arkaim». The international public was impressed by the versatility and diversity of the presented works, in which the reverent attitude to the heritage of nomads, the immense beauty of the Kazakh steppe and the love of art that captured the authors during the creative process are traced. Pictures of young artists and famous photographers consist of narrative compositions, still lifes and landscapes telling about the modern capital of Kazakhstan, culture, traditions and originality of the people. In total, the exhibition presents about 70 photographs and drawings.
The exhibition will last until April 12 inclusive.
For reference:
The Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy – is a presidential foundation in Kazakhstan. This is the largest non-profit foundation in the country, whose activities are based on the principles of professional management and consistency of all projects.
The fund was established in 2000 on the personal initiative of Nursultan Nazarbayev. Today, the organization implements its projects and programs, proudly implementing the ideas of the First President of Kazakhstan, aimed at improving the competitiveness of human capital and the formation of a new generation of Kazakhstanis.
The work of the Foundation is aimed at supporting talented young people, developing social projects and civil initiatives, developing a competitive expert-analytical center.
The Kazakhstan National Federation of UNESCO Clubs, being part of the World movement of UNESCO Clubs, which originated in Japan in 1947, was founded in April 2009, and celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Conducting large-scale work to promote the ideals and values of UNESCO through the support and development of the younger generation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, today there are 128 Clubs in the country with a total of about 8 000 people (as of February 2019), represented in more than 40 cities, 12 villages and 14 regions of the country.
The organization implements large youth programs at the junction of three main areas of activity: creative education, cultural heritage and sustainable development.
The International Festival «The Planet of ART» is a key program of the Kazakhstan National Federation of UNESCO Clubs, aimed at supporting young artists and demonstrating their talent by realizing the creative potential of children and promoting the cultural diversity of the participating countries in the international arena.
In year 2018, the Festival was dedicated to the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the capital of Kazakhstan – Astana. Due to the scale and international coverage, the project covered more than 10,000 gifted children and young people aged 3-17 in the Asia-Pacific region, who received a significant opportunity to unleash their creative abilities and establish friendly ties between the younger generations of countries in the region.
According to the results of the project, a special album of children’s creativity «Astana – City of the World» was published, dedicated to the Jubilee of the Capital. The album was solemnly opened by the welcoming speech of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.А. Nazarbayev and UNESCO General Director A. Azoulay.
Contacts for the mass media:
Press Service of the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy
PR-manager Arthur Zhumashev
+7 (727) 220-92-16, +7 (708) 960-56-13
a.zhumashev@fpp.kz, www.fpp.kz
Press Service of the Kazakhstan National Federation of UNESCO Clubs
PR- specialist Kamilla Dauletova
+7 (727) 394-32-32, +7 (701) 298-00-88
