NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN

Inaugurated in 2013 on Independence Square, this gigantic museum faces the tetrahedron of the Palace of Peace and Universal Reconciliation, in line with the Great Mosque, the University of Applied Arts and the Palace of Independence. Architecturally, the forms clash somewhat with one another, but here we see the objective Nazarbaev set for his city's architects: "that the eye should not be bored"... The museum itself is the most recent, but also the largest in the country.

In the reception hall, dominated by a giant bird, you have to pass through the souvenir store to reach the vast hall dedicated to Astana. The only point of interest, and not the least, in this large, dark room are the interactive screens presenting the main architectural projects, such as the autonomous building, powered by clean energy, for the 2017 World Expo, or the Abu Dhabi Plaza, the tallest skyscraper in Central Asia at 311 meters!

The ethnographic hall is laid out around a large yurt that reproduces and illustrates the nomadic way of life. Here too, interactive screens are set up at various points around the room. You'll find a wealth of information on yurt architecture, nomadic lifestyles and traditions, musical instruments, history, religion... The screens are supported by diagrams, photos and historical documents, all dubbed in English. Above, a screen showing day and night, the stars... It's as if you were really on the steppe!

The highlight of the visit is, of course, the hall dedicated to the "Golden Man" and his splendid armour, as well as many of the 4,000 gold objects found in his tomb. In 2019, 50 years after his discovery, the Golden Man was still a mystery. No one knew who he was, where he came from, or where all the riches buried with him came from. And his skeleton, never studied and poorly preserved in the museum archives, made it impossible to learn anything about his origins and history, or even to be certain of his gender. The decision was made to leave the armor on display, but to rebury the remains, protected by a "time capsule", in the hope of preserving them until future generations could study them in greater depth.

The historical halls review the region's prehistoric flora and fauna, then dwell on Kazakhstan's heyday: the Silk Road, the Golden Horde, the Soviet conquest... Weapons, models, paintings, reconstructions... A large part of this collection is devoted to nomadic polytheistic religions and the traces of them that have been found in the landscape.

The hall devoted to Independence focuses on major Kazakh achievements. Oil, the Baikonur cosmodrome, architectural achievements, but also, for example, great sporting adventures such as those of cyclist Denis Vinokourov and the Astana team. There's also a collection of portraits of the President on his official trips and visits.

On the top floor, you can see the installations in the section devoted to contemporary art. Temporary exhibitions complement the permanent installations.