ASTANA – Employees of the Almaty-based Abylkhan Kasteyev State Museum of Arts joined in Beijing with representatives of national art museums and key art institutes in 17 countries of the former Silk Road and current Belt and Road Initiative to establish the Alliance of Art Museums and Galleries of the Great Silk Road. The organisation seeks to promote studying art, collecting and exchanging exhibitions and sharing them between countries and regions.
Photo credit: inform.kz.
The five-day forum, hosted by the Chinese National Art Museum, was attended by delegates from Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Vietnam. The Kazakh state museum represented the Central Asian region, while the Chinese side sent directors from the country’s leading museums.
“The speakers mainly discussed their museums and museum collections. It was kind of a presentation of their institutions, which was extremely interesting as it provided an opportunity to fully understand the position of art collections of different countries,” said state museum director Gulmira Shalabayeva, according to inform.kz.
Her report highlighted the museum’s diverse collection, which allows visitors to walk through five countries and five centuries and become acquainted with European, Oriental and modern Kazakh art. Shalabayeva noted it is important and interesting to learn the art’s characteristics and development of the museum business in different countries.
The theme of the forum was inclusion and advancement. Participants planned ways to cooperate in studying, collecting and sharing art, exchanging exhibitions and deepening mutual understanding.
After signing the agreement establishing the alliance on the final day, the delegates discussed the future exchange of exhibitions and specialists, organising internships and training restorers. They chose the international alliance’s logo and adopted its charter, having previously selected the chairperson.
“In the future, we plan to hold a joint exhibition of museums from the member countries of the alliance at the National Art Museum of China. The exhibition will present the artistic achievements and the best examples of museum collections,” said Shalabayeva.
She emphasised the importance not only of official events and presentations, but the significance of communication and making and expanding personal and professional contacts.
“After all, this is always an advantageous exchange of ideas, experiences and opportunities. For example, during the conversation with the director of the Belarusian Museum of Art, the idea of holding a jubilee exhibition of this museum in the next year was born. A lot of interesting projects are ahead,” she added.
