Culture

  All manner of general and esoteric societies, institutions, museums and foundations can be found in England.

One of its more prestigious learned societies is the Royal Society (1660), which awards fellowships, medals and endowed lectureships based on scientific and technological achievements. The British Museum contains a wealth of archaeological and ethnographic specimens. Its extensive library — containing ancient and medieval manuscripts and papyruses — was merged in 1973 with several other holdings to form the British Library, a centralized repository.

The Zoological Society of London maintains the London Zoo and also conducts research, publishes journals, and supports a large zoological library.

The Royal Botanic Gardens are significant both as a research institute and as one of England's many places of great natural beauty.

There are also notable university libraries at the University of Cambridge and at the University of Oxford (the Bodleian Library). Art galleries abound in England.

The best known are based in London and include the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Gallery (with superb collections of John Constable and the Pre-Raphaelites, and the Wallace Collection.

The Culture of Kazakhstan

Thousands of years ago, an original culture which revered nature was born in the nomadic society in the very centre of Eurasia, within the limitless steppe among high mountains and lakes. It appeared as a result of the merging of the cultures of Mongolian and Turkic people and later it was enriched by elements of Islamic and Persian world-views.  During that period, Kazakhstan did not exist as a state. However, a centuries-old cultural community had already been formed. The term “Kazakh”, which means “free”, appeared later in the 14th – 15th centuries. As a result of a passionate yearning for defining the position of this culture among other cultures, with which they had something in common and at the same time were different, it became necessary to unite many tribes of the steppe into something integral and united on the basis of the similarity of behavior, language (the Turkic language) and places of residence. So, before the state appeared, a free nomadic culture existed, which was based on the practical knowledge of reality and spiritual concepts in quite difficult conditions of permanent movement in expanse and time. The representatives of the nomadic ethnic groups of the step were not the exclusive members of this culture since the representatives of other cultures also entered it. Since that moment, the culture has been developing as an original Kazakh one, which maintains the traditions, customs, language, etc. and as a culture of Kazakhstan, which includes the features of numerous nations (more than 130) residing today in the country. Today, the culture of Kazakhstan represents a complex of aesthetic values of the Kazakh people, conveyed in original and different spiritual and material forms. 

As a result of its nature, the culture provides us with the development and enrichment of creative potential and with an individual place in the family of national cultures.

National Arts and Crafts

The area of the nomadic culture of the people, their notion of the world and its beauty, the ways and forms of adaptation to nature and climatic conditions of the Great Steppe are embodied in the traditional works of talented craftsmen. The sublime form is the yurt, which is a perfect kind of demountable and portable house, which is carried by horses and camels. The inner and outer decorations of the yurt are embellished with carpets and embroidered things made of felt.  

Everyday objects were made of felt, wood, leather and metal. 

Clothes. Men’s clothes: velvet chapan, belt with embroidery, skullcap, felt caps.

Women’s clothes: dresses similar to tunics and sleeveless jackets made of cotton, silk and velvet. 

Jewellery. Goldsmiths (zergers) used casting, engraving, repousse and chasing, filigree, niello, granulation and enamel when making jewellery of gold and white silver. 

The national ornament, which is used in jewellery, is a unique language of the Kazakh people, enriched with deep meaning. 

Music

Ancient Kazakh musical instruments include the dombra and kobyz (stringed musical instruments played by plucking), the saz-syrnai, which is a clay flute and the sabyzgy, which is a cane flute. Korkyt is the creator of the kobyz and kyuy, a  genre of music. Musicians. Great Kazakh dombra players and Kyuy performers include AsanKaygy (15th century), Tattimbet, Dauletkerey, and Kurmangazy, among kobyz players there is Ykylas (19th century), and NurgisaTlendiyev (20th century). 

Folk singers. Great singers include Zhayau Musa, Akan Sere, Amre, Madi, Kenen (19th- 20th centuries) and ShamshiKaldayakov (20th century). 

New genres.  World fame has been gained by such composers of the professional school as E Brusilovsky (author of  “KyzZhibek”, the first national opera), E Rakhmadiyev (the creator of  the “symphonic kyuy” genre), virtuosi Zhaubakirova, pianist, A. Musakhodzhayeva and M Bisengaliyev, who are violinists, E Serkebayev, B Tulegenova, A Dnishev, E Kurmangaliyev, who are opera singers, and R Rymbayeva, a diva. There are three theatres of opera and ballet, a number of symphony orchestras and a great number of folk orchestras and groups in Kazakhstan. 

Cultural Life of Youth

Science and culture are two powerful wings of progress of the youth of the country. The primary task of today is to accelerate the cultural development of the youth. In school and out of school children's establishments conditions are created for the development of creative activities, for their aesthetic education. Pupils and students learn to sing and dance, play musical instruments.

Circles of amateur art activities, festivals, holidays of songs and music, days of Poetry, Literary meetings, exhibitions of children's drawing and painting, school amateur theatres, creative associations of young literature lovers testify the growth of performers, their skill and actively contribute to the development of aesthetic inclinations.

In their leisure time they go in for sports, read, and go to the libraries, parks, cinemas, theatres, concert halls. They can visit art exhibitions, the Zoo or the circus.

A museum is a place where various collections of works of art are displayed. There are different kinds of museums: history museums, museums of art, archaeological museums, science museums and others. If you go to Great Britain you should definitely visit the British Museum in London. The museum is very big and you can see works of art in glass, stone, gold and also a few collections on natural history there.

The Tower of London is another big museum in London. It used to be a treasury, a prison, an observatory and even a zoo. The Tower of London hosts a big collection of arms and jewels.

The United States of America is famous for its museums and galleries, too. There is the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It consists of several museums and art galleries that are free and open to the public. The National Museum of Natural History is popular with children. The museum contains one of the world's largest scientific collections: exhibits on human culture, evolution, dinosaurs, birds, animals, sea life, meteorites, plants, rocks and minerals.

Another famous museum is the National Air and Space Museum. It houses the world's most expensive collection of aircrafts and spacecrafts. Visitors can see exhibits on the history of air crafting and watch documentaries in the IMAX movie theatre that is situated inside the building. All museums are very interesting to visit. Museums and art galleries give us an opportunity to learn facts about art, history and culture of different peoples and countries.

About music

As the world-famous composer Shostakovich said, “Music is a weapon and I have endeavored to vest my symphony with those feelings which grip our people. We fight for light against barbarity. Let us muster all our strength for an active and decisive struggle in the name of triumph and righteousness». When the audience heard the inspiring first performance of Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, they followed the composer’s train of musical thought which he had embodied in his work. It cheered them up and moved them deeply. During the Great Patriotic War music helped our people to fight the enemy at the front. A large number of patriotic war songs written as one of the immediate responses of the musical world to the Hitler invasion heartened our people and our warriors too. The musical life in our country is not limited to the activities of composers alone. Our singers and composers, pianists and violinists make concert tours of our country and abroad. Tchaikovsky’s name is closely connected with our today’s life. It was Tchaikovsky who wrote music that changed the ballet art. The wordless but expressive language of the dance has appeared with “Swan Lake” and “The Sleeping Beauty”. His many compositions include 10 operas, 3 ballets, 6 symphonies, 4 concertos, romances, songs and instrumental pieces.

A GREAT INVENTION