kazakhstani cities love their statues. every square and park has at least one. mostly they're statues of kazakh heroes--either real kazakhs like
zhambyl zhabaev and baidibek (aka that guy on his horse in the taraz central square), or historical figures who have retroactively been made kazakh, like
abu nasr al-farabi. prior to independence those podiums probably all had statues of lenin or marx. so what happened to all the communist-era statues?
earlier this week we went on a walk and may have found some of them. in a park behind the aulie-ata mosque, we found this statue of lenin.
unlike the more prominently displayed statues of kazakh heroes this statue was unlabeled. and yes, that's another lenin statue in the background. i'm guessing the park is a kind of lenin dumping ground. i wonder if there are any others.
