Dennis Keen on Monumental Art from Soviet Kazakhstan

From the 1960s to the 1980s, a boom in modernist architecture in the Soviet Union was accompanied by one of the grandest public-art efforts the world has ever seen, with thousands of large-scale mosaics, murals, relief sculptures, and other forms of “monumental art” erected on civic buildings. Specially trained “monumentalists” were sent to the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan to develop a local cadre of artists. Far from the watchful eyes of Moscow, they were able to create fascinating artworks with a touch of the avant-garde. Now, twenty-seven years after the collapse of the USSR, Kazakhstanis are reckoning with a legacy that many associate with a troubled past, while others fight for its preservation.

Dennis Keen is the founder of Monumental Almaty, an organization that promotes the study and conservation of monumental art in Kazakhstan. He lives in Kazakhstan and is the host of the Kazakh TV show Discovering Kazakhstan. He has a master’s degree in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from Stanford University.

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This event is presented as part of Wende Conversations: A Discussion Series Supported by Susan Horowitz and Rick Feldman.