Cultural programs

Exhibition “Beautiful Era. European Art of the Turn of XIX-XX Centuries”

The exposition is dedicated to the Beautiful Era, or Belle Époque, the period of European history between the last decade of the XIX century and 1914. The Exhibition will feature paintings, graphics, decorative and applied arts.

Exhibition “The First. Timed to the 200th Anniversary of Kayyum Nasiri”

The Exhibition presents the Tatar enlightener as a multi-faceted personality and a pioneer in various spheres of social life, scientific knowledge, and culture. He was an avid collector of folklore, creator of the first Tatar media, founder and teacher of the first Russian-Tatar school, translator, author of textbooks and first books for children’s reading.

Photo exhibition “Kazan Editions of the Quran”

Kazan is the city of the first printed Quran in the Islamic world. The photo exhibition is designed to introduce the phenomenon of the Quran of Kazan edition, the history of its printing, typography, typological and stylistic diversity, the names of people associated with the circulation of the Holy Book of the Muslims, from 1803 to the present day
Available languages:
English and Russian labelling

Personal exhibition of Nizar Sabour’s works

The Syrian artist’s exhibition will be dedicated to interreligious and intercultural dialogue.
Available languages:
English and Russian labelling

Immersive tour “Meet Tatarstan!”

Immersive tour “Meet Tatarstan!” is a dramatised guided tour, which allows the visitors to immerse into the historical periods of the region, as reflected in the exposition of the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan. The history of the region will become a vivid narration against the background of authentic museum pieces. Museum staff, dressed in historical costumes, will tell about the most important events and unique exhibits related to the milestones in the history of Volga Bulgaria, the Golden Horde, the Kazan Khanate, as well as the activities of Tatar distinguished luminaries: Şihabetdin Märcani, Kayyum Nasyri, Rizaeddin bin Fakhreddin, and others.

Available languages:

Russian, Tatar, English

“The Ever-Blooming Gardens of the East”: Personal exhibition of Rustam Mukhametzyanov’s works

Rustam Mukhametzyanov (born 1946, Kazan) is a photographer, artist, journalist, and Honoured Art Worker of the Republic of Tatarstan (1997). He participated in many All-Russian and foreign exhibitions. Since 1990s, Mukhametzyanov creates works in the genre of shamail. The study of traditional shamail led the artist to form his own original style, in which the pictorial beginning prevails over textual and ornamental components, and the technique is oil painting on a hard base (wood or fibreboard) in combination with gilding.
Available languages:
Russian, English

ВыставкаExhibition “Shamail Art 2025”Шамаиль-арт 2025»

“Shamail Art” is an exhibition uniting the works of artists who create using the themes of Arabic calligraphy and Islamic art
Available languages:
Russian, English

Exhibition of works of Russian fine arts of the XVI - XIX centuries

The Exhibition features portraits of historical figures, family portraits, genre compositions, and different types of landscape. Pieces of decorative and applied arts are presented in the showcases: domestic porcelain, glass, and metal.
Available languages:
Russian, English

Exhibition of Western European painting of the XVI–XVIII centuries

The “picture gallery” of Andrey Likhachyov (1832-1890) forms the basis of the Museum’s collection of Western European paintings. These are works by masters from Holland, Flanders, Italy, and France. There were interesting additions of paintings to the Museum’s collection in the 1930s, courtesy of the State Museum of Fine Arts. The showcases hold porcelain of famous European brands of the XVIII -XIX centuries.
Available languages:
Russian, English

Marc Chagall (PS Gallery, St Petersburg)

The project “Three Epochs of Marc Chagall” is a retrospective of the key moments in Chagall’s work. The exposition includes four blocks, two of which are atmospheric bright lithographs, and the other two are black-and-white, emotionally intense etchings
Available languages:
Russian, English

Exposition of Baki Urmanche’s works

The exhibition of works by Baki Urmanche, the founder of Tatar professional fine arts. The collection of the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan has the most significant assemblage of the master’s works, which reflects all the main stages of his creative journey
Available languages:
Russian, Tatar  English

Exposition of Nicolai Fechin’s works

The exhibition of works by Nicolai Fechin, great Russian-American artist. The Exposition presents works created during the master’s life in Kazan, from the Museum’s collection. The gem of the collection is his portrait gallery and canvases devoted to scenes of everyday life of the peoples of Kazan province, in which ethnic charm is closely intertwined with the bold experiments of European art of the turn of the XIX and XX centuries.
Available languages:
Russian, Tatar English

Photo exhibition of Artyom Mokhov’s works dedicated to the veterans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 “Faces of Victory”

Artyom Mokhov is a member of the Union of Photographers of the Republic of Tatarstan. The exposition is devoted to the veterans of the Great Patriotic War: natives of the Republic of Tatarstan. The Exhibition is based on the author’s project: photo-book “The Last Hero”
Available languages:
Russian, English

“Museums at Night 2025”

An international event that extends the Museum’s opening hours into the evening. Lectures, classical music concerts, guided tours, and quizzes dedicated to classical fine arts and reflecting the theme of the year “Heroes” are held
Available languages:
Russian, English

International Tournament of Young Chefs of Islamic Countries – 2025

Young Chefs International is the first gastronomic event where the finalists will not only be able to showcase their culinary skills, but also serve their dishes to Forum guests at a festival of Islamic cuisines.

