Tomb of Sharshembii Uulu Abdykadyr (Kyrgyzstan)

This tomb was erected from baked bricks, probably in 1975, following the local custom of creating a memorial to mark the anniversary of a death. The phenomenon of the cemeteries near the shores of Issyk-Kul arose simultaneously thanks to and in spite of the Soviet regime, which had little interest in the world of the dead. The artist Zhylkychy Zhakypov, who had experience of painting on the gravestones of Issyk-Kul, said: “… if it were not for the Soviet regime, these cemeteries would not exist. They would be in a different place and look completely different. " The ancestral Kyrgyz cemeteries of the Issyk-kul region until the 30s of the twentieth century looked much more modest and were located, as a rule, in remote gorges hidden from prying eyes (in order to avoid the desecration of the ancestors' graves by enemies). With the largely forcible transfer of the nomadic Kyrgyz to a settled way of life in the 1920s and 30s, the nature and location of cemeteries changed. They began to be located along roads, monuments began to be made noticeable and brightly-coloured, with paintings and bas-reliefs, or less often sculptures. The appearance of the monument itself, its decorations, and symbolism were determined by the family of the deceased, their ideas about beauty, correctness and appropriateness, without much regard for the authorities. 

The tomb of Sharshembi uulu Abdykadyr at the Chon-Oruktu cemetery combines characteristics from at least three cultures: pagan beliefs – the deer antlers as a generic sign of the Bughu tribe; Islam – this form of tomb, with its portal, came to the shores of Issyk-Kul together with Islam; and Soviet culture - a star of the "Kremlin" type (faceted), articulated in red. It is worth noting that the Star is a universal symbol for almost all categories of those buried (women, children, young and old men, those who had served in the Soviet army). In this case, as in most others on Issyk-Kul, the Star comes “complete” with a crescent (two crescents on the side “turrets” of the portal), but these elements are spaced apart (a typical local solution). Here the Star both denotes the Muslim religion of the deceased and at the same time refers to Soviet symbols.

Natalya Andrianova works for the research project 'Esimde'