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Felt making art
Felt making is a traditional form of textile craftsmanship in Uzbekistan, practiced for centuries by nomadic and rural communities. It involves processing wool from sheep, cleaning, carding, and then manually felting it through rolling, pressing, and wetting techniques to produce dense, warm, and durable fabric used for carpets, clothing, yurts, and ceremonial items. This ancient craft combines utilitarian knowledge with cultural aesthetics, as felt products are often decorated with colorful, symbolic patterns representing protection, nature, or family values. The creation of felt is typically a communal activity, especially among women, where skills, stories, and songs are shared in the process. Felt making is not only an economic activity but also a symbol of identity, reflecting the pastoral heritage and sustainable lifestyle of many Uzbek regions.

#felt making #wool #traditional crafts #uzbekistan #rural women #nomadic heritage #textile art #decorative motifs #community tradition #sustainability #handmade carpets

Uzbekistan

Gilamchilik (Carpet-weaving)
One of the most labor-intensive artistic crafts in Uzbekistan is carpet-making, the traditions of which go back to the ancient times. Cattle breeder has been rich for wool products and wool of sheep and camel used for carpet-making since olden time. Handmade carpet making is laborious work and it demands from the weaver great effort, taste and skill. In pre-mongolian period carpet items produced by Turkic tribes of Oghuz origin were especially popular. Later, during the epoch of Temurids, it is possible to observe active interaction of Iranian and Turkic carpet-making traditions. However, starting from the XVI century carpet items produced by Uzbeks from Dashti-qipchaq became widespread in Mawarannahr. Carpet items of Uzbekistan, in terms of execution technique, can be divided into long-piled, short-piled and pileless types. Women carpet-makers made various types of carpets. Among them it is possible to mention the following: piled carpets, which were laid under one's feet; panels called "bugdjoma", used for covering beds while moving from one house to another; carpet tapes called "kur" and "baskur", used for fixing framework of a jurt; pileless woolen rugs called "gadjari", "qokhma", "terme", "taqir gilam"; kit bags called "napramach"; saddlebags called "hurdjun", etc. Ornamental design of Uzbek carpet items reflected rich and diverse world of nomadic lifestyle. Their prevailing motifs were of cosmogonic and zoomorphic nature, and were expressed through orderly geometric lines and images.

#carpet #weaving #labor-intensive #wool #sheep #camel #handicrafts #traditional craftsmanship

Uzbekistan

handmade carpets