Artistic Representation of Cultural Memory in Contemporary Memorial Sculpture of Kazakhstan

Following Kazakhstan's independence, memorial sculpture has become one of the principal artistic media for reconstructing national historical consciousness and shaping cultural identity. Nevertheless, the artistic mechanisms through which memorial art constructs and represents cultural memory have not yet been comprehensively examined in the context of Kazakhstan. The purpose of this study is to analyze memorial sculpture created during the independence period of Kazakhstan as a form of artistic representation of cultural memory. The study examines the Independence Monument (Almaty), Marat Ainekov's Dawn of Independence, Shota-Aman Ualikhanov's Stronger than Death, Oral Alibayev's Wall of Sorrow, and Marat Abilqasimov's memorial complex To the Victims of the Famine. The research is grounded in theories of cultural memory, memorial space, and national identity. The methodological framework combines the case study approach with visual, iconological, comparative, and interpretative analyses. The findings demonstrate that memorial sculpture functions not merely as a representation of historical events but as a cultural mechanism that transforms collective historical experience into a system of artistic symbols. Furthermore, the study proposes an original analytical model explaining the interrelationship between historical experience, artistic interpretation, plastic form, visual symbolism, memorial space, cultural memory, and national identity. The scientific novelty of the study lies in providing a comprehensive art-historical analysis of Kazakhstan's memorial sculpture of the independence period through the theoretical framework of cultural memory, while substantiating its methodological significance within international scholarship on cultural memory and heritage studies.