Concrete Fences (Kyrgyzstan)

Shamaldy-Say was established in 1956 on the left bank of the River Naryn on the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, in the northern part of the Ferghana Valley. It is classed as an ‘urban-type settlement’, an official Soviet term for a semi-urban settlement. Shamaldy-Say was built to accommodate the workers at the first hydroelectric power station which was constructed on the River Naryn. Designed as a socialist, industrial settlement, it was centrally planned and the architecture and structure are very like the many similar settlements built during this period across the Soviet Union.

Concrete fences were an integral part of Soviet architecture. Despite the fact that there was no private ownership under socialism and all property was considered to be collectively owned, solid concrete fences were notable and ubiquitous structures in the Soviet era. They were erected to protect state and public buildings. In Shamaldy-Say concrete fences can be found in many public places: at the central stadium, around hospitals, nurseries and schools and, of course, surrounding the ruins of factories and industrial plants.

During Soviet times there was little variation in the design of this monotonous fencing and it served as a marker of state premises – it couldn’t be used to protect private property, allotment gardens or homes. Concrete fences are an iconic feature of Soviet industry and the Soviet visual landscape.

These grey barriers did nothing to beautify the urban environment, but they did function as vehicles for propaganda. Painted communist and patriotic slogans were an intrinsic part of Soviet industry. The concrete fences served as the canvas for carefully crafted propaganda slogans, the words being stencilled on to them. People quickly got used to seeing these slogans and quite possibly stopped noticing them. They included exhortations to achieve remarkable feats of labour and promises of a bright future, as well as praise for the party, the militant vanguard and the working class. 

Yet life behind these grey fences was not necessarily as dreary as you might imagine. The fences often acquired important practical functions as people appropriated them for their own everyday purposes. For example, on sunny days they cast huge shadows and, especially in the early years of the settlement before there were any trees, adults and children would gather in the shade of the fence panels to chat and play. In particular, children and adults alike would enjoy traditional games played with pieces made from the ankle bones of sheep or goats, such as alchiki (with men playing chuko atmay and ordo).

Teenagers would scrawl graffiti on the fences – ‘Asel+Ulan’, ‘Tima was here’ or ‘Class 8a is the best’. A whole generation grew up seeing the dramatic declaration ‘Tsoy’s alive!’, which was visible on a plethora of buildings and structures, from doors to stairwells and the boundary fences of various institutions. Sometimes the graffiti was negative or abusive but this would quickly be painted out or new graffiti would be written over the top.

In sunny weather people also used the fences to beat or air carpets and korpeshka cushions. So although these fences were intended to separate industrial activities from domestic life, they also came to serve social functions.

Slogans on the concrete fences of Shamaldy-Say

• ‘Salute the brotherhood of communist and workers’ parties – the militant vanguard, the working class and all workers’
• ‘Long live the Leninist Komsomol – faithful helpmeet and Communist Party reserve’
• ‘Long live the eternal, indissoluble bonds of friendship and cooperation’
• ‘Workers of the Soviet Union! Let’s celebrate 50 years of the Great October Revolution with achievements in communist construction’
• ‘Communists! Be at the forefront of the campaign to fulfil the resolutions of the 23rd Communist Party Congress, build communism in the USSR!’

Literature
https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3332175
https://esquire.ru/style-and-grooming/3168-fence
http://www.walkingalmaty.com/concrete-fences.html

Gulzat Baialieva, Ph.D. Student at the Department of Social Anthropology, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen