Materials
costume
ICH Materials 151
Publications(Article)
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Beldemchi Exhibited: From the Making of Women’s Traditional Clothing into a Field of Female CreativityAn exhibition of beldemchi was launched at the Gapar Aitiev Fine Arts Museum in Bishkek on 7 June 2017. The exhibition is still ongoing through the partnership of the Kiyiz Duino Foundation and the Gapar Aitiev Fine Arts Museum, an institution named after one of the first Soviet Kyrgyz artists who became a national artist of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954. The exhibition displays more than forty items collected from state museums and private collections. It represents all regions of the country and various embroidery styles and techniques. The event is a sign of increasing interest in beldemchi in Kyrgyz society; renowned designers are already coming up with unique beldemchi design.\n\nOne of the Kyrgyz ICH elements, beldemchi is a traditional women’s skirt worn over a dress, gown, and sometimes thin coat. Conventionally, women wear their first beldemchi after a severe stress, e.g. first labor or situations demanding warmth. When worn as postpartum clothing, beldemchi helps women correcting their posture. It also gives physical support. Historically, as Kyrgyz people led a nomadic lifestyle in inland continental climate conditions during pre-Soviet times until 1917, beldemchi was an essential part of Kyrgyz women’s traditional apparel.\n\nBeldemchi may be worn daily and in holidays or festive events. It is made up of velvet and silk adorned with embroidery. The embroidery could cover either the whole skirt or its edges. Viewed as a protective amulet against evil eye, jinxes, and other unpleasant troubles, it is also a determinant of a woman’s age, social status, region, and her artistic skills based on the composition, style, and quality of the embroidery since every woman is supposed to know how to make a beldemchi and its embroidery. The main base of beldemchi is a double-leaved swing skirt with wide and thick belt. Beldemchi has several regional differences. In the north where the winter season is cold and long, it is mainly a wraparound flared skirt from warm fabric with a thick band over the belt. In the south, beldemchi is a buttoned front open cut skirt.\n\nThe presentation of beldemchi at the exhibition displays how the making of traditional clothing for women has gradually turned into a field of rich female creativity. Notwithstanding, beldemchi has started to disappear from Kyrgyz everyday life, which may have been caused by the changing views and lifestyle. During the Soviet modernism in the 1960s, wearing beldemchi was a sign of backwardness and provincialism. Soon in the 1970s, it fell into disuse. However, elderly women in rural areas have kept wearing beldemchi until now.\n\nPhoto : Women wearing Beldemchi © Kyiz Duino FundYear2017NationKyrgyzstan
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Kalpak, a Traditional Headdress of Kyrgyz Men Drawing the Universe’s EnergyKalpak is the traditional headdress of Kyrgyz men. Symmetrically cut, it is purely made up of white felt, with black or red edges. Craftswomen describe the parts of the kalpak’s structure as fire, water, air, and soil, connecting to one another as north and south and east and west.\n\nThe top of kalpak is called the sun ray, a symbol of life. Tassels are added to the top to symbolize the roots of progeny. Lines and patterns, stitched on white felt, have their own semantic content. The kalpak’s color depends on the person’s age or status. Children often wear kalpak with green edges, the color of grass and leaves. Middle-aged men wear brown kalpaks, a reference to the color of soil and mountains. Young men of marriageable age wear red kalpaks. Very wise people or those known for their leadership and justness wear a white kalpak with white edges.\n\nHolders of traditional knowledge say that kalpak a headwear is not only to protect oneself from sun or rain but also to aid men in drawing energy from the universe. As an important part of the Kyrgyz people’s tradition, one can’t give another person his own kalpak, play with it, throw it up, or put it to the ground. It is treated with utmost respect and is usually presented as a gift to esteemed people and relatives.\n\nTo popularize the national headdress, 5 March is designated as the National Day of Kalpak in Kyrgyzstan. Conventionally on this day, schools have lessons on the kalpak, museums and theaters hold presentations on the historical origins of kalpak, and various flash mobs are organized with the participation of activists of youth movements and students to demonstrate the importance of kalpak in Kyrgyz culture. Consequently, kalpak is very popular among men of different ages, backgrounds, and social belonging. The cultural relevance of kalpak is reinforced by a huge number craftswomen producing it, making it available in all part of Kyrgyzstan.\n\nPhoto 1 : Traditional Kyrgyz kalpak cc by-sa3 Prosopee WikiMedia\nPhoto 2 : Kalpak, traditional headdress of Kyrgyz Men ⓒAigine Cultural Research CenterYear2018NationKyrgyzstan
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Mak YongThis ancient theatre form created by Malaysia’s Malay communities combines acting, vocal and instrumental music, gestures and elaborate costumes. Specific to the villages of Kelantan in northwest Malaysia, where the tradition originated, Mak Yong is performed mainly as entertainment or for ritual purposes related to healing practices.YearNationMalaysia
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CENTRAL ASIA CRAFTS SUPPORT ASSOCIATION’S RESOURCE CENTER IN KYRGYZSTAN—KYRGYZ CRAFT HERITAGE SAFEGUARDING: ISSUES AND ACTIVITIESTraditional crafts have long been a part of the traditional nomadic culture of the Kyrgyz people, who have historically lived in close connection with nature. For the Kyrgyz people, the natural world was once seen as an inexhaustible source of raw materials and inspiration for the creation of handicrafts.Year2011NationSouth Korea
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The Journey Towards Knotted AccessoriesKnotting is, in essence, the act of tying a thread or a cord so that it does not come undone, while knot craft is the art of weaving together various shapes using threads or cords made through various methods in order to serve a certain physical or psychological purpose.\nThe origin of knotting can arguably be traced back to the advent of humanity itself. In primitive times, it was necessary to fashion cords and knots out of tree bark and grass for survival purposes in the context of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle; uses would have included tying or linking together hunting tools or carrying captured prey. With the advancement of humanity, however, knots surpassed their purely utilitarian purpose and evolved into craft items that are closely linked to everyday life, with the addition of various materials and crafting techniques. For example, each civilization has evolved its own knotting techniques and shapes influenced by its surrounding environment, to craft items such as belts or waist cords, baskets, and straw mats. Over time, knots have also become accessories worn for aesthetic purposes and ornamental items used to decorate the household, in addition to ritual items used in various ceremonies. In this regard, knots have surpassed their original survival and everyday life purposes to take on aesthetic and spiritual functions as well.Year2022NationSouth Korea
