A large-scale exhibition project about the culture and traditions of the Tatar people has been launched in Kazan.

      In the Exhibition Halls of the Presence Places, a large-scale exhibition titled "Cultural Code of Kazan: Spiritual Heritage and Traditions" has opened. This is a joint project of the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Kazan Kremlin Museum-Reserve. The exhibition will run for more than two years. The Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, Irada Ayupova, attended the opening ceremony. "This project has been maturing for several years. Around us is a huge number of like-minded people, individuals who lovingly and attentively revive costumes, works of art, ethnography, and much more. The project is not just an idea, but a real journey. May it become a consistent revelation for every person who comes here, uncovering new depths and awakening a thirst for knowledge and exploration. Many enlightening events will take place in this hall. And this journey is not just a cultural project. It is a path to finding ourselves," said Irada Ayupova. The project has united six institutions from Kazan, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, including the Kazan Museum Complex, the N. I. Lobachevsky Scientific Library, the Museum of Archaeology of Tatarstan, and the State Museum of the History of Religion. The exhibition is organized as part of the Year "Kazan - Cultural Capital of the Islamic World" and the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia. The curator of the project, Ksenia Pashina, stated that the authors aimed not to provide ready-made answers but to create a space for reflection. "For our author team, the task was to try to find keys to this cultural code, to touch it, to explore everything we could reach. We have a huge team - people of various professions, specialists from completely different fields and cities. It turned out to be a truly large-scale creative story. The most challenging task for the team was to create a field for thoughts, where each visitor can ask themselves the question: what does the cultural code of Kazan mean to them? What does it mean to be Tatar? And it doesn't matter who this person is - a local resident or a tourist visiting this city for the first time," noted Ksenia Pashina. The exhibition features more than 500 exhibits - from the era of Volga Bulgaria and the Golden Horde to the early 20th century. Five thematic sections reveal the history of Tatar statehood, Islamic culture, crafts, trade, and the formation of the Tatar intelligentsia. Visitors will see items from medieval life, weapons, jewelry, shamails, Kazan editions of the Quran, works by Tatar craftsmen, and materials dedicated to the development of education and women's emancipation. One of the halls is entirely dedicated to shamail - a unique genre of Islamic art. "This project has a long life ahead: activities, interactive formats, new programs. We will also talk about 'Taran' - a game for gifted children who are passionate about the history of Tatarstan, the history of Turkic peoples, and the peoples of the Volga region. We will develop, enrich, and fill this interactive experience with new content. Special children's and interactive zones have been created for this purpose. All this is done so that everyone can feel the richness of our history, touch the historical and cultural meanings, and our heritage. The exhibition will be updated and constantly supplemented," added the General Director of the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, Ayrat Faizrakhmanov. Young visitors will not only be able to see genuine antiquities related to the history of Kazan but also fully immerse themselves in the past: in the archaeological sandbox - find a unique item, at multimedia stations - try their hand as a pharmacist or merchant, and in the virtual fitting room - try on the looks of past centuries. As part of the exhibition, excursion routes, an audio guide, and other cultural and educational activities have also been launched. The Director of the State Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg, Ekaterina Teryukova, emphasized the significance of the museum's participation in the project and the uniqueness of the exhibits presented. "It is a great honor for me to be here today in Kazan and to participate in the project right from its start. The items provided by our museum are unique not only in the Russian but also in the global cultural space," she stated. According to her, rare exhibits from the Islamic collection are of particular interest. "Our collection is extremely diverse. The Islamic fund occupies a special and very worthy place in it. Among the exhibits of the Islamic collection, the calligraphic sheets that we are very pleased to bring to this exhibition hold special value. One of the main exhibits - the shirt of the murshid will immediately attract the attention of visitors. This is a unique item not only for our museum but also for Russian museums as a whole. In fact, we do not know of direct analogs to it - it is a huge rarity," said Teryukova.

      Photo report: Vladimir Vasilyev

      Photo: © Vladimir Vasilyev / "Tatar-inform"