A NEW INTERPRETATION OF DECORATIVE AND APPLIED ART OF MEDIEVAL KAZAKHSTAN (THE RESULTS OF INDIVIDUAL «ACADEMIC MOBILITY» GRANT)

Abstract

The paper presents the results of researching decorative and applied arts of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, according to the materials of Moscow and St. Petersburg museums collections. The project was carried out on 20 – 29 September 2014, with the support of Mikhail Prokhorov Foundation in the framework of the contest "Academic mobility". Annual replenishment of archaeological material in the large-scale excavations on the territory of Kazakhstan triggers the necessity of its interpretation and search for analogies. At present, scientific publications lack information about the art of Central Asia and the Orient stored on the territory of Russia. Therefore, the aim of the research was to study the materials of the Museum of decorative and applied arts of Central Asia and the East.The results allowed us to broaden and deepen knowledge in the field of culture, to re-interpret the images on the artefacts of Kazakhstan’s material culture, and also to identify the still unclear purpose of some items. The study revealed that since ancient times a complex religious image formed in Central Asia. Different religions (Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Islam) and a variety of cults (the cult of ancestors, the fertility cult of the dynastic cult, and others) coexisted there. The similarity of the ornamental motives of the material cultures of Kazakhstan, China, India and Iran proves Central Asia’s and Kazakhstan’s perception of diverse artistic traditions, as well as intense commercial and cultural exchange between the East and the West.

Keywords

• architectural decoration
• cult ceramics
• carved clay
• museum material
• analogy