Int'l roundtable on Abai and world culture held in Estonia

The event dedicated to the 175th anniversary of the Kazakh philosopher and educator brought together representatives of the academic community and the creative intelligentsia of the two countries, including the Writers' Unions of Kazakhstan and Estonia.

An interesting exchange of views on the work of Abai took place during the round table. As Professor Rein Weidemann noted, «Abai's significance can be compared to the significance for Estonia of Johann Voldemar Jannsen and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, who are national heroes, on whose contribution future generations rely to look into the past of their people and also see its future.»

The Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Estonia Nurlan Seitimov, Chairman of the Union of Estonian Writers Tiit Aleksejev, Adviser of the Department of Cultural Diversity of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Estonia Artjom Tepljuk, literary critic, writer and professor Rein Veidemann, chief specialist of the Department of Cultural Diversity of the Tallinn Central Library Nadezhda Geryak took part in the event from Tallinn.

From the Kazakh side, the videoconference was attended by the head of the National Academic Library of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Pedagogy, Professor Umitkhan Munalbaeva, poet, Doctor of Philology, Professor Serik Negimov, Chairman of the Writers' Union in Nur-Sultan Dauletkerey Kapula, representative of the East Kazakhstan Regional Abai Library Laura Burkitova.

As a result of the round table, an agreement was reached on transferring Abai's books to the Writers' Union of Estonia and to the funds of Estonian libraries. The possibility of opening a Center for Kazakh Literature in the Tallinn Central Library was also discussed.