More than 100 young chefs under the age of 25 from all over the world took part in the 2024 Tournament. The participants prepared a three-course set (appetiser, main dish, dessert) using the products representing their native countries under the guidance of their mentors: chefs from Kazan restaurants. In the final round, they presented their dishes to the international jury. The winner of the Grand Prix 2024 was Redouane Ouadidou (Morocco).

This year, the Organisers have expanded the geography of participants: teams from more than 12 countries, including Malaysia, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Turkey, and others, are expected to compete.

An important part of the Event will be the signing of the first ever Memorandum on Preservation and Development of Gastronomy in Rural Settlements. This document will serve as a significant step in supporting traditional culinary practices, locally-grown products, and sustainable development of the regions.

Furthermore, the Museum of Tatarstan Gastronomy will open its doors at KazanForum for the first time ever. The project was initiated by the Association of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Tatarstan and is dedicated to the history of the development of national cuisine. One of the Museum main goals is to tell the public about outstanding personalities, most notably Yunus Akhmetzyanov, a famous Tatarstan chef and author of numerous books on Tatar cuisine.

Timeframes of Young Chefs International:

14 May:

09:00-12:30: Chefs’ Tournament

12:30-17:00: Festival of Islamic Cuisines

15 May:

09:00-12:30: Chefs’ Tournament

12:30-17:00: Festival of Islamic Cuisines

16 May:

09:00-12:30: Chefs’ Tournament

12:30-17:00: Festival of Islamic Cuisines

ycichefs.com

Festival “Izge Bolgar Zhyeni” dedicated to the Day of the official adoption of Islam by Volga Bulgaria

The Festival has been held in Bolgar since 1989 to commemorate the day the Volga Bulgarians adopted Islam as the state religion in 922 and the meeting of the Bulgarian Khan Almush with a delegation of the Baghdad Caliph led by the scholar Ibn Fadlan

Projection show

“The Loved Ones”

“The Loved Ones” is a real-life story based on a Tatar village in the 1950-70s, as recorded verbatim by Ilgiz Zainiev, the director, after his grandmother. The prototypes of the characters are also real people with their own personalities, destinies, and feelings.

The intertwining of fates, the clash of characters, love and hate – all of this is reflected in the new play. In addition, it also demonstrates the strength of the Tatar woman: her fortitude and resilience. Seeing this play, everyone can recognise the features of their loved ones who lived in the harsh post-war time, and who maybe are still alive today. Our life consists of global events, big scientific discoveries. However, the life of most people consists of small, domestic scenes: means to feed a child, ways to heat the stove, basic needs for safety. These concerns occupy 90% of our everyday existence, our daily routine. “The Loved Ones” is a play about how to spend these 90% of our life with no regrets.

“Uncle’s Dream”

“You’re the Only One for Me”

The play by Islamiya Makhmutova, Honoured Artist of the RSFSR, People’s Artist of Tatarstan, is based on real events. Ainur’s first love saves his life. Alina cannot forget her feelings for him, either. But Fate keeps sending them new challenges. Alina and Ainur will meet again only after a long time, after enduring many losses. Is it worth destroying the happiness created with another for the sake of the first love, left in the distant past? Will Ainur, who is blind in two eyes, take the hand of his beloved to “jump into the abyss of life” together? The play is about the pure, bright love of two hearts, whose happiness was destroyed by war;  about the dependence of human life on the sinister machine of the state, which inexorably and callously grinds people’s fates.
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes

“The Blue Shawl”

Melodrama

The play, written by Karim Tinchurin, has a poetic cipher that encodes the eternally young and eternally beautiful images of the male and female national ideals, the rebellious, freedom-loving spirit of the people, and the love for the native land that unites the Tatars of all Russian regions. Duration: 2 hours 50 minutes

“Faded Stars”

Musical tragedy

Daily life, traditions and customs, songs and dances of the Tatar village of the early 20^th century have become a distant past for us, the inhabitants of the 21^st century metropolis. Yesterday’s norms have become today’s extravagance. Despite that, the history of bygone days remains relevant still, reflecting the very soul of the entire Tatar people…

The year is 1914. Time and the events of history ruin human lives, and inevitability and evil fate loom over everything. The destinies of simple peasants have already been predetermined. And only pure hearts that wait for happiness and continue to love strongly, sincerely, and deeply can defeat even the Death itself…

“The Queen of Spades”

Theatre fantasy; no intermission. Aleksandr Pushkin’s most mystical work in the genre of theatre fantasy.

