On September 9, 2025, the State Historical, Cultural and Literary-Memorial Museum-Reserve of Abai “Zhidebay-Borili” (Republic of Kazakhstan) will open the exhibition “Confession.” This project is dedicated to one of the most important stages in Tolstoy’s life and creative work and offers a perspective on the writer’s life path from the standpoint of his spiritual quest.
The exhibition title refers to Tolstoy’s autobiographical work of the same name, written in 1879. This work divided his life into “before” and “after.” In Confession, the writer, with characteristic passion, renounces his past life. The truth was revealed to him, and he rushed toward it with all his soul. And yet, he continued to search painfully for himself, his path, his purpose.
Five years later, in his treatise “What I Believe”, Tolstoy explained the nature of the change that had occurred:
“What happened to me was what happens to a man who leaves home on an errand and suddenly decides on the way that he does not need this errand at all—and turns back. And everything that was on the right is now on the left, and everything that was on the left is now on the right…”
As part of the exhibition, visitors will see different stages of the writer’s life—before and after his inner transformation. They will meet the young ambitious landowner, Count Tolstoy, and the elder in a simple white blouse, Leo Nikolaevich. The exhibition will trace how, at different times, Tolstoy related to those around him, to art, to fashion, to his own work and to life itself.
The exhibition will run until December 31, 2025.
The exhibition title refers to Tolstoy’s autobiographical work of the same name, written in 1879. This work divided his life into “before” and “after.” In Confession, the writer, with characteristic passion, renounces his past life. The truth was revealed to him, and he rushed toward it with all his soul. And yet, he continued to search painfully for himself, his path, his purpose.
Five years later, in his treatise “What I Believe”, Tolstoy explained the nature of the change that had occurred:
“What happened to me was what happens to a man who leaves home on an errand and suddenly decides on the way that he does not need this errand at all—and turns back. And everything that was on the right is now on the left, and everything that was on the left is now on the right…”
As part of the exhibition, visitors will see different stages of the writer’s life—before and after his inner transformation. They will meet the young ambitious landowner, Count Tolstoy, and the elder in a simple white blouse, Leo Nikolaevich. The exhibition will trace how, at different times, Tolstoy related to those around him, to art, to fashion, to his own work and to life itself.
The exhibition will run until December 31, 2025.
Posted : 9 september 2025