Mintimer Shaimiev: ‘In the conditions of modern realities, it is extremely important to focus on the spiritual values common to all mankind’
Bolgar is hosting the festival Spiritual Unity of Russia — Message to the World!
On 16 August, the second part of the festival Spiritual Unity of Russia — Message to the World! started in Bolgar, which began in Sviyazhsk on July 26-28. The opera Kara Pulat was shown in the museum-reserve, and the exhibition of Arabic calligraphy Kalam-Garabi Galam opened. On 17 August, the performance of the chamber choir conducted by Milyausha Tamindarova and the premiere of the animated series Legends of Bolgar were shown.
Shamail Museum in Bolgar?
If the organisers chose the direction of sacred music on the island-town, then in Bolgar more attention was paid to the ethnic theme.
In particular, the Museum of Bolgar Civilisation opened the exhibition of Arabic calligraphy Kalam-Garabi Galam. It was visited by Tatarstan State Councellor Mintimer Shaimiev and Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Irada Ayupova.
The exhibition displays the works of Najip Nakkash, Vladimir Popov, Rishat Salakhutdinov and Gulnaz Ismagilova — the latter was especially active in telling guests about her shamails.
Here the artist Rustem Shamsutov gave a lecture “Signs and symbols in shamails”. He complained that there was no shamail museum in Kazan.
“There is a museum of alcohol on Baumana Street," said the artist. “But there is no museum of Tatar shamail!”
He suggested opening a similar exhibition in Bolgar. As Andrey Faskhutdinov, the deputy director of the museum-reserve for science, noted, work on this is underway — both handwritten and shamail on glass are being purchased for the collection.
800k people visited the museum-reserve last year
At that time, the sixth ethno-cultural festival Aga Bazar was organised on the territory of the Cathedral Mosque with the participation of craftsmen from Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, Chuvashia, Mordovia, Kostroma region and Samara region.
The musical program began with a performance by a group from Almetyevsk, Kadim Almet. This project grew out of an exhibition of musical instruments of the peoples of the world at the local Almet centre. Using traditional Turkic instruments, the musicians presented compositions from the album Gayar Janay, which tells about the chieftainess who lived in the village of Ilten-Buta in the Almetyevsk district. In addition, such representatives of the upcoming Kazan festival Pechen Bazary as Rezeda Agliullova and Naila Ayzyatova told about their brands.
Before the opera Kara Pulat, which was shown for the third time on the stage at the Black Chamber, Mintimer Shaimiev told the background of the new festival:
“We are glad that Bolgar today is the centre of attraction for thousands of pilgrims, tourists and, very importantly, young people interested in the history and culture of our people, children who, having once seen ancient Bolgar with their own eyes, will forever remember their roots, the history not only of Volga Bulgaria, but also of our entire state," Shaimiev said recalling that last year more than 800,000 people visited the Bolgar Historical and Archaeological complex. At the same time, in 2010, 50,000 people visited Bolgar.
“You know, the Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014. I always say that it does not end with inclusion in this list, the most important thing is to go further along the path of preserving and enhancing our cultural heritage, moving on to the revival of the intangible cultural heritage," the first president of the republic noted.
“Now we are on the most important part of this path. Having restored historical monuments, that is, the material heritage, we are moving on to the revival of the intangible cultural heritage — our traditions, customs, folklore and so on," Shaimiev said, recalling the last year's festival Renaissance: Epic in Modern Interpretation with the participation of creative associations, masters of decorative and applied arts, folk crafts, artisans, fashion designers from the regions of Russia and foreign countries.
“The name, I would say, was suggested by time itself”
“The strong support of the audience and the enthusiastic feedback from the participants inspired us to continue such a festival movement. Therefore, this year our Vozrozhdenie Republican Foundation, with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic, is holding the festival Spiritual Unity of Russia — Message to the World," the state councillor noted. “The name, I would say, was suggested by time itself. As you know, in recent years Tatarstan has increasingly become a platform for dialogue between politicians, economists, businessmen, cultural and religious figures, young people from different countries, as well as for hosting international sports games.
The festival takes place before the BRICS Summit, who are to discuss areas of cooperation in various fields, including in the field of culture, Shaimiev noted.
“Therefore, our festival was conceived by us as a message to the world — to the heads of state and their peoples — that in the conditions of modern realities it is extremely important to focus on spiritual values common to all mankind, find common ground, develop and strengthen them. A vivid example of this is our festival, which clearly shows the spiritual unity of the multinational Russian Federation and the possibility of successful interethnic and interfaith dialogue between peoples," the first president of Tatarstan summed up.
On 17 August, the concert venue was located in Bolgar on the banks of the river — the Chamber Choir of the Republic of Tatarstan under the direction of Milyausha Tamindarova performed there. In the Memorial Sign, a round table discussion on the topic “Preservation and development of ethnocultural heritage: tradition, fashion and design” took place.
On 18 August, the Tatarsis project by composer Radik Salimov and the Otyken group, consisting of the indigenous peoples of Siberia, performed in Bolgar.