10/21: Astana, KZ: National History Museum & Palace of Independence

We kept seeing the stylized '20' signs all over Astana and think it was because 2018 marked the 20th year of the city's being declared the country's new capital in lieu of Almaty.

Because of the wind and cold, we were so relieved we didn't have to walk too far to reach the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan which, like so many other buildings in the capital, was both architecturally interesting and an inviting blend of turquoise and white, the former the main color of the country's flag.

Out front was an impressive statue depicting the country's ancient Saka warriors, I think.

Seeing the massive golden eagle in the entrance hall was pretty jaw-dropping! Imagine visiting when the staff remotely flap the eagle's wings - wow!

Also in the main lobby was a stunning handwoven piece with the facade of the Peace & Reconciliation pyramid we had just visited surrounded by a large group of Kazakh people dressed in ethnic clothing. In the center of the pyramid was a map of the country with sun's rays extending upward, likely suggesting the country's forward journey.

Immediately we were faced in the Hall of an Independent Kazakhstan with a lot more rah-rah stuff about the president and the country just as we'd seen so much of already in other cities and at the presidential museum the day before. I was getting quite sick and tired of all the self-aggrandizement and promotion!

As we'd just seen  at the Peace and Reconciliation building a few minutes earlier, the country under President Nazarbayev was focused on its status as a nuclear-free country. He stated there had been 752 nuclear explosions in Kazakhstan. It didn't state when they had occurred but it was presumably when the country was under Soviet domination. Nazarbayev declared "Kazakhstan's nuclear-free status is the foundation of peace and security around the perimeter of our borders." Here Obama was said to have praised the Kazakh president's commitment to remaining nuclear free. 

It was hard to disagree with the following words attributed to Nazarbayev: "Be friends with the one who are the same faith with you but do not reckon as enemies those of a different faith."

I certainly had had no idea that Kazakhstan had one of just three space ports in the world with the others being in Florida's Cape Canaveral and Tiuquan, China. There was much chest thumping written about the Kazakh contributions to space exploration but all of them took place before there was actually an independent nation of Kazakhstan!

Not long ago we had been very lucky and had just visited a superb ethnology collection at the Museum of Arts in Kazakhstan's previous capital city of Almaty so I was very curious to see how this one would compare in the country's new capital. 

As befitting a national museum, the collection of photographs, traditional clothing, applied arts, carpets, etc was very good but it was no better than its sister museum in Almaty. What it made up in its depth of collection, it lacked in terms of explanations and information which was where the Almaty collection excelled.

In the center of the Hall of Ethnology was the traditional felt yurt but with no exterior colored fabrics which I thought was the norm with all yurts in Central Asia.

The exhibits stressed that while earlier Kazakhs were nomadic stock breeders, also important was the development of agriculture and hunting.

I don't know how Steven felt but I could certainly have given that whole hall a miss and not lost out on anything because of what we'd already seen at other museums in Almaty. The hall did have a lot of bells and whistles, though, in terms of interactive exhibits but they didn't particularly appeal to me. 

The History Hall was of more interest because we learned about the archaeological site of Botai that had been discovered in 1980 in northern Kazakhstan. There was, however, NO date given as to the suspected age of the site which contained 250 ancient dwellings made of wet clay strengthened with animal bones inside and outside. A tent-shaped roof with holes for smoke to escape in the center was built using logs. The holes between the timbers were plastered with clay and covered with turf and animal skins.

There were well presented and interesting displays of pottery, including masks, dating from the 6th century onwards.

The museum's curators did a marvelous job in this gallery placing the items in context as much as possible with background photos.

Something a little different was an exhibit in another gallery called Smiling Worlds by a Korean artist, Lee Chulsoo, who created pieces while trying to imagine the Kazakh seasons, the country's mountains, forests and lakes and the people who live there. The artist indicated he was interested in Kazakhstan because it was the 'cultural center' that connects Europe and Asia.'

He stated his aim was to create works 'representing simple and honest life' that could be appreciated and understood by many people. I don't think these photos do much to capture the simple beauty of Chulsoo's works but they give you an idea at least.

This piece was simply called Chairs. The artist's explanation of it: "Sitting in the courtyard. Chairs. No need to put on airs. We all live our lives depending on something."

The following photos were from the introduction to the Hall of Gold and the ore mining exhibit. The introduction was far more exciting than the latter exhibits proved to be, though!

The following exquisite gold pieces were dated from the 6th to the 5th century BC, i.e. the early Iron Age. The items were discovered in 1969-70 in what has become to be known as the Issyk burial ground near Almaty. These were Gold Buckles said to be in the form of leopards.

Just as I hoped never to see any more tributes to the country's president, I had also hoped not to see any more copies of the country's famous Golden Man we'd already seen in Almaty! For someone to come across this reconstruction for the first time, I can understand its allure, but not if, like us, we'd seen several others already.

An unusual exhibition was one that celebrated 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi with a display of traditional Indian textiles. I had certainly never known before that Gandhi used khadi, a yarn hand spun on a spinning wheel, as a tool for rural self-employment and self-reliance of the masses. 

These were some of my favorite textile creations.

I loved how the exhibit had a small collection of Indian clothing for children to play dress up in! What a smart thing to do to make the exhibits come alive for the little ones.

We'd seen the Palace of Independence earlier that afternoon en route to the National Museum so wanted to see what yet another intriguing turquoise building was like inside. It looked initially as if everything was closed because of preparations for an upcoming conference. Luckily, though, I was able to take a guided tour of the huge scale model of how Astana is supposed to look in 2030 while Steven chose to wait for me.

My mouth almost fell to the floor when I saw the scope of the model that took up a huge room. When President Nazarbayev declared the capital would be moved from Almaty to Astana in 1997, a new master plan was deemed necessary. A Japanese architectural firm drew up this scale model in 2007.

The guide mentioned that the new capital was designed so the city's new political and social center would be located on the south side or left bank of the Yesil River which divides the city. The majority of the right bank, i.e. where the old city was located, would remain unchanged.

The mammoth residential, retail and office Abu Dhabi Plaza complex was due to be finished in 2017 but, due to issues with swampy soils, it was now projected to be completed in 2019 instead.  The guide added that because swampy soils have prevented the building of a metro system, a monorail is planned.  

The guide's pointer illuminated the location of the capital's new sporting and medical clusters. He said when the model was revealed in 2007, it was anticipated the new capital's population would be one million by 2030. However, the city is already beyond that.

When all the building are completed, there will be a 20 km long pedestrian walkway called Millennium Alley! There is certainly nothing even remotely comparable to such a grand promenade in the US or anywhere else that Steven or I are aware of. I would love to return to Astana in another 12 years and see the fantastic array of buildings, sculptures and public spaces along Millennium Alley!

Before taking a bus back to our hotel, we'd hoped to tour the Hazrat Sultan Mosque we'd seen earlier. The mosque, which opened in 2012, had the largest dome in the country. However, we walked all the way around it and were unable to find an open door.

Although we had no luck touring the mosque, we did count the day a great success having seen some of the world's most thrilling modern architecture in the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, the Central Theater, the Palace of Independence and so many other buildings whose names we didn't know. 

Next post: Exploring more of amazing Astana.

Posted on November 21st, 2018, from Cordoba, Spain.