Cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere
Cultural and humanitarian cooperation between Kazakhstan and Armenia is carried out within the framework of the intergovernmental Agreement on cooperation in the field of culture dated November 6, 2006 (entered into force on October 12, 2010).
Since 2010, with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Armenia, the center of the Kazakh language, culture and history has been operating at the Department of Turkic Studies of Yerevan State University.
On November 30, 2016, a center of Kazakh literature was opened at the National Library of Armenia. During the opening of the center, a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation between the National Libraries of the two countries was signed.
On September 18, 2017, the Moscow cinema in Yerevan hosted the opening ceremony of the “Week of Kazakh Cinema” as part of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and Armenia and the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Yerevan.
On September 28-30, 2018, as part of the visit of the delegation of the Eurasian National University named after L. Gumilyov, headed by Rector E. Sydykov, with the participation of the Director of the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan A. Saduov, a conference was held on the topic “Works of Kazakh and Armenian scientists in the study of the Armenian-Kypchak written monuments”, which was attended by Kazakh and Armenian scientists, Turkologists and orientalists. On the same day, the literary and musical evening “Abai’s Readings in Yerevan” took place, in which representatives of the creative and literary intelligentsia of Kazakhstan and Armenia took part. Within the framework of the conference, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the National Center for Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts "Matenadaran" of the Republic of Armenia.
On November 29, 2019, the presentation of the book "Anthology of Kazakh Literature" in Armenian took place in Yerevan, which is a collection of works by local writers and poets of the 15th-19th centuries.
On August 19, 2020, the presentation of the collection "Abai-175" took place in Yerevan, consisting of two books - "Words of Edification" by Abai and the novel by M. Auezov "The Way of Abai" in Armenian, dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the great Kazakh poet and thinker.
On December 21, 2020, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Armenia organized a video conference dedicated to the 1150th anniversary of Al-Farabi and the 175th anniversary of Abai. On the same day, the opening ceremony of the center after Abai took place at the Yerevan State University.
On June 1, 2021, in the framework of the 30th anniversary of the Independence of Kazakhstan and the International Children's Day, under the patronage of the First Lady, an exhibition of drawings of Kazakhstani children with special needs "The World through the Eyes of Children" was held at the M. Izmirlian orphanage in Yerevan. It was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Armenia, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, the Kazakhstan Public Foundation "Ayalagan alakan" and the Yerevan Orphanage after M. Izmirlyan for children with special needs, having mental and physical disabilities. During the exhibition, the participants were acquainted with the achievements of Kazakhstan in political and socio-economic development over the years of Independence, democratic reforms in Kazakhstan, including in the field of protecting the rights of children and the disabled. As part of the event, on behalf of the Embassy and the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan, sports equipment and gifts were handed over to the orphanage named after M. Izmirlyan. On the same day, the works of Kazakh children with special needs were also presented at the concert of the charitable foundation “Yerevan, my love” and aroused great interest among the Armenian public.
On August 30, 2021, in the city of Dilijan, the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Armenia, with the assistance of the mayor's office of Dilijan, organized a photo exhibition dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Visitors were presented with unique historical photographs telling about nuclear tests at the test site, the Nevada-Semey anti-nuclear movement, and Kazakhstan's contribution to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. After getting acquainted with the photo exposition, the video material was shown to the visitors, as well as a concert dedicated to the Constitution Day of the Republic of Kazakhstan, with the participation of Kazakh and Armenian performers. Representatives of Armenian state and public organizations, mass media, residents of Dilijan, as well as contestants of the international army games "Warrior of Peace" took part in the events.
On November 23, 2021, a solemn concert dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Independence of Kazakhstan was held at the Yerevan Dvin Music Hall, organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Armenia with the assistance of the Almaty Region Akimat. The folklore-ethnographic ensemble "Adyrna" of the Almaty Regional Philharmonic named after Suyunbai performed at the concert. Famous masters of arts in national costumes performed Kazakh songs and dances and demonstrated the play of ancient musical instruments - dombra, bass dombra, kobyz, kyl kobyz, zhetygen, sherter, sobyzgy. More than 400 people took part in the concert as spectators, including heads and representatives of state, public and cultural organizations of the Republic of Armenia, the diplomatic corps, business circles and the media.
On December 8, 2021, with the assistance of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Armenia, Yerevan State University hosted an international scientific and practical conference on the subject of Kipchak-language Armenian-graphic manuscripts, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Independence of Kazakhstan. The event was attended by oriental scholars from Russia, Iran, Israel, Poland, France, Kyrgyzstan, as well as representatives of scientific and educational centers, national universities and academic institutions of Kazakhstan and Armenia. Leading experts in the field of historical and philological study of manuscripts discussed the centuries-old cultural ties between the Kazakhs, Armenians and other peoples of Northern Eurasia, noted the high level of cooperation between scientific and educational centers and universities of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Armenia.
