Abstract:
The Life of Shakarim Kudaiberdiev followed ended tragically when he was shot down by an officer of the secret police. There a prolonged silence. No one could speak his name. His artistic works were forbidden. But although he was independent minded, sometimes outspoken, Shakarim was far from the nationalist rebel he had been painted as. Virtually unknown in the West, Shakarim slipped into oblivion for decades following his assassination and is only now being rediscovered by his fellow countrymen in Kazakhstan. So why is it that Kazakhs should want to read the work of this one hundred year old poet now?