Precise adherence to Pushkin’s play combined with stylised costumes and original scenery: glass window-doors as if covered with frost, falling and rising at the right moment; extraordinary rhythmical solution; enchanting music by Astor Piazzolla; unusually expressive lights – all create an atmosphere of masquerade and phantasmagoria.

“Dark Years. Muhajirun”

Drama.

The new theatre project from the Galiasgar Kamal Theatre, based on texts important for Tatar culture, will present the Tatar world of the turn of the 19-20^th centuries, experiencing historical upheavals associated with the famine that swept the Volga region in the 1880s and the first general census of the Russian Empire in 1897. The authors of the performance will try to find meeting points between the century-old text and today’s man, who, just as centuries ago, seeks, waits, and strives to be happy. Duration: 3 hours 40 minutes

Karim Tinchurin Tatar State Drama and Comedy Theatre

Musical comedy

Gulia and Roman, who have not yet learnt true love, burst into the measured life of the village of Yagodnaya Polyana, where only two houses still stand. Youthful passion, foolishness, ridiculous offences between the young stir the soul of old Fail. And so, he “writes” a new script to save the love that was hanging by a thread. The events that take place remind each character of forgotten feelings, mistakes of youth, and betrayals. But most importantly, they call up upon them to respect and love each other. The play is accompanied by songs, dances, jokes, and quips inherent to the Tatar people, all the while reminding the audience of the important Tatar rituals and history, which today got thrown to the wind. Except that love cannot be rid of that easily. Love should be experienced today, no reasons needed: forget all complications, just feel from the bottom of the heart.

“The Government Inspector”

Comedy in two acts

Written in 1836, the play has not left the theatre for two centuries, remaining one of the most significant phenomena of Russian dramaturgy. The comedy about the officials of a district town, who took a young penniless hustler as a Government Inspector, still sounds like a modern story about the inevitable need for a man to answer for what he has done, a conversation about the soul, about the country, about life.

“Farewell to Home”

Documentary play.

Since long ago, the village has been an invariable theme of artistic research in Tatar literature, drama, and theatre. Each historical epoch has its own village and related layer of problems, conflicts, and vicissitudes, heroes and anti-heroes, questions and doubts, unambiguous and open finales…

“One Step Closer to a Dream”

Fantasy

The quote “May the lights lit by us never go out...” by Karim Tinchurin became the leitmotif of the whole play “One Step Closer to a Dream”, which takes place in 1921.   A Tatar theatre troupe, led by Karim Tinchurin, arrive in Orenburg after graduating from theatre courses in Samara. However, their dreams and plans for establishing the Tatar theatre may collapse: famine strikes the Volga region and typhus begins to spread. To save the actors and the future of the Tatar theatre, the director decides to go with the troupe to Tashkent. On the way there, Karim Tinchurin writes a play called “One Step Closer to a Dream” and stages it right in their train car. The director’s goal is to distract the actors from the hard road, hunger, and illness, and not to let them lose heart. “Dreams drive people. The stage inspires an actor... I can save the troupe only with a new production, I can keep them engaged only through rehearsals,” says Karim Tinchurin to Zagida, his wife. In this way the director is trying to save not only the spirit and bodies of the actors, but also the Tatar theatre that is just beginning to take shape. Based on real events.

“Flight”

Phantasmagoria in two acts

This is a phantasmagoria play, where, in a striking waltz, tragedy merges with farce, reality with mystical visions, the absurdity of circumstances with the sincerity of feelings, love with longing for the homeland.

Written in 1928 but never staged during the author’s lifetime, the play “Flight” still remains a reflection on the people, their choices dictated by time, the fate of the country and the love for the humankind, for the origins, for the motherland.

“Farewell to Home. Dreams”

The second part of the theatrical dilogy entitled “Farewell to Home. Dreams” will present new stories from the extensive documentary material collected by the authors of the play, and will continue the conversation about the modern Tatar village and the people who inhabit it, about their past and present, in which the memories of dreams of a happy future are still alive…

“The Loved Ones”

Melodrama.

“The Loved Ones” is a real-life story based on a Tatar village in the 1950-70s, as recorded verbatim by Ilgiz Zainiev, the director, after his grandmother. The prototypes of the characters are also real people with their own personalities, destinies, and feelings. The intertwining of fates, the clash of characters, love and hate – all of this is reflected in the new play. In addition, it also demonstrates the strength of the Tatar woman: her fortitude and resilience. Seeing this play, everyone can recognise the features of their loved ones who lived in the harsh post-war time, and who maybe are still alive today. Our life consists of global events, big scientific discoveries. However, the life of most people consists of small, domestic scenes: means to feed a child, ways to heat the stove, basic needs for security. These concerns occupy 90% of our everyday existence, our daily routine. “The Loved Ones” is a play about how to spend these 90% of our life with no regrets.

