Arts and Crafts of Central Asia
Discovery Central Asia, No. 33
The latest issue of the magazine Discovery Central Asia has landed on my desk.
To be honest, it sat on my desk for a few days as I got on with the routine work, until I found myself with some spare moments waiting for someone to turn up for a meeting. I like being busy so I looked around for something to occupy these unexpected free minutes and my eye caught sight of the attractive design on the cover, so I picked it up and started reading.
For some years, the magazine has adopted a thematic approach. Previous issues, for example, have been devoted to: Wildlife; Fashion; Music; the people and their traditions; Hospitality and Cuisine; Spiritual Journeys through Central Asia; Museums and the Soviet Heritage of Central Asia.
This issue is dedicated to the theme of: the Arts and Crafts of Central Asia.
As the publisher, Marat Akhmedjanov, writes in the editorial, in the twenty years s of Independence, “many local crafts were given a new lease of life.”
He continues, “ Many skills had been almost lost or forgotten,” and whilst it is true that many of the traditional crafts were suffering a certain amount of neglect but it was probably a result of young people faced up to the distractions proffered demands and opportunities of the twentieth century as much the “75 years of Soviet repression” that he attributes this to.
It’s a magazine, not a book trying to give a comprehensive coverage of the wide variety and range of traditional crafts, but the articles make an interesting anthology by a number of authors, experts in their field, most of them practitioners of the arts that they describe.
It is richly illustrated with many bright and cheerful photographs.
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The peoples of Central Asia are an interesting mix. They include nomads, (like the Kyrgyz), who tended to make most of what they needed for themselves and carry everything they owned with them from place to place and everything had to serve both a practical purpose as well as being attractive as decoration, (which influenced the objects, the crafts and skills required to make them). There were also settled peoples who were often more specialised and developed different skills and techniques more suited to a settled lifestyle.
The historical heritage of arts and crafts is traced back to olden times through examples of antiques, (such as highly decorated caskets). Although much of the magazine presents examples of the modern revival of the arts and crafts in Central Asia, there is one in particular about the revival of Karakalpak handicrafts, (from North Western Uzbekistan).
Of course, being based in Kyrgyzstan, the opening article which explores the used of felt as a material was of special interest to me, as was the article on the Kyrgyz Felt arts, Shyrdaks and Ala Kiyiz. Technically shyrdaks and ala kiyiz are felt carpets, but more traditional carpets are represented by articles on the Striped Carpets from the Zerafshan Valley and Azerbaijan Carpets
Another article specifically about Kyrgyzstan explored the world of Kurak, (patchwork), and concentrates on the cultural and mystical importance of the craft and artefacts amongst the nomadic Kyrgyz.
When it comes to embroidery – an important craft throughout the region, there are two general articles, plus one on the use of Gold in embroidery and another on Tajik headdresses and embroidery.
There are a couple of articles about the variety of decoration and motifs used in different crafts and a double page spread dedicated to the work of Musaev Sherali – a painter of miniatures. The collection, or anthology, is rounded off by articles Dolls created by Uzbek craftswomen, on Woodwork and carving and another article on Oriental Chess sets.
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As I said, it’s an anthology, and each of the articles stand alone, but many of them left me with a desire to do some research and learn to more of this rich aspect of life and traditional culture and, perhaps, to write some postcards on some of the topics in the future.
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For the record: for more information about the magazine, see: http://www.discovery-central-asia.com/index1.php and for more infomation about the Crafts of Kyrgyzstan, you can visit our website crafts.kg.
Bishkek