About the felt carpets

Felt is irreplaceable thing in Kyrgyz people’s life, as it protects from cold, rain, wind, sun, wet, dampness. From the earliest times an integral part of decoration of Kyrgyz house was felt carpet shirdak, which adds special coziness, joy, festivity to interior. Nowadays shirdak is still popular, it is widely used in living both in city and village.

Carpet shirdak is national ownership of Kyrgyz nation. Making of shirdak is long and hard process which demands skills and experience: felt should be felted capably, keeping equal thickness, to dye, to cut pattern, to stitch so that it cannot be seen. There are shirdaks made in mosaic technique  and ala-kyiz (colorful felt), created using felted carpet technique.     

.

Mosaic carpet – shirdak has precedence over ala- kyiz in durability. Making shirdak is more difficult: felt is rolled after washing, drying and wool beating.  Felting process demands more time as felt should be very solid and thin.  Ready felt is dyed mostly in 3 favorite colors of folk: red, blue, orange. Also wool of natural brown and white colors is used. Until very recently some dyes were made of roots of plants and berries by artisans. Range of colors of shirdak and other felt products is significantly developed after introduction of chemical dyes. People brought in shirdak a combination of colors of their environment, clearly combining similar in depth of warm and cold colors.

Felt carpet ala-kyiz is less difficult in making as pattern is rolled in. However, ala-kyiz carries great art properties and prospects in its developing and making. Technique of carpet felting allows artisans to get unique patterns which remind play of watercolor.  Outlines and edges of such ornament are slightly smooth, and color is subdued.

In spite of difference in technique of making shirdaks, nevertheless certain canons are hold: in compositional determination of products, in ornamental field, form, aspect ratio approximately 1.5x3m.

Everything is simple, strict, organically in shirdak. But such products stick to memory forever at a glance, they engage attention and excite as an original art works. However charm of color gamma is created in limitation of color background. Clear and simple, comparatively large scales, ornament gives special mild manner and emotional significance to the carpet.

Ornament is a nonverbal code (replace of verbal communication of ornamental sign), which carries equal value along with myths and legends of ethnos. Kyrgyz patterns mostly create a feeling of permanence of eternity: wavelike patterns – waves, lake; wings of birds – motion in space; tort- muyz (four horns) – four sides of universe and etc. Value of “abstract” ornaments is in that they leave wide space for fantasy, they give way to interpretation of all kinds, as a system of art elements came down to signs and symbols.        

There are cross, circle, square in all variety of ornamental art, they determine such concepts as Axis of world, World tree.

Crossing in ornament is a dangerous place where time and space stop, and it carries great emotional meaning, this is 4 sides of universe, designation of space variability.

World tree is a vertical composition of ornament.

Horizontal composition is a periodical repeat of ornament elements, their subsequence (mostly this is pattern- calendar).

Circle is a figure of amulet, magic line, in latest and modern shirdaks circle looses preciseness of its outline and transfers to oval or square.

Sharply circumscribed edge of pattern (rectangle, square) is an eternal edge. There is nothing outside of the edge, as nothing after “the end of the world”, there outside of the edge is obscurity.

Peculiarity of Kyrgyz shirdaks’ ornaments is equality of background and pattern – they are equal components of decorative assembly and take nearly equal place. The background has the same pattern and the same place, so it is difficult to determine where background is or pattern. This is expression of stability of rhythm, native mentality of people, and their belief in equality of good and evil.

Classic form of shirdaks and ala- kiyz is actual only on the level of folklore traditions (marriage portion, wedding, funeral…) therefore there is a certain place in a house for keeping but not for using in everyday life. Ornament of such products as though makes a connection between a man and his inhabitation.

Craftswomen - oimochu cut patterns, who skillfully combine traditions and their original enriching the Kyrgyz ornament.  Craftswomen do not make and do not keep any stencil sheets. They shape a felt with sharp knife on contour line of a pattern painted with a chalk. Every Kyrgyz woman can stitch a shirdak according to a shaped material.  Pattern is cut simultaneously from similar pieces of felt. Cut patterns are re-laid and edges of felt of different colors are stitched.

. 

In this way top side of carpet is made under which a simple felt is laid