the Central Asian country in the spotlight in an exhibition at the Guimet museum

A Rodin-style “Thinker” several millennia old, the headdress of a warrior dressed all in gold, Timurid candlesticks, and the brocade coats once worn by the eminences of the Kazakh khanate… These are some of the pieces of the exhibition “Kazakhstan. Treasures of the Great Steppe” which opens Wednesday November 6 at the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts, in Paris. Inaugurated this Tuesday in the presence of Emmanuel Macron and his counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev, eager to showcase the strengthening of ties between France and Kazakhstan, it confirms the attractiveness of Parisian museums for the countries of Central Asia in quest for notoriety and prestige.

This cultural event is in fact part of the series of “national exhibitions” devoted in recent years by the capital's museums to these countries resulting from the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 and which still often remain unknown to the European public. . The first, inaugurated in the fall of 2021, also at the Guimet Museum, highlighted Tajikistan, a small mountainous country bordering China and Afghanistan, reputed to be the poorest in the region. But it is above all the “double” of Uzbekistan which struck French visitors, with the simultaneous inauguration on November 23, 2022 at the Louvre and at the Institute of the Arab World of two exhibitions highlighting the heritage of the Silk Road. Crowned with success, they provoked a renewed interest in Uzbekistan from French tourists in the months that followed.

The largest and richest country in Central Asia, Kazakhstan could not stay behind after the success of its regional rival. At the end of November 2022, at the end of the visit to France by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev, the joint press release published did not fail to mention the upcoming organization of a “national exhibition of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Paris ». “Kazakhstanis were envious of the success of the Uzbek exhibition, and they did not want to be left on the sidelines,” confides a good connoisseur of the region.

Seduction advantage of French diplomacy

The work is underway. It is accelerating with Emmanuel Macron's visit to Kazakhstan in November 2023. “I can assure you that this was a fairly priority subject for Astana, declares a source close to the matter. During this visit, the Kazakhstanis received positive interest from the cultural delegation, which notably included the writer Amin Maalouf and the archaeologist Frantz Grenet. » It remains to be seen where to organize the exhibition. Once considered at the Louvre, it finally landed at the Guimet Museum.

A seductive asset of French diplomacy, the prestige of the Parisian museum offering offers a choice setting to showcase the strength of the links uniting Paris to the capitals of Central Asia. The strengthening of relations between Paris and Astana is described as ” spectacular “ at the Élysée, and takes place in the context of the war in Ukraine – which will be “on the interview menu” between Kassym-Jomart Tokaïev and Emmanuel Macron. Neighboring Russia, with which it shares thousands of kilometers of border, Kazakhstan is particularly keen to cultivate its “multi-vector” diplomacy, which consists of offering itself room for maneuver in the face of its large northern neighbor by multiplying the points of contact. support abroad.

Ambition is viewed favorably in Paris, especially since Kazakhstan is an important partner of France in the field of energy. An oil exporter, Astana is also one of the main suppliers of nuclear fuel for French power plants. France is also keen to offer its expertise in nuclear energy, at a time when Kazakhstan has just voted in a referendum at the beginning of October in favor of relaunching a civil sector.