Illustrated Book and AR Filter
The Legend of
the Mankurt
MASTER'S THESIS
The Legend of the Mankurt
An illustrated book of an ancient Turkic legend
Context
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.
Who is a Mankurt?
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.
Instagram Filter
This Instagram filter is an artistic interpretation of a mankurt—a shell of a person, a body emptied of identity and memory. It embodies the unsettling concept of being stripped of one’s past, culture, and self, leaving behind only a hollow presence.
More than just a visual effect, this filter serves as a space for self-reflection. It invites you to question: What defines who we are? What remains when our sense of self is erased? By stepping into this digital void, you confront the tension between individuality and erasure, presence and absence.
Due to Meta's decision to shut down their Spark Platform, it is no longer available on Instagram.
