The Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts in Bishkek showcases native art forms as well as painting, sculpture, and other works, highlighting those created by Kyrgyz artists. The museum is centrally located and is perfect for a day trip with an abundance of restaurants and cafes nearby. The article below will tell the history of […]
The National Historical Museum of the Kyrgyz Republic is a great place to get started when visiting Kyrgyzstan. The museum’s extensive collection of more than 90,000 exhibits includes artifacts from Kyrgyzstan’s prehistory, from its ancient Silk Road era, Soviet-era history, and modern state. Culture exhibits focus on Kyrgyz nomadic culture, traditional handicrafts, and the musical […]
The Faces of Kyrgyzstan is a project of the popular Russian-language website Limon.kg based in Kyrgyzstan. The project presents those natives of Kyrgyzstan which have helped form the current country and especially its modern culture. The profiles are presented on Limon.kg in Russian. Translation was performed by Sophia Rehm, a SRAS Home and Abroad Scholar […]
The Gapar Aitiev Memorial Museum Studio is housed in the small, two story space which were once his working studios. Aitiev, who was born in 1912, was a school teacher before becoming one of the first classically trained ethnic Kyrgyz artists. Today, he is known for his sensitive and loving introduction of Krygyz faces, traditions, […]
Bishkek is rich in some of the most unusual museums I have ever witnessed. Topping my personal list is the Zoological Museum of the Biology and Soil Institute, a tiny gem located along one of the city’s major thoroughfares, Chuy Avenue. The first iteration of the zoological museum opened in 1946 on Ala-Too Square. However, […]
The Memorial House of Iskhak Razzakov opened on December 20, 2005. The house served as the home for the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan) throughout the span of the Soviet Union. Iskhak Razzakov lived in the home with his two children and wife during his tenure as First Secretary from 1950-1961. […]
Tucked between modern towers and Soviet monuments of Bishkek’s downtown area stands a small, gated house. A plaque outside humbly identifies it as the Memorial House Museum of O.M. Manuilova. Olga Maksimilianovna Manuilova was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia in 1893 and educated as a sculptor in Moscow. The daughter of a military doctor, her […]
The Mikhail Frunze Museum in Bishkek was founded by the Soviets as part of their tribute to Mikhail Frunze. Mikhail Frunze was a Red Army leader that was instrumental in crushing resistance in Central Asia during the Russian Civil War. In his honor, the city, which had previously been known as Pishpek, was renamed Frunze […]
The Kyrgyz were largely a nomadic civilization up until the 20th century. It should be no surprise, then, that many of Kyrgyzstan’s greatest museums are outside and/or in rural areas. The city of Bishkek also has a number of more traditional museums, mostly established during (and today often unchanged from) Soviet times, including a number […]
