National Museum of Fine Arts Gapar Aitiev, Art museum in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
The National Museum of Fine Arts Gapar Aitiev is an art museum in Bishkek housing approximately 18,000 objects across different disciplines. The collection includes applied arts, paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ethnographic works arranged in separate exhibition sections.
The museum was founded in 1935 and began with a collection of 72 works from across the Soviet Union. The current building was completed in 1974 and has housed the collection since then.
The collections display traditional Kyrgyz handicrafts like felting, wood carving, and embroidery that remain connected to everyday life in the region. You can observe the materials and techniques that families have passed down through generations and how these art forms are still made today.
The museum offers guided tours in Russian, Kyrgyz, and English, with audio guides available for specific exhibits. Visitors need to present their passport when using audio guide services.
The building was designed by architect Shailo Djekshenbaev and displays Soviet brutalist architecture common throughout Kyrgyzstan. This architectural style shaped many public structures in the city during that era of urban development.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
