Illustrated Book and AR Filter
Growing up, reading Chingiz Aitmatov's works allowed me to glimpse how my parents, grandparents, and ancestors lived under Soviet rule. His writings provided a first-person account of the Central Asian experience within a Russian-centric world, where everyone was "equal" but still not the same. One of Aitmatov's most significant pieces is The Day Lasts Longer Than a Hundred Years. This novel tells the story of a man traveling a great distance to bury his good friend in a cemetery. Along the journey, he reflects on his life, culture, and the changing world. Among his recollections is the poignant Legend of the Mankurt. This work is part of my MFA Thesis.
A mankurt is a person subjected to a brutal process that erases their memory and identity, turning them into a mindless slave. Enemy captors would bind a camel's skin around the prisoner's head, causing intense pain and eventually leading to the loss of memory and free will. Devoid of personal history, the mankurt would become completely subservient.
Aitmatov used the mankurt as a powerful metaphor for the loss of cultural identity and historical memory under oppressive regimes, highlighting the dangers of losing one's heritage and the devastating impact of cultural erasure.
This face filter is an artistic interpretation of a mankurt: a shell, a carcass with a void inside of them.
