UCA Empowers Kyrgyzstan's Museums through Training and Innovation

International Museum Day, celebrated worldwide in May, highlights the cultural significance of museums and their contributions to society. This global celebration emphasises preserving and showcasing history, art, and heritage, often accompanied by special events, exhibitions, and activities throughout the month.

In celebration of this important occassion, UCA’s Cultural Heritage and Humanities Unit, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of the Kyrgyz Republic, launched a series of training sessions for museum specialists across the country. The first session took place in the remote village of Toktogul, Jalal-Abad region, and the second series of trainings began in the village of Ornok, Issyk-Kul region. These sessions provided participants the opportunity to gain knowledge from leading Kyrgyz museum experts and visit local museums and historical monuments closely tied to regional history.

“Like most participants, this is my first time attending museum training. I am very impressed by the new trends and concepts emerging in the modern world. Conducting training in small museums and inviting specialists from the most remote regions, which lack access to financial, educational, and informational resources, is very helpful,” said Gulmira Osmonova, Senior Research Fellow at the Toktogul Satylganov Memorial House-Museum.

“I consider it extremely important that during these training sessions, participants can develop projects which can receive funding through a museum mini-grant programme and be presented at the National Museum Festival of Kyrgyzstan. These efforts will stimulate the development of museums,” shared Aida Alymova, Director of the ICOM Committee in Kyrgyzstan.

These training sessions are part of a three-year regional museum development and capacity-building project supported by the Embassy of Switzerland in the Kyrgyz Republic.