Maya exhibition in Paris

 

A wonderful exhibition, entitled "The Maya - Revelation of time with no end" was organized at the Quai Branly Museumin Paris.
There were archaeological artifactsfrom Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico - residential territories of the oldest civilizations in the world - the Maya. In accordance with the approximate dating, the artifacts are dated back thousands of years BC. Thecurator of this exhibition is Mercedes de la Garza, writer, historian and academician. She is Distinguished Scientist of the Center for Maya studies at UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and a permanent member of the scientific committee of the INAH (National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico).

 The scientific research work continues, and we will soon be able to know the future discoveries in human history.
Indeed, people of the Maya civilization had their time of expansion, development, fulfillment for about 30 000 years. According to scientific researches, the Mayapeoples came on the current territory by nomading- from the lands of Eurasia and the Altai to thecontinent of America. The Maya are divided into 28 groups, each of which has its own linguistic featuresthat distinguish them from other groups.The history of these peoples is complex and multifaceted. With the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, particularly in the south ofNorth America, northern South America, the Maya ethnic group had faced blatant repression of their lives, extermination of their population, the destruction of all the attributes of their life - architecture, sculpture,customs, beliefs, writing, household items. This colossal vandalismwiped from the face of the earth, destroyed, brutallysacked the Mayan civilization, which was much more developed than the current European civilization.

We currently do not have a complete and clear picture of the life of the Maya. And only a few remainingdilapidated cities, the architectural details, sculpture, and other historical monuments of the Mayas constantly surprise us and make us admire the extraordinary and remarkable achievements of these peoples.
The exhibition includes 400 artifacts, among which there are stone creations of various species, including jade. There are also materials like coral, gold, pottery and fabrics.
In pre-Columbian times, the Mayans were a creative civilization that left to their descendants dozens of cities with remarkable architecture, sculpture, made by high technical methods, frescoes, different designs, ceramic vases, dishes, designed to perform rituals beliefs but also to ordinary life and existence.

 
It is interesting to note that among thedocuments submitted to the exhibition,there are architectural details andstone carvings that are not likely handmade, as if the craftsmen operated with power tools which allowed them to cut a solid stone withhigh accuracy. For me as a sculptor with a large enough work experience, it was quite obvious that the sculptures were not made by hand.In addition, a detail of architecture that scientists cautiously called the "Pelican" was presented in this exhibition, but in truth it is a dinosaur head (Errors of transferring the external appearance of this creature is impossible due to the high precision of the sculpture).
In this exhibition there were alsoceramic ossuaries, sacral vessels to keepthe bones of the dead, very similar to those found during archaeological excavations in Central Asia, which proves definitively the Asian origin of the Maya.
The ceramic creations displayed are distinguished by the exquisite tasteof the Mayan potter, by the beauty of the painting, by the strength of materials.
Also, you can find funerary masksmade from jade, jewelry from these ancient times made from corals, jade and other stones.


 
Maya sculpture is especially beautiful by the complexity and sophistication of its fabrication. Maya sculptorspass freely and with great precision all the details of fine clothes, men and aristocratic women.
The exhibition allows us to estimatethe size of the Mayan heritage for all humanity. The power of the construction of cities, communication with the environment, the rituals of the Maya, their lifestyle are all presented in the creative aspect with great aesthetic success.

Days of Kazakhstan in Paris

The attention of tens of thousands of visitors was drawn by a large village located in the center of the city.

Three large decorated yurts, steppe swings, songs played on ancient instruments of indigenous Turkic peoples, dances created the colors of the life of nomads of the steppe. This event brought together not only the French Kazakh diaspora but also French, Parisian, tourists among whom were Germans, British, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and others. Everyone came to learn about the daily life of the nomads, and with the very unique construction of the architecture of the yurt, its exterior and interior:

The first yurt was an exhibition and sale of traditional art products - gifts in pure wool, embroidered felt hats, leather boxes with decorative embossing, very beautiful handbags - everything was in great demand among the visitors.
In the second yurt, the organizers presented beautiful clothes of Kazakh nomads - embroidered velvet dresses with gold thread, richly decorated headdresses and other art items of gold embroidery. The lovely and very welcoming lady of this yurt spoke about the daily life of nomads. All the information was explained in Kazakh, Russian, English, French, German, and even Hebrew. The men watched with great interest the old weapons of nomads, while women were interested in the operation of the old churn, in leather goods, in the "torsyks" - a device for producing the famous "koumis" – a drink, which has many therapeutic qualities, manufactured and consumed by the nomads for ages.
In the third yurt, the ancient and original art of embroidery and weaving have been demonstrated. Jewelers and potters also presented their skills.
To see how to build a yurt, the visitors went on long queues.
Then, a concert tour has begun with singing, dancing, play of different folk instruments of Kazakhs.

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This rich arts festival of one of the most ancient peoples of the world was prolonged by documentary films about Kazakhstan, conferences, broadcasts and Kazakh cartoons for children. Well, for one night, Parisians filled the great hall of the City Theater to hear a concert of traditional musicians of Kazakhstan. The concert was built in the spirit of the old popular philosophy of Turkish nomads. On the stage there was nothing more than an oasis illuminated by day light. On this stage the beautiful richly dressed musicians, one after another, were showing their exclusive competences of playing, like in the good old days. Serzhan Shakratov was playing on the dombra, different types of kobyz were presented by Raushan Urazbayeva and the meditative dombra play was perforemed by Abdulhamit Rakhimbergenov. The play of dombra by Zhangali Zhuzbaeva and the astonishing sounds of the sybyzgy (shor, Kurai) of Talgat Mukushev gave an incredible impression on listeners.

Finally, Ulzhan Baybusinova sang with her very unique guttural voice. This voice resounded with a very particular pressure, breaking all barriers of misunderstanding, carrying, forcing to think deeply. The audience did not let the musicians go, and people were always cheering, singing with Ulzhan withall their heart.

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