‘Tatarstan is a place of friendship, love, and respect’
Year of National Cultures and Traditions has been closed at Kazan Expo
At the closing ceremony of the Year of National Cultures and Traditions, cultural workers discussed the Pushkin Card, work with military families, and compared themselves with the multi-armed Shiva.
Stand culture
Rustam Minnikhanov, the rais of the republic, announced the Year of National Cultures and Traditions in October 2022, delivering a message to the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan. Let us remind that the year 2022 was the Year of Digitalisation.
At Kazan Expo on 4 November, there were especially many kalfaks of various colours and styles. The participants of the concert programme in elegant costumes stood in line for lunch.
The awards ceremony took place on the ground floor for several hours, an exhibition was organised right there, in which samples of Chebaksin forging (it is made by hand) attracted attention. Separated from each other by wooden stands, representatives of various indigenous peoples of Tatarstan were sitting. They represented their people: cooking samples, certificates, towels were necessarily laid out, someone even put a photo album. With the approach of television cameras, people became more active, settled down at the table or started dancing and singing songs.
By the way, it should be noted that at such events we see only festive culture, but not working or related, for example, to the birth of a child.
Representatives of related Turkic and Caucasian peoples sat down next to the yurt of the Almetyevsk exhibition of Turkic musical instruments. Without further ado, they immediately turned on the musical accompaniment, under which the keyboard player and percussionist recreated the atmosphere of an oriental holiday.
Pushkin Card and tambour embroidery
On the second floor, there was a business programme, divided mainly by institutions. In one hall, for example, the program “Inspiration” (“Comprehensive rehabilitation”) was presented, which turned into a brainstorming session: the teams came up with projects to work with military families, it was both a puppet theatre and communication with a mullah.
In the second hall, the heads and staff of children's art schools discussed the Pushkin Card. After the presentation of Olga Oparina from the children's music school in Yelabuga, one of the participants raised her hand and asked that they be given methodical letters — and this was accompanied by applause. . In response, it was said that in Tatarstan, art schools for children earn less from the card than other regions. It is true that the Pushkin Card has become both a problem and a help for cultural institutions: as another guest immediately commented, at the expense of the card's income, they will finally be able to repair the drainage system in the building entrusted to him.
In the third section, participants of the festival of children's folklore groups “Ringing drip — Monly Tamchy” gathered (it has been held for 10 years). They were shown cartoons with animated ornaments created by schoolchildren, and the Almetyevsk electronic project ABIEM Project promoted the idea that folk songs sound more accessible in a modern sound. At the end, the actors of the films “Go And Remember It” — writer Rabit Batulla and young actor Yunus Tairov talked with children and managers.
Librarians made the most detailed programme. Lyudmila Savich, Professor of the Department of Library and Information Activities and Intellectual Systems of the Institute of Culture, said that commercial sales of books (excluding purchases by libraries and budget organisations) are growing. In 2022, for example, the volume of the electronic and audiobook market amounted to 10,9 billion rubles. 92% of people in 2022 read books, and 58% — paper ones.
At the same time, 55% of teenagers have not been to the library for a year.
The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan was pleased with the presentation of SMM specialist Galina Yusypey, who said that she “gets high” from her work and compared colleagues with the multi-armed Shiva. As part of the presentation, she said that she had recently run a marathon.
On the ground floor, two embroidered maps of the republic were very popular: everyone found their own area and took a photo next to it. There were also 45 towels marked with the words “Replica”: the masters reproduced the technique of embroidery with a smooth surface and tambour embroidery. In one of the sections upstairs, Guzel Valeeva-Suleymanova, chief researcher at the Institute of History, told how the semantic content of this map is arranged, and also recalled how tambour embroidery was forgotten in Tatarstan for many years: in Azat Khatyn, they printed how to cross stitch and satin stitch.
How Salavat was sung in several languages
The day finished with a festive concert. It was attended by the laureates of the republican ethno-cultural festival “Our home is Tatarstan.Russia”, who were selected in seven zonal rounds (more than 2,500 people participated in them).
The concert began with the song “My native country is wide”, which turned into “Мин яратам сине, Татарстан”, and performed in many languages. Each performance was accompanied by mass scenes, proving once again how skilled local directors and screenwriters were in grandiosity. Even the technicians came out in Tatar costumes!
“Tatarstan is a place of friendship, love, and respect," noted the rais of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, and started presenting awards, the winners of the Cultural Capital of Tatarstan contest were announced. The districts were evaluated throughout the year according to a large concert programme, an exhibition, a fair of craftsmen and entrepreneurs, master classes, tourist routes and national cuisine. The Arsky district won the Grand Prix.
What else was memorable on this day? In the first section, when all the guests and speakers left, there was a children's collective from the Menzelinsky district. They played word games and communicated with each other in their native language.
