In 1966, at 5:23 am, Tashkent experienced a damaging earthquake. The epicenter was right in the center of the city and the shallow depth of the quake (3-8 kilometers) meant a whole lot of shakin' went on. Most of the old city was destroyed. Two hundred people died and 200,000 people lost their homes.
Ten years later, a memorial was opened. Its formal name is Monument of Courage. The style, of course, is Soviet brutalist, socialist. The centerpiece is a generic family in a powerful pose with a black granite clock, cracked and stopped at the moment of the earthquake.
Detail of the stopped clock. Smashing. Behind the main sculpture is a ring of gold metal cutout friezes. The scenes are a mix of classic Soviet worker might with more traditional Uzbek themes.
Electricity will make you strong.
Doing a little dancing and tambourine pounding. Making little rocks from big rocks. Jack it.
Back to the main sculpture, this time, an abstract view in silhouette.
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