The first Sunday of every July in Kazakhstan is National Dombra Day, a festival which reflects the respect that people in the country have for their beloved national icon, the dombra.
Not merely day set aside for performances on the ancient two-stringed instrument, the occasion goes a lot deeper than that, with over two million people attending to show their reverence for this legacy of Kazakh culture, often considered to represent part of the soul of the nation.
Dating back to 2018, National Dombra Day is a precious feature of the calendar and this year sees over 2,000 events nationally, with potentially over 100,000 musicians involved, many of them children. It all proves that the love for traditions still resounds in the face of increasing modernity.
One such performance in Almaty involved over 11,000 youngsters playing together, all other regions of the country equally committed to showcasing one of their most precious historical icons.
Statesmen, both at home and abroad, paid tribute to the instrument and recognised the importance of the day. UNESCO Assistant Director General for Culture, Nayef Al-Fayez, understands the value that the dombra gives to the country and its 20 million people.
“Happy National Dombra Day! The Kazakh traditional art of dombra kui [melody] joined UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2014. This beautiful living musical tradition connects people to their history, identity and each other. UNESCO congratulates Kazakhstan on the ongoing effort to safeguard this meaningful cultural expression, passing it onto [future] generations.”
It is not just a purely Kazakhstan thing either, as further afield both Kazakh citizens and foreigners demonstrated their own skills on the instrument, with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev congratulating them all on the occasion.
The dombra is not just a musical instrument, but a part of the essence of the nation. It both proclaims and whispers history, glorifes the present, and gives hope for the future.
But don’t be deceived by the ostensible simplicity of the two strings, because as I found myself, mastery of this magical instrument takes decades.
