History

The institute was founded in 1969 as a branch of the Leningrad State Institute of Culture named after N.K. Krupskaya, in 1974 it was reorganized into the Kazan State Institute of Culture. In 1991 it was renamed into Kazan State Institute of Arts and Culture. In May 1995 it received the status of an academy, on July 4, 2002  received the status of the Kazan State University of Culture and Arts.

Today the Kazan State Institute of Culture (KazGIK) is a dynamically developing leading regional center of culture, science, education and art, in which the classical traditions of higher education are combined with the latest educational technologies. The Institute is progressively developing, adapting to modern socio-economic and socio-political conditions, playing an increasingly active integration role in the regional, federal and international educational space.

Now in the republics of the Middle Volga region there are no cultural institutions, educational institutions of culture and arts, wherever our graduates work. Taking into account modern demands in the development of the culture and language of the Tatar people of the republic and diasporas, the Institute accepts applicants for training in a number of specializations, mainly in the national language.

In 2001, on an associative basis, the Regional University Educational District was created, uniting more than 20 educational institutions of culture and art of the Middle Volga region, the methodological and scientific center of which is Kazan State Institute of Culture.

The central place of the institute in the dynamics of the development of the region is determined both by the heredity of the traditions of the St. Petersburg University of Culture and Arts, and by the focus on the study of the interconnections and interdependence of culture, folk art and classical art of the region.

Today Kazan State institute of Culture is 4 faculties, 12 departments that implement basic educational programs: 18  at the bachelor's level; 9 at the specialist level; 11 Master's degree programs; 4 postgraduate courses; 3 councils for the defense of doctoral dissertations; The Institute for Knowledge Transfer, which implements additional education programs (advanced training in the profile of basic professional educational programs; preparation for entering a university; professional retraining in the profile of basic professional educational programs; additional professional education.

About 3 thousand students annually study in full-time and part-time forms, including more than 1600 at the expense of the budget of the Russian Federation, who receive academic and social scholarships, scholarships for outstanding achievements in educational, research and creative activities.

More than 300 teachers work at the departments of the institute, including 42 professors, 123 associate professors, more than 80 honored workers of science, culture, arts of Russia and the Republic of Tatarstan, 46 people's and honored artists of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan.

The bases of industrial practice for students of KazGIK are more than 250 institutions of culture, art, social sphere, education, tourism and hospitality, and public organizations.

Annually, the distribution of KazGIK graduates at the request of employers is about 80%.

KazGIK teachers are actively involved in scientific and creative activities, develop problems of history, philosophy, classical art, national cultures, ethnography and folklore of the peoples of the Volga region, cultural studies, museology, social pedagogy of library and information activities, book distribution, management documentation, applied informatics. The Institute annually holds scientific conferences at regional, national and international levels.

In collaboration with Theater them. G. Kamala, Music and Drama Theater. K. Tinchurin, Youth Theater, puppet theater, TV company "New Age" are training actors and directors for professional and amateur theaters and film studios not only in Tatarstan, but also in other regions of the Russian Federation. Performing groups have been created and are successfully working in the Institute: orchestras and ensembles of folk instruments, mixed and Tatar choirs, choreographic groups.

Together with the largest library and information institutions (National Library of the Republic of Tatarstan, Scientific Library of Kazan State University named after N.I. Lobachevsky, Republican Youth Library, Republican Medical Library and Information Center and others), specialists are trained in the field of library and information activities, applied informatics, records management.

For the successful training of specialists in the field of culture and art, for achievements in educational, scientific and creative activities, the Institute in 1999 and 2000 was awarded the title of laureate of the All-Russian competition of institutions and educational institutions "Culture: Window to Russia", in 2000 rewarded by UNESCO with a commemorative gold medal "Memorable branch of the world".

In 2006, a group of scientists of the Institute was awarded the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of education for the series of works "Methodology and technologies for the implementation of the regional system of continuous professional training of specialists in the socio-cultural sphere and arts of the Middle Volga region".

The Institute has lecture halls, laboratories, workshops equipped with modern multimedia and computer equipment, the «Itil» sports complex, which is one of the facilities of the 2013 Universiade, and a student cafe. For a number of years, the house of the students of the Institute has been the best student hostel in Kazan.