A new city and its monuments: Astana, Kazakhstan

Nazarbayev's Golden Handprint: it's only a matter of time until you can buy a cast resin version of your own from the FrontGate catalog.
Image from slate.com.

Last week, the NYT published several articles written by C. J. Chivers about the Presidential elections in Kazakhstan. The article was accompanied by an amazing photo (now locked away in the Times select archives) from atop the "Tree of Life," a 90+ meter monument to President Nursaltan Nazarbayev, who has been in power since Kazakhstan won its independence from the USSR in 1991, and who since 1997 has overseen the development of a new capital city, Astana. In the observation deck atop the tree of life is a golden impression of Nazarbayev's hand, into which Kazakh citizens may place their own hands as a gesture of loyalty to the president many of them refer to as 'papa.'


Some other images of Astana's monumental scene, and a plaza thrown in to boot.




Images from griven.com


Image from chifoundation.com.