The topic of the scientific seminar is "Abay in the cultural landscape of Kazakhstan: representation of the image of the poet and modern discourses." The seminar was held within the framework of the project "Places of memory in the modern culture of Kazakhstan: commemoration processes in public spaces".
Associate professors of the Department of Philosophy Dametken Tolgambayeva and Ulbolsyn Sandybayeva made a presentation.
Dametken Tolgambayeva presented a plot about the visual representations of Abay in different regions of the country. She cited a quote from the President Tokayev’s article «Abay and Kazakhstan in the XXI century": “Abay Kunanbayev left a bright print on our history as a philosopher, poet, enlightener, founder of new national literature, translator, composer. In his poems, songs and prose clearly felt national flavor, reflected lifestyle and life, faith and language, and a fine sense of the spirit of the nation. That is why his work was eventually appreciated as a unique phenomenon, such a concept as “the world of Abay” appeared”.
It was noted that the famous researcher of Abay Kayum Mukhamedkhanov, who was the director of the State Literary Museum of Abay of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, wrote about the need to perpetuate the memory of Abay on June 14, 1949. The first monuments were erected in Almaty (Alma-Ata, 1960) and Semey (Semipalatinsk, 1972). Since gaining independence, monuments to Abay have been opened in the capital and in many regional centers and settlements. So-called double sculptures with Abay are of interest. So, in the center of Petropavlovsk in 2006 on December 16, a monument to Abay and Alexander Pushkin was unveiled. As part of the implementation of the “Rukhani Zhangyru” program, on May 30, 2019, a monument to Kunanbai and Abay was unveiled in Karkaralinsk, Karaganda region. This year, monuments are being unveiled in many settlements, the opening actor is, first of all, the state.
The seminar also presented unsuccessful experiences of representation on the example of monuments that caused a great public response (a monument to Abay and Yevgeny Michaelis in Ust-Kamenogorsk, a bust of Abay in Stepnogorsk).
The State Historical-Cultural and Literary-Memorial Museum-Reserve of Abay is a special place of memory.
D. Tolgambayeva presented new forms of visual representations of Abay for our culture, in particular, street art.
Ulbolsyn Sandybayeva focused attention on various discourses related to the poet's personality and work. For discussion, the idea of the researcher Zaure Botayeva that Abay is a cultural construct of the members of the Alash-Orda and, in particular, Alikhan Bukeikhanov, as well as some comments of foreign and domestic researchers were presented.
An interesting discussion took place, which showed that there are certain problems in the study of both the life and work of Abay.
The world of Abay is endless and new discoveries await researchers.
