Elements
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Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright Manage No EE00000066 Country Kyrgyzstan ICH Domain Social practices, rituals, festive events Knowledge and practices about nature and the universe Traditional craft skills Address The production of Ala-kiyiz and Shyrdak is widespread in all regions of Kyrgyzstan, especially in the Naryn and Issyk-Kul regions.Year of Designation 2008
Description | Traditional felt carpets represent one of the identity codes of the Kyrgyz people, and their recognizable, ethnographic features are an integral part of Kyrgyz cultural heritage. Kyrgyz people traditionally produce two types of felt carpets: Ala-kiyiz and Shyrdaks. Knowledge, skills, diversity, the semantics of ornaments, and the ceremonies of creating carpets, are all important cultural components. They provide Kyrgyz people with a sense of identity and continuity. Both types of felt carpets are included into the set of a traditional bride’s dowry. Shyrdaks sometimes are gifted for house-warming parties. The making of Kyrgyz felt carpets is inseparably linked with the everyday lifestyle of nomads, who used felt carpets to warm and decorate their homes. Ala-kiyiz are usually placed in the kitchen and the entrance area of the house. Shyrdaks are more complicated to produce and are more expensive, thus they are placed at the honourable part of the dwelling. The felt carpets ornaments reflect their creators’ outlooks and ideas about the Earth, water, mountains, celestial bodies and fertility. |
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Social and cultural significance | Creation of felt carpets has an important social function, because it demands the community’s unity and fosters the transmission of traditional knowledge. The carriers of the traditional knowledge needed to make Ala-kiyiz and Shyrdaks are, as a rule, older women. They are concentrated in rural, mountainous areas. Practitioners are mostly women over 40 years old. The younger generations are widely unattracted to the arduous handmade process of felt carpet making. The few young practitioners are mostly children of artisans. Ala-kiyiz are completely the products of teamwork. Usually, the eldest woman supervises the process, hence leading the group of artisans. The rest of the women do the main work: processing wool, pressing felt, and producing the final product. Men also participate in the process: they shear sheep, prepare the firewood, heat water, participate in felt pressing, and later, sell the felt products in the markets. An obligatory attribute in creating Ala-kiyiz and Shyrdaks, is a blessing of the felt carpet making process, given by the elders of the community, in the beginning and at the end of the work. Knowledge, skills, diversity, the semantics of ornamentation, and the ceremonies of creating carpets are all important cultural components, providing Kyrgyz people with a sense of identity and continuity. The making of Kyrgyz felt carpets is inseparably linked to the everyday life of nomads, who used felt carpets to warm and decorate their homes. Creation of felt carpets demands unity among the community and fosters the transmission of traditional knowledge – as a rule by older women who are normally concentrated in rural and mountainous areas, to younger women within the family. |
Transmission method | The current mode of transmission of the knowledge and skills of Ala-Kiyiz and Shyrdak production has remained as it was--traditional. All production stages are transmitted through practical joint work. As a rule, knowledge and skills are transmitted to young girls from their mothers and grandmothers, and from other experienced artisans of the community. Today, trainings are organized. Production techniques, patterns, colours and shapes of felt carpets were transmitted from generation to generation, and the most beautiful models of the products were widely disseminated and copied. |
Community | Craftsmen communities and groups: “Altyn Oimok”, “Felt Art Studio”, “Tash Tokum”, "Altyn Kol", "Janyl Alibekova's group", "El.Dar.Khan.Kut.", "Ak-Bairak", "Cheber Koldor", "Aibike", "Kenesh", “Dairy” Association of Kyrgyz craftsmen. |
Type of UNESCO List | List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding |
Incribed year in UNESCO List | 2012 |
Keyword
Information source
National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO
https://en.unesco.org/countries/kyrgyzstan/informationMaterials related to
Photos
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PI00006391
Ala-kiyiz and Shyrdak, art of Kyrgyz traditional felt carpets
designing a pattern
Kyrgyzstan 2011 -
PI00004713
Production Activities of Ala-Kyiz Community
Production activities of Ala-Kyiz community Element of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of urgent safegurading
Kyrgyzstan 2016 -
PI00004711
Production Activities of Ala-Kyiz Community
Production activities of Ala-Kyiz community Element of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of urgent safegurading
Kyrgyzstan 2016 -
PI00004712
Production Activities of Ala-Kyiz Community
Production activities of Ala-Kyiz community Element of Intangible Cultural Heritage in need of urgent safegurading
Kyrgyzstan 2016