'Kiyiz' is a valuable felt material used by nomads in everyday life since immemorial time. Felt is manufactured from sheep, camel or goat wool by felting. Felt is made from wool using various methods to compress the wool fibers to form a thick, durable and warm material. Felt processing and products remains as one of the most popular crafts in the decorative art of the Kazakhstan steppes and other Central Asian countries. It was the major craft in Kazakh nomadic life as well as a significant work of women. Felt in Kazakhstan used mainly for flooring as a carpet well as covering a yurt. Nowadays one can get also a Kazakh felt souvenir toy. Warm slippers, vests, scarves and much more. Kazakhs used two basic types of felt, which differ in their method of manufacture and function. Kazakhs used coarse felt to cover the yurt and the dirt floor inside. Felt often decorated ornament. There are different methods of ornamentation: applique, ornamental stitch and many others. Skilled workers typically cover the entire surface of the felt track patterns, using a contrasting color. Kiiz is a simple felt carpet made of white, brown or grey wool, used as a foundation for making other products or to cover various parts of the yurt. Syrmak is a floor carpet, made by designing on a basis (kiiz) ornamental aptterns cut out of think multicolor felt which are then adjusted to the basis and sewed with color lace along the contour of the pattern, Tekemet is the Kazakh felt carpet with inserted color pattern on the top of each other before rolling. Different tribes in Kazakhstan each have their designs. Tuzkiiz ia a wall carpet, made by sewing ornamental compositions on felt or solid color fabric like velvet or silk, and then sewing them to the felt basis.

Zeegt naamal or hemmed appliqué is a complex of diverse needlework techniques and is one of the monumental forms of needlework in Mongolia. To create hemmed appliqué, two black-and-white versions of design are prepared, while one version is cut out in detail and the other is painted with different colours. Carefully marking the details such as borders, lines and ornaments on the draft, the various silks and textiles are prepared with different sizes, colours and features of the pattern draft and following with a starch applied to each part. The cut-out draft is pasted with folded edges on the material, employing careful attention and meticulous hands. The hemmed appliqué is a creation of a meticulous team work of embroiderers each of them mastered in different techniques.

Skills and knowledges of the weaving the traditional fabric alocha. It is designed with red, black, green, blue and other color threads.

Weaving a local traditional fabric called as adras. This fabric is weaved with silk and cotton threads. Adras fabric is used for sewing women dresses, men’s turban, blanket and etc.

Traditional craft related to the weaving buryo – a kind of carpet with trunk of the plant nay (kamish).

Drowing ornament patterns on the fabrics for embroidery purpose. Usualy a rural artist drow such ornaments, then other women needlepoint them.

Inscribed in 2011 (6.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity Weaving of Mosi, Fine Ramie, in the Hansan Region is a skill of weaving ramie cloth in a traditional manner using natural materials from ramie plants on a traditional loom. It is not simply the skill of weaving ramie, but also a form of recreation that allows the weavers to take pleasure in participating in the entire production process. According to historical records, Mosi was well recognized in countries neighbouring ancient Korea: it was exported first in the Three Kingdoms period (4th-7th century) and regarded as a major export item in the Goryeo Dynasty (8th-14th centuries) and Joseon Dynasty (14th-20th centuries). It has been esteemed as a popular summer cloth to this day. Although ramie weaving has spread to other regions, including the Chungcheong and Jeolla Provinces, ramie cloth’s true heartland is Hansan. This area boasts fertile land and sea winds that allow ramie plants to grow healthier than in any other region, resulting in quality ramie cloth. Weaving of Hansan ramie was transmitted in the form of women-led family operations and was characterized by the tradition of women passing down their proprietary skills to their daughters or daughters-in-law. However, it was also a community culture in that neighbours gathered and worked together in a designated section of the town. Since weaving of Hansan ramie could be used as a substitute for money during the Joseon Dynasty at a time when women were excluded from many social and economic activities, most women wove ramie cloth as a major source of income. However, as industrialization rapidly swept through Korean society and different cheaper and more easily-handled cloth were introduced, Mosi fell from favour and the number of women weaving it began to decline. In response to this trend, the Korean government determined to safeguard the skills of weaving of Hansan ramie, and in 1967 designated it as important intangible cultural heritage for its vital transmission. Currently, the transmission of ramie weaving is conducted through apprenticeship by the master and her students and through mother-to-daughter transmission by ordinary households practicing this element. Weaving ramie cloth includes a number of processes, including harvesting, boiling and bleaching ramie plants, spinning yarn out of ramie fibre, and weaving it. Currently, around 500 people in Seocheon-gun, South Chungcheong Province are engaged in the diverse activities of weaving ramie. Of the entire production volume of ramie cloth in South Chungcheong Province, only that produced by 157 people from the Hansan region is recognized as authentic Hansan ramie. Designated Master Bang Yeon-ok is the main practitioner and takes responsibility for promoting the tradition of Hansan ramie weaving among young people and handing down her techniques to future generations. Since the later times of Joseon Dynasty (18th century) when Hansan ramie was first commercialized, the primary purpose of Hansan ramie was to generate income. To earn increased income, a family group usually divided their labour to produce ramie, or a local community collaborated. This led to Mosi-doorae (collaborative effort to produce Mosi), which has further developed into the present specialized activities of Hansan ramie weaving. Mosi-doorae was mainly organized around a unit of relatives or neighbours, thus allowing families and neighbours to unite and stimulate a harmonious atmosphere within the group. As Hansan ramie is relatively more highly valued than other ramie products from other regions, the ramie producers of the Hansan region have kept to the traditional methods of Hansan ramie weaving despite the rigors of the process. An ramie weaving is still a source of income of housewives. They sell their products during the Hansan Ramie Fabric Cultural Festival or online. Ramie has been used to produce a variety of clothing for common people, including dress suits, military uniforms, and mourning garments. The whiteness of the bleached ramie clothing, as well as its refined quality and neatness, offers an elegant style of dress and was thus welcomed as high-end clothing. In the meantime, white attire is a cultural and historical icon symbolizing Korea and an important measure to express the Korean character. From ancient times to date, the weaving of ramie has been executed by hand in the home and the skills have been transmitted within families. Most Mosi producers in the Hansan region are said to have acquired their skills from their mothers or mothers-in-law. Among them, those over the age of 60 are found to have begun learning the weaving techniques at the age of 14 or 15. Master Bang Yeon-ok similarly absorbed their weaving skills in this way. The reason was that through weaving they could not only help other female family members with their efforts, but also play a role in supporting their families. This trend was strengthened by the social preference of the 1960s that young unmarried women skilled at weaving the highly valued ramie were welcomed as ideal prospective brides due to their ability to earn income. Therefore, many women willingly learned the techniques prior to marriage. Starting from the 1970s, demand for ramie began to decline and the number of Hansan ramie producers dropped apace. For a more vital transmission, the government designated Hansan ramie weaving as important intangible cultural heritage. Mechanization and industrialization can affect the process of weaving ramie, but the practitioners of Hansan ramie weaving have insisted on the traditional techniques. They are striving to encourage ramie weaving apprentices to make more use of traditional looms while also taking advantage of upgraded techniques. Modernized looms can certainly contribute to producing better ramie cloth; still, the acquisition of traditional production methods also helps spread appreciation of ancient wisdom and instills a uniquely Korean spirit and culture into weaving ramie.

South Korea 2011

Tush kiyiz represents intensely embroidered ornamental carpet used to decorate the house. It is of a rectangular shape and embroidered on different types of fabrics. Initially it was used for insulating purposes in the yurt. Most probably, the first wall carpets were made of felt, which is evident from its name: tush – meaning “outer” or “in front”, and kiyiz – meaning “felt.” tush kiyiz is an example of Kyrgyz embroidery. Embroidery is one of the most ancient and most wide-spread crafts of Kyrgyz people. During the centuries Kyrgyz women have developed their own ornamental style, which is dominated by vegetative and zoomorphic motifs such as the ornaments of leafs, branches, flowers as well as round and spiral patterns. Kyrgyz embroidery leaves a lot of room for artistic expression and improvisation. Some Kyrgyz women embroider without stencils based on their own memory and imagination.

One of the uniqueness of Mongolian wrestling is wrestling costumes which consist of a hat, zodog (jacket), shuudag (briefs), boots, stockings and boots’ bindings. Zodog (jacket) and shuudag (brief) are a traditional costume of Mongolian wrestlers. The costimes made of silk, textiles and stitched with pliable and strong threads afford a wrestler the ability to hold his opponent during the wrestling bout. Zodog and shuudag adapt themselves to the shape of wrestler’s brawny body. This tight costume greatly affords a wrestler’s comfort to move as well. Only a few specialized masters craft the zodog and shuudag by their hands.

A kind of sewing ornaments on the fabrics with yellow-golden threads. Golden embroidered ornaments are used in the different dresses. Together with threads are applied jewelers, small precious stones, marbles and etc.

Embroidery, needlepoint of ornaments with cotton, silk and wool threads on the fabrics. Each ornament has symbolic interpretation. Gulduzi needlework is used in decoration of costumes, curtains, covers and etc.

Skills of applying ornaments through coloring and beating forms in fabrics. Decorated fabrics are used for dresses, table-cloth, curtain, bed cover and etc.