Inside the State National Historical Museum

The inside of the State National Historical Museum is as imposing at the outside.  The entrance was designed to make an individual feel tiny compared to the great power possessed by the State as represented by the giant copper Soviet flag and collection of idealized workers below.  If I hadn't been the only person in the museum I would have taken this picture with someone in it to show the scale of these gigantic pieces.  But there isn't much interest in old Soviet art among the locals it seems.

The first two floors of the museum are primarily made up of these larger-than-life, faux-bronze, copper reliefs all done in the heavy Soviet Realism style.  These reliefs depict major events in Soviet history and idealized depictions of workers and heroes of the revolution.  Nothing abstract here, nothing left to the imagination in this museum.

Luckily the top floor of the museum is dedicated to the history of Pre-Soviet Kyrgyzstan.  It's quite a relief to get away from the acres of oppressive copper monuments to get a glimpse of ancient tribal life. Below is a traditional yert, the typical Kyrgyz residence still used today by herdsman in rural areas.