On September 24, AlmaU hosted a public lecture by Zira Nauryzbai, Professor of Practice at the School of Social Sciences and Transformative Humanities, titled “The Archetype of the Kazakh Competitive Game and the Challenges of the Modern World.”
The event opened with welcoming remarks by Aizhan Zhanisovna Sapargalieva, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Transformative Humanities at AlmaU. She highlighted the importance of engaging with cultural heritage and rethinking it in the context of the modern world.
Games hold an important place in culture and social traditions, reflecting ideas about the individual, relationships between people, and the surrounding world. In traditional Kazakh culture, games were not merely a form of leisure but also a space for competition, where the pursuit of victory, skill, honor, and glory were expressed.
During the lecture, participants explored the role of competitive games in traditional Kazakh society, as well as their cultural meanings and codes that continue to be relevant in the contemporary context.
Particular attention was given to how elements of traditional culture can be reinterpreted today and how the heritage of Kazakh games can engage in dialogue with the challenges of the modern world.
The lecture provided an opportunity to approach traditional culture through the lens of games and competition and to explore the connection between cultural heritage and contemporary understandings of the individual, society, and interaction with the surrounding world.