© AesthetixMS 2020. This Open Access article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For citation use the DOI. For commercial re-use, please contact editor@rupkatha.com. Revisiting the Kazakh Famine at the Beginning of the 1930s in Fine Art Forms from the Perspective of Cultural Memory Dilyara Safargaliyevna Sharipova 1 , Ainur Berikovna Kenjakulova 2 , Svetlana Zhumasultanovna Kobzhanova 3 , Kaldykul Serikbaevna Orazkulova 4 & Leila Abdyganievna Kenzhebayeva 1, 2 Institute of Literature and Art named after M. Auezov of the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, Almaty, Kazakhstan. 3 A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty, Kazakhstan 4 Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T.K. Zhurgenov, Almaty, Kazakhstan 5 Kazakh National Academy of Arts named after T.K. Zhurgenov, Almaty, Kazakhstan Abstract Reflecting on the past is the foundation for national unity. In this context, it appears relevant to conduct research into fine art as storage of memory and a resource for the reconstruction of lasting images of the past. This article looks at the issue of cultural memory in Kazakhstan through the study of works of figurative art devoted to the history of the famine of the beginning of the 1930s. The authors examine how this topic was reflected in Soviet art, as well as at the current stage of cultural development. The forms of representation of cultural trauma as a metaphor and an affective experience are also explored in the article. Nowadays, monuments of grief perform socio-cultural functions that are inextricably connected with the development of national identity. Keywords: monument, sculpture, famine, communicative memory, cultural memory, commemoration, nomadism, identity. Introduction Formation of an integral perception of past events has become one of the main research directions in European countries over recent decades. As far as the study of cultural memory is concerned, the greatest challenge is posed by interpretation of tragic events of the national history, such as Asharshylyk — a terrible famine in Kazakhstan at the beginning of the 1930s. According to the most conservative estimates, it claimed the lives of over 2 million people, i.e. 40% of the indigenous population. Starting from the 1920s, Kazakhstan was subject to huge political and socio-economic transformations. Modernization forcefully imposed on enormous territories of nomadic livestock farming led to the creation of industrial giants and destruction of the traditional economic system. Nomads were forced to lead a settled way of life by collectivization — destruction of private farms and their unification into kolkhozes (collective farms). All the produce of kolkhozes was taken by the government as compulsory supplies of cattle and grain. The methods used were administrative pressure on the management of kolkhozes and repression traditional for the Stalin regime. It is a known fact that by February Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities (ISSN 0975-2935) Indexed by Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ, ERIHPLUS Vol. 12, No. 1, January-March, 2020. 1-10 Full Text: http://rupkatha.com/V12/n1/v12n116.pdf DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v12n1.16