“Sheber 2015” Festival: the revival of traditional crafts

On September 18-20, 2015, one of the most anticipated events in the craft sector will take place in the Museum of National Musical Instruments - the Sheber: Our Heritage Festival, as part of which there will be an awards ceremony for the winners of the Sheber 2015 Seventh Republican Contest of Artisans of Kazakhstan.

The festival is held by the Union of Kazakhstani Craftsmen under the auspices of the "Development of Crafts and the Revival of Folk Art Crafts in Kazakhstan" program, the partners of which are the Chevron Corporation, UNESCO, and the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA).

The forthcoming festival and competition have several features: the wide participation of young artisans, which indicates the renewal of traditional crafts. Also, Dr. Gadda Hijzhaui-Qaddumi, the President of the Pacific World Crafts Council (WCC-APR), will present certificates of international quality at the festival. The Union of Craftsmen of Kazakhstan is a member of the Pacific World Crafts Council.

In addition to the 10 traditional nominations ("High Excellence", "Mentoring", "High Quality", "Beginning Talent", "Authenticity", "Kazakhstan Cultural Brand", "National Kazakh Souvenir", “Eco-Design”), the "Has Sheber" award (Grand Master) was, for the first time, awarded to the Best Artisan of the Year, a member of the Union of Craftsmen of Kazakhstan.

All events will be held in the Museum of Ihlas Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments Museum at the following the address: Almaty, ul. Zenkova, 24 / A (corner of Gogol Street).

Sheber-2015: Our Heritage Museum is organized with the support of:

The Chevron Corporation,
The Akimat of the city of Almaty,
The Museum of National Musical Instruments,
EFCA, and
UNESCO.

The festival program:

Friday, September 18

An awards ceremony for the finalists and winners of the Sheber competition at 16:00;
Awarding of certificates of quality;
Awarding the Has Sheber award;
Show of the "When the Kazakhs Were Seafarers" ethnic clothes collection by Aizhan Bekkulova and Ayes Saginaeva;
Exhibition of the winners of the Sheber competition from 2009-2014 and the finalists of Sheber 2015;
Exhibition of archival photographs from the "Kazakhs at the Turn of the 19th-20th Centuries" collection; and
Presentation of a gift from Kazakhstani artisans to the National Museum of the Republic.

September 19, 10:00-18:00, Saturday

The exhibition of the winners of the Sheber competition from 2009-2014 and the finalists of Sheber 2015;
Showing collections of ethnic clothing by Aizhan Bekkulova, Auez Saginayeva, Ulbosyn Daulenova, Anisa Valiulina, Tatyana Guseva;
Master classes on traditional Kazakh crafts;
Exhibition of archival photographs from the "Kazakhs at the turn of the 19th-20th Centuries" collection;
And a fair of Kazakhstani artisans.

September 20, 10: 00-18: 00, Sunday

The exhibition of the winners of the Sheber competition from 2009-2014 and the finalists of Sheber 2015;
Master classes on traditional Kazakh crafts;
Exhibition of archival photographs from the "Kazakhs at the Turn of the 19th-20th Centuries" collection; and
A fair of Kazakhstani artisans.

For information:

Bekkulova Aizhan, Chairman of the Union of Craftsmen of Kazakhstan
Tel. +7 (727) 278 06 32, 273 48 67
email: kz.unionartisans@gmail.com

Azhar Nurbay, EFCA Project Manager
Tel .: +7 (727) 250-18-10, ext.138
e-mail: azharn@ef-ca.org