Revisiting the Kazakh Famine at the Beginning of the 1930s in Fine Art Forms from the Perspective of Cultural Memory

Dilyara Safargaliyevna Sharipova¹, Ainur Berikovna Kenjakulova², Svetlana Zhumasultanovna Kobzhanova³, Kaldykul Serikbaevna Orazkulova⁴ & Leila Abdyganievna Kenzhebayeva

^{1, 2}Institute of Literature and Art named after M. Auezov of the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Email: dilyarazam@mail.ru

³A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty, Kazakhstan

⁴Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T.K. Zhurgenov, Almaty, Kazakhstan

⁵Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T.K. Zhurgenov, Almaty, Kazakhstan

 Volume 12, Number 1, January-March, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n1.16

Abstract

Reflecting on the past is the foundation for national unity. In this context, it appears relevant to conduct research into fine art as storage of memory and a resource for the reconstruction of lasting images of the past. This article looks at the issue of cultural memory in Kazakhstan through the study of works of figurative art devoted to the history of the famine of the beginning of the 1930s. The authors examine how this topic was reflected in Soviet art, as well as at the current stage of cultural development. The forms of representation of cultural trauma as a metaphor and an affective experience are also explored in the article. Nowadays, monuments of grief perform socio-cultural functions that are inextricably connected with the development of national identity.

Keywords: monument, sculpture, famine, communicative memory, cultural memory, commemoration, nomadism, identity.