Postcard from Bishkek

I see that some enterprising entrepreneur is offering pieces of the recently toppled statue of Lenin in Kiev for sale over the internet: $125 for the hand, $03 for a piece of the arm and $6 for smaller pieces … apparently the price is determined by weight … with an open auction for the head which he seems to be consider as “priceless”.

The toppling of the statue may be seen as part of an outburst of social unrest and political dissension, but I wonder on what grounds this entrepreneur feels he has the right to sell these artifacts; “finders keepers“?  Let’s assume, at least, that he’s not admitting a role in public disorder, criminal damage and looting.

This story brought back memories of the destruction of Berlin Wall when pieces were put on sale as souvenirs and the news reports of the toppling of the statue itself were reminiscent of similar stories of the destruction of monuments such as that of Enver Hoxha in Tirane back in 1991 or that of Saddam Hussein in 2003 …

Surely, however, the statue was public property which means that any proceeds from the sale should go to the public budget – not to an individual.

The statue had stood in the center of Kiev for 67 years.  The one here in Bishkek may have a shorter history,  it has fared somewhat better – it may have been relocated … but at least it is still in one piece and stands in a place of honour affording tourists a variety of different photo opportunities.

Actually, the statue that once stood in the main Ala Too Square, but was moved to its present location in 2004, dates from 1984 … but it wasn’t the first such statue dedicated to the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution in downtown Bishkek.  It was a new monument by Kabalnikon, Sydukov and Protkov, commissioned as part of the reconstruction of the City Center – and it was to replace the earlier monument, (erected on 22nd, January, 1948, - the work of the sculptor Neroda, and the architect Veryuzhsky), which had similarly depicted a full length figure of Lenin addressing the masses and was placed on top of an obelisk – reaching some 13 meters above Oak Park, at the junction of Derzhinsky Boulevard (nowadays called Erkindik) and Pushkin Street.

In 2003 it was taken down, amid considerable controversy, to make way for a new monument intended to emphasize Kyrgyz Statehood, Erkindik, (Freedom – also by Sydykov).  ”… amid considerable controversy …” – the workman moved in and removed the 17 ton monument under the cover of darkness on the night of August 15th,  in what has been described as a “secret operation”. It wasn’t that “secret” as a small group of local communists mounted a vigil – but were unable to stop the work from being completed. It still, led, however, to an attempt to unseat the government in Parliament – which they survived.  

As a result, they agreed to the statue being re-erected, “in deference to Lenin’s role in freeing Kyrgyzstan from the last Russian Tsar”, about 600 feet away, around the other side of the Historical Museum – no longer pointing to the Magnificent Mountains but, as some critics wryly pointed out at the time, to the American University of Central Asia … So much for the “bright socialist future”.

As it happens, Erkindik was, in turn, replaced in 2011 by a new monument , Aikol Manas (Magnanimous Manas – which, incidentally, was also the work of Sydykov).

There are other depictions of Lenin within the Historical Museum, which used to be called the Lenin Museum, but there are plans to have these removed – albeit to have them rehoused in another new museum “specially” dedicated to Kyrgyzstan’s Soviet past.  When that will happen, and, of course, where the necessary funding will come from, are still open questions.

During Soviet times, so I am told, Lenin was to be found everywhere in Kyrgyzstan – according to one source, there are something like 4000 statues of him around the country … even though he never visited the country … and, as far as we know, never even mentioned it in any of his writings.  

The main street of every town was named after him … monuments stood in towns and villages … one was even erected on Lenin Peak – the highest in the world.  You can still see this – for example in the village of Kochkor … 

I remember taking a group of tourists, a family, to one of the swimming pools in Bishkek and Dad was overwhelmed – commenting “here we are, sitting under the gaze of Lenin … ” as he pointed to a statue that, I must admit, I hadn’t noticed before.

Actually, statues of Lenin seems to crop up in a variety of surprising places – and not just here in Kyrgyzstan but also in Islington, London, Seattle, USA – and even in Antarctica.

 

As it happens, the theft of statues for their scrap value is not unknown here in in Kyrgyzstan … several monuments have suffered a similar fate … the bust of Gagarin from Oak Park, the bust of Joormat Bokonbaev from Prospekt Erkindik and the statue of the journalist Pavlyuk ferom Sovietskaya to mention just three of the more high profile cases …   

Interestingly, there is a proposal for a 90 minute film, Lenin?! – described as a “black comedy” by the screenwriter Marat Alykulov – based on the idea of a group of youths, (“punks”), who – not knowing anything about who Lenin was – hit upon a scheme to steal a statue of him and sell it as scrap metal on the black market, causing uproar in their small town as the situation spirals out of control.

It sounds like something Joe Orton would have had fun with!

 

Tags: Monuments