Turgunbai Sadykov’s 1995 monument in Bishkek once held life-size bronzes of the writers, physicians, and scientists a newly independent Kyrgyzstan chose as its founders, until five were stolen, likely for scrap, and the sculptor took the rest down. The names stayed, lettered into the stone. In 2016 the artist Brad Downey tracked down Kyrgyz professionals working in those same fields today and had them climb onto the empty blocks, briefly restaffing the nation’s fathers with its living.