Pssst … wanna buy a shyrdak?
Shyrdak Sale ... and other felt items!
What seems like many years ago now, I was driving up to Naryn and as we passed through the town of Kochkor, I saw a sight that made me smile. Draped over the fences were row upon row of colourful shyrdaks, felt carpets. There were even shyrdaks laid on the side of the road. I mentioned this when we got to Naryn and I was told that they were cleaning the carpets. Apparently, twice a year you should shake the carpet and beat it with a carpet beater, stick or tennis racket, then lay it out in direct sunlight for about three hours. You shouldn’t try washing it with soap and water nor use a brush or a vacuum cleaner because this can destroy the felt.
Shyrdays have always struck me as not practical as carpets because the felt tens to wear out very quickly, and like most Westerners, I like to see them as wall hangings. However, they are to be found in most Kyrgyz homes and they obviously know how to care for them because they last a lot longer than the ones I have had on the floor either at home or in the office.
Large ornate shyrdaks were often a feature of a Kyrgyz home, an object of pride and representing a traditional craft that dated back to the nomadic past when women would gather together to make them. Over the course of time, the skill of making them has been diluted and some feared that it was in danger of being lost as many girls seemed to lose interest in the labour intensive craft, faced as they were with competing pressures of twentieth century life, and the convenience of buying ready made, industrially produced pile carpets. Also, some of the traditional patterns were being replaced by tessellations of geometric patterns.
Even so, the art of making shyrdaks has been seeing a revival, especially thanks to the fact that there is a new market in making them for foreign visitors, and Kochkor is one of the places that is especially well known for its shyrdaks and other felt craftwork, which is partly because of the Altyn Kol Cooperative.
In the winter of 1996, a group of women in the Naryn oblast realized that visitors were fascinated by shyrdaks and that they represented a potentially valuable source of employment and a way of supplementing their household incomes, especially in the remote rural regions where there was little other opportunity. They had the necessary skills and were willing to work hard, but were lacking in some of the business and marketing experience in order to make a successful entrepreneurial endeavour.
Fortunately, help was at hand in the form of a Swiss development agency, Helvetas, who provided advice, training and organizing an exhibition-sale. The was just the first of what was to become a series of twice a year tradition. In the space of a year, this small group of women had produced over a hundred small shyrdaks which were exported,
In fact, to be fair, similar efforts were taking place in other parts of the country with help from other agencies, but in Kochkor it led to the foundation in 1998 of Altyn Kol, which is now a cooperative with more than 200 members.
As well as offering goods for sale to the public, they also arrange training and marketing support for their members, including operating a website, (www.altyn-kol.com), with information about some of the members and a catalogue of their work. They also interested in preserving and spreading the traditional skills and crafts involved in making shyrbaks and other felt objects. As part of this, they organize demonstrations and masterclasses in the art of making shyrdays. On their website they actually have a page with photographs showing the whole process of making shyrdays, from the sheep to the finished article. Just learning how the felt was made was an interesting experience and being abole to participate in the process makes it even more special. I found the event that I attended fascination; indeed, as a former Maths teacher, I thought the whole experience provided a wonderful example suitable for a school project including elements of design, symmetry and practical skills, not to mention the chance to teach something about Kyrgyzstan, it’s people, history and culture.
For a better idea, try look at these two video clips from youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3lpRnixu5w
and
http://youtu.be/fQAlll0ybP8
Well, it just so happens that it’s time for their regular six-monthly exhibition/trade fair, which is being held in National Historical Museum on Ala Too Square from tomorrow, (Thanksgiving for the Americans), through to Sunday.
It should be worth a visit.
Altyn Kol - Contact details:
Altyn Kol Women’s Handicraft NGO
22a, Pioneerskaya Street
Kochor, Naryn Oblast 722500, Kyrgyz Republic
Tel.: (996) 353-522-534
e-mail:
Website: http://www.altyn-kol.com
Bishkek