On February 15, 2022, a meeting was held at Yerevan State University with YSU Rector H. Hovhannisyan, faculty and students, as well as with representatives of the academic and expert community of Armenia, during which detailed information was given on the socio-economic, political and democratic reforms in Kazakhstan, on the tasks set by President K. Tokayev for the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and aimed at further economic development of the country and improving the welfare of citizens. The participants of the meeting noted the progressive development of bilateral relations in the cultural and humanitarian sphere, as well as in the field of science, education, literature and art.
On April 25, 2022, an exhibition of drawings and ceramics of Kazakh and Armenian children “Special Childhood: Opening the Door to the World of Children” dedicated to the World Autism Awareness Day was opened at the Yerevan “Luse” Foundation. The event was attended by the heads of the Armenian charitable foundations “Luse” and “Yerevan, my love”, the Kazakh public foundation “Ayalagan alakan”, representatives of state bodies and departments of Armenia, as well as non-governmental organizations and the diplomatic corps accredited in Yerevan. The head of the international charitable foundation "Ayalagan alakan" R. Khayrusheva spoke about her experience of working with children with disabilities as part of a project to teach children to paint. Of particular interest to the guests of the event was a master class on painting by a Kazakh artist, teacher of the "BEST" art school D. Gumarov.
On May 20, 2022, a round table was held in Yerevan on the constitutional reform and the national referendum on amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The event was attended by representatives of the expert community, state bodies, public organizations and the media of the Republic of Armenia. The Armenian experts noted the relevance and timeliness of the large-scale reforms being carried out in the country, which are aimed at strengthening the role of the Parliament and expanding the participation of the population in the governance of the country. Analysts expressed confidence that the constitutional changes will bring the country to a new qualitative level of development in the face of modern global challenges.
On June 21-26, 2022, in Yerevan, the Kazakh delegation took part in the international seminar of the CIS countries “SolidArt. Contemporary Art and Public Administration” and the International Seminar “Faces of Memory. The latest technologies for the preservation and restoration of manuscript and printed heritage”, which provided an opportunity to exchange experience and knowledge about the latest methods and technologies in the field of restoration, archiving and high technology, as well as discuss the experience and prospects for cooperation in the preservation of the film heritage of the CIS countries.
On July 6, 2022, a gala concert of the winners and owners of the "Grand Prix" of the First International Competition-Festival of Performing Arts "Maestro" was held in Yerevan, in which 470 musical performers from Kazakhstan, Armenia, Austria, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Russia took part in 7 nominations of different age groups, from 6 years and older.
On October 10, 2022, Yerevan hosted a round table dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Armenia, as well as the September Address of the Head of State to the people of Kazakhstan, the results of the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions and the 6th CICA Summit in Astana. Analysts noted the great potential of Kazakh-Armenian bilateral cooperation within the framework of the EAEU, welcomed the constitutional reform in Kazakhstan and highly appreciated the policy of the leadership of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the face of modern global challenges. During the event, Archbishop Natan Hovhannisyan, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations and Protocol of the Armenian Apostolic Church, was awarded the Medal of Honor of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions for his great contribution to strengthening interreligious and interfaith dialogue and harmony.
On October 18, 2022, the Shakespeare International Theater Festival was held in Yerevan with the participation of 12 states, in which the creative team of the Mangistau Regional Musical Drama Theater named after N. Zhantorin took part. The Kazakh troupe performed a production of Shakespeare's "Hamlet", which aroused interest and was a success with the audience.
On November 4, 2022, with the assistance of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Yerevan State University hosted a round table dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the outstanding Kazakh teacher-educator Akhmet Baitursynov, which was attended by representatives of the creative intelligentsia, writers, journalists, teachers and students of YSU. During the round table, Professor of Yerevan State University A. Safaryan noted the importance of studying and popularizing the works of Akhmet Baitursynov in Armenia. The well-known poet and translator L. Blbulyan and the teacher of the Department of Turkology Sh. Khachatryan introduced the participants to the literary heritage of A. Baitursynov. The event was also attended by students studying the history of Alash Orda and the activities and work of Akhmet Baitursynov.
On December 11, 2022, the grand final of the international contest Junior Eurovision 2022 was held in Yerevan, in which the famous Kazakh performer and finalist of the IV international contest Baqytty Bala-2022 D. Charlin took part.