He could have just sent him a card. Or composed a song or something. A Kazakh performance artist, Kanat Ibragimov, has had himself circumcised in honor of his President Nursultan Nazarbaev's 70th birthday.
Before the ordeal, a rising star of Kazakh showbiz -- described by "Respublika" as "a hybrid of Marilyn Monroe and Kazakh nightingale" -- sang "Happy birthday, Mr. President," before Ibragimov emerged with pickle jar and a mushroom-like object floating inside.
He dedicated his sacrifice to the president and called on Kazakh citizens to do the same.
As Eurasianet's "Inside The Cocoon" blog notes:
Watch the K+ report, in English and with all the gory details.
-- Luke Allnutt
Before the ordeal, a rising star of Kazakh showbiz -- described by "Respublika" as "a hybrid of Marilyn Monroe and Kazakh nightingale" -- sang "Happy birthday, Mr. President," before Ibragimov emerged with pickle jar and a mushroom-like object floating inside.
He dedicated his sacrifice to the president and called on Kazakh citizens to do the same.
As Eurasianet's "Inside The Cocoon" blog notes:
As pressure mounts on civil society in Kazakhstan, humor is becoming an alternative means for protest. Performance artist Kanat Ibragimov, for example, is becoming well-known for his tongue-in-cheek actions. He gate-crashed this April’s Eurasian Media Forum - brainchild of the president’s daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva - to distribute leaflets while fellow artist Aynur Saydenova played La Marseillaise on a violin. Ibragimov’s leaflets bore a concise message: “kop soz, bok soz,” which loosely translates from Kazakh as “lots of words, lots of excrement.”
Watch the K+ report, in English and with all the gory details.
-- Luke Allnutt