This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

From giant ice sculptures in the desert to renaming the days of the week after themselves, Turkmenistan is no stranger to fantastic displays of narcissism by its leaders. The most recent president of Central Asia’s most repressive dictatorship, former dentist Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, has cemented his cult of personality with a 24-carat-gold statue of himself on horseback perched on a white cliff 7 stories above the capital city of Ashgabat. This is a man who became internationally famous when a YouTube video showed him falling off a horse during a race that he still managed to win – just one of the many perks of being a dictator. Another is creating a solid gold horse you’re less likely to fall off of. Sorry but is anyone else wondering how many teeth could be crowned using the gold in this statue?

With thanks to Adrienne Landry for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.