“Hamlet”

Tragedy in two acts

The great tragedy of the genius of world drama, staged by Alexander Slavutsky, is a conversation about, first and foremost, the tragedy of a man endowed with conscience, endowed with power, on whom “the life of many others depends”; about the complexity of moral choice and the necessity of answering this eternal question, “to be or not to be”, “to transgress or not to transgress”; it is a reflection on life and death, before which all are equal, and on the brevity of our stay on Earth.

“The Dancing Demon”

Musical comedy.

Sayar Ramiev, a dancer obsessed with his art, arrives in his hometown after a long absence. He meets his long-time love, gets acquainted with a new generation of choreographers, and realises important truths about himself. The deep intentions of the play’s authors are encapsulated in the elegant form of a musical comedy with plenty of dance numbers.
Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes

“The Golden Elephant”

Comedy in two acts

Though written in 1932, this dazzling, intrinsic folk comedy about how a collective farmer Guryan Mochalkin found a golden elephant and decided to fly to America by airship and become a bourgeois Cooper very much pertains to us, and ends with a Chekhovian touch of belief in a better life, the dream of “heaven shining like a jewel”, and happiness in the native land.

Funny and sad, true and fantastic, this is a play about the country in which we lived, live, and will live for a long time to come; about the people who were, are, and will be.

“The Return of Tukay”

Drama.

The life story of the great Tatar poet, whose name became a symbol, a brand of the Tatar nation. The tragically short life of the genius and his existence in the history and consciousness of generations will intersect on stage in a new theatrical act, which will become a kind of personal experience of interaction between the authors, participants, and spectators of the performance with the image of the “sun of the Tatar people” here and now

“Alfiya Avzalova. The Way to Eternity”

Musical biopic

The authors of this biopic play will try to take a deep dive into life’s vicissitudes and present on stage the fate of a person and a creator who was and remains the embodiment of the Tatar моң: the Soul of the national song.

This musical play will serve as a creative tribute to the queen of the Tatar scene and real worker of the stage, unattainable star and native spirit, the image and phenomenon of national culture – Alfiya Avzalova, who keeps paving her way to Eternity.

Duration: 3 hours 20 minutes

“Ashina”

Mystical drama

According to Turkic legends, Ashina is a she-wolf, the saviour of the clan. The play “Ashina” is dedicated to the history of land flooding during the construction of the hydroelectric power station. The events in the play take place in the 1950s on a small island of the Kama River. The relations between the characters of the play are quite complicated. Love and nobility of some oppose the corruption and envy of others. Which of them will prevail?
A person is not born with an inherent moral code; everyone, akin to a sculpter, moulds themselves in the course of their lives, gaining freedom in decision-making process. Moral choice, according to existentialists, depends solely on the person themselves, and that person alone is responsible for it. For many, this dilemma proves to be a test on the edge of human capabilities.
This is a true director’s play. It is metaphorical, plastic, mystical, and at the same time, acutely relevant. The lives of the drama’s characters are closely intertwined with the legend of the she-wolf.

“Glumov”

Modern story in two acts

The play by the great Russian playwright is as topical as a newspaper satire. A modern story on the timeless theme “how to go up in the world”. Egor Dmitritch Glumov, an ambitious young man, uses his great abilities to achieve a prominent position in society, having chosen the only way possible for this purpose: compromising with his own conscience. This is a witty story about a “hero of our time” who is playing with other people’s lives and his own soul.

“Crazy Nikah”

Comedy.

Once upon a time, two friends, Azvat and Sadri, decided to become kin. They made a vow to each other: “If one has a daughter and the other has a son: we'll marry them!” But, unfortunately, both had sons. Thus, the agreement lost its meaning. Before his death (he was convinced that he would leave this world in 3 days!) Azvat remembered his long-standing vow and declared that this custom would be passed on to his grandchildren. If his last wish is not fulfilled, the family will face misfortune. In the end, for the sake of the grandfather, the family decides to arrange a fake nikah and kidnap the groom.

“Ibn Fadlan” documentary and feature film

2022

Director: Ainaz Mukhametzyanov

In 921, an embassy on a religious mission, headed by Ibn Fadlan, ventured from Baghdad to the land of Bulgars. The film depicts Fadlan’s observations on the route of the embassy, which passed through different countries, peoples and cultures. Its journey, which lasted almost a year, was full of hardships, obstacles, and dangers. It is with the embassy’s arrival in 922 that the Volga Bulgaria accepted Islam as official religion.