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Mongolian Culture and HeritageThe culture of the Central Asian steppes expresses itself vividly in the lifestyle of traditional nomadic practices. Mongolian culture has been in practice in the nomadic life and the traditions surrounding the nomad’s home (ger). And it is present in religious celebrations, national festivals, art and crafts, music and dance, language and literature, which form the backbone of Mongolian intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia. Mongolia is filled with valuable cultural properties and intangible cultural heritage of humanity that have been kept or practiced for thousands of years.\n\nGer, Mongolian Traditional Dwelling\nThe traditional architecture of the Mongols differed strongly from that of the settled peoples of Asia and other continents. Centuries ago, there the ger, also known as a yurt, appeared. It still offers shelter to nomads in particular places in Central Asia. Its development and fundamental principles are determined by the specific features of the way of life of Mongol tribes, which made it necessary to evolve a light and collapsible structure to be used as a dwelling or for public functions.\n\nMongolian Language and Literature\nMongolian is the language of most of the Mongolian population and inner Mongolia. By origin, Mongolian is one of the Altaic family of languages, and the history of the Mongolian language is long and complicated. Significant literary work of early Mongolia includes The Secret History of the Mongols, which was published in 1228).\n\nMongolian Religion and Beliefs\nThe Mongols have practiced several religions, of which Shamanism and Buddhism were the most common. The faith in Mongolia is Buddhism, though the state and religion were separated during the socialist period, but with the transition to the parliamentary republic in the 1990s, there has been a general revival of faiths across the country\n\nMongolian Art and Crafts\nMongolian arts and crafts have been passed down across generations from the Paleolithic times to today, leaving behind deep impressions on all facets of life and conscious, aesthetic, and philosophical thinking. Highly developed Mongolian arts and crafts come from the second millennium BCE. The works included sculptured heads of wild animals with exaggerated features. Other items include knives, daggers, and other items of practical and religious use.\n\nMongolian Music and Dance\nMusic is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among Mongolia’s unique contributions to the world’s musical culture are the long songs, overtone singing, and morin khuur (the horse-headed fiddle). The music of Mongolia is also rich with varieties related to the various ethnic groups of the country. Among the most popular forms of modern music in Mongolia are Western pop and rock genres and the mass songs written by contemporary authors in the form of folk songs.\n\nHorse Culture of Mongolia\nIt is famously known that horses play a large role in the Mongols’ daily and national lives. Common sayings are, “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings,” and “Mongols are born on horseback” these are arguably true words. Even today, horse-based culture is still practiced by nomadic Mongolians.\n\nVisit https://www.toursmongolia.com/tours for additional information about Mongolian culture.\n\nPhoto 1 : Prairie meadow grass inner Mongolia traditional clothing © Batzaya Choijiljav\nPhoto 2~7 : © Batzaya ChoijiljavYear2020NationMongolia
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Loy Krathong Festival of ThailandLoy Krathong Festival is a yearly event in Thailand on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, usually in November. This festival has a long history dating back to the Sukhothai era and continuously maintains its popularity in the present. It is a local ritual in honor of the goddess of water to get rid of misfortunes for a better future. During the festival, people gather by a river or canal float krathong, a basket made of banana trunk and leaves in the shape of a blooming lotus. This performance is more of a prayer that the krathong will take their hardships and bad luck far away. Traditionally, families make at least one krathong as beautiful as they can, decorated with various flowers, candles, and joss sticks. Strands of hair, nails, clothes, and money are sometimes placed in the krathong, too. Before floating it, people light the candle and joss sticks and make a wish, asking for forgiveness from the goddess of water for any deeds that may have disappointed her, and ask her to take their bad luck away.\n\nThis ritualistic performance is practiced throughout Thailand, though each location has its own way of performing it. There are also some fun activities during the festival such as the Best Krathong Competition to honor the most beautiful and creative krathong, Noppamas beauty pageant to crown a beautiful and smart girl (named after Noppamas, a beautiful consort of the King Lethai’s grandson during the Sukhothai era), fireworks display, traditional costume display, and many other traditional entertainment and performances.\n\nLooking into how the festival has been carried out over the last decade, people have come up with more resourceful and impressive ways to participate in the festival. Some have used foam or plastic and artificial decorations to make a lighter krathong that can float well on water. In response to global warming, people have also become more vigilant in using eco-friendly materials in creating Krathong. For example, a krathong-shaped bread has already been created for the festival; it didn’t leave waste on the water, and it also served as a fish food. Commonly, banana trunks and leaves have also been used to create krathong.\n\nPhoto : Loy krathong ⓒ Department of Cultural PromotionYear2018NationThailand
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BAN NARASILP: DESCENDANTS OF KHON COSTUME TRADITIONSKhon is one of the most significant performing arts of Thailand. It is an important traditional dance and art style dated from the Ayutthaya period. It has its own unique identity and integrates different fields of art, literature, rituals, and crafts.Year2018NationSouth Korea