Traditional knowledge related to the wood carving and wood product manufacture
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  • Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright
    Manage No EE00000430
    Country Kyrgyzstan
    ICH Domain Knowledge and practices about nature and the universe Traditional craft skills
    Address Batken, Ysyk-Kol, Osh, Talas, Jalalabad and Chui regions
    Year of Designation 2008
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Description Wood carving and wood product manufacture among the Kyrgyz originated in ancient times. An example is the manufacture of wooden parts of the yurt, komuz, which have become the pinnacle of the handicraft creativity of the people. Modern travelers are very familiar with the Kyrgyz yurt, construction of which is made only of wood by the true masters. Wood items decorated with carvings and paintings have been harmoniously fit into the complex of interior of the yurt. These are chests ‘sandyk’, wooden bases on which felt mats, carpets and bedding items are placed; coffrets for food, cloth and horse gear hangers ‘ala bakan’; boxes for dishes, stirrer for kymyz ‘pishkek’, biler for drinks and other liquids, wooden blocks for lamps – ‘chirak paya’. Woodworks are done by the men named as ‘jygach usta’. Materials used for different woodworks depend on elasticity or firmness of the wooden species: birch, cottonwood, sump-weed, juniper or nut-tree. They are cut easily and flexible enough to get desired shape. Instruments used in woodworks are: saw, adze, single bitted axe, knife, hewing with blade in the form of groove, hatchet with plane, wood auger, strop used to make walls of the yurt.
Social and cultural significance Wood carving and wood product manufacture has been one of the most common types of Kyrgyz home craft since ancient times. This is evidenced by numerous archaeological finds on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. In the life of the Kyrgyz people, the tree had and has a great sacred significance. The ancient artistic traditions of ornamental motifs, technological techniques for making wood products have been preserved in the works of folk masters of Kyrgyzstan to this day. For example, Yurt creation is a joint work-process of the whole community of craftspeople, which fosters the formation of common human values, constructive cooperation, creative imagination and is a uniting factor giving community members the feeling of their identity. Transmitting traditional knowledge and skills to young people, craftsmen teach them to be diligent, responsible, careful and friendly to the environment. While assembling or dismantling a yurt, the elders of a family or a kin transmit the fundamental values and principles of Kyrgyz people: to safeguard, develop and transmit to descendants the centuries-old folk traditions. All folk festivities, ceremonies, important events related to a human life-cycle such as baby-birth, wedding, jubilee, funeral rituals are held in a yurt. Yurt remains a stable and lasting link with the past. Although the significance of a yurt as a dwelling is transformed with the development of urbanization, it remains an important cultural heritage of Kyrgyz people. Yurt is a symbol of statehood, family, traditional hospitality and is widely used in Kyrgyzstan. In the era of automated technologies, traditional hand work created by human inspired that imagination acquires special importance for communities and society as a whole.
Transmission method Traditional wood product manufacture knowledge and skills are transmitted to young generation by craftspeople through practical trainings, instructions, demonstrations. Traditionally, knowledge and skills are transmitted in families or in craftspeople communities from teachers to apprentices. Some handicraft technologies are taught at crafts classes in schools, art colleges and institutes, studios and extra-curricular vocational programs.
Community The community consists of craftspeople producing yurts and wood product. Nowadays they are represented by family-based communities, like Sharshembiyevy, Kenchibayevy families of Kyrgyzstan, as well as “Crafts council of Kyrgyzstan” and etc.
Keyword
Information source
National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO
https://en.unesco.org/countries/kyrgyzstan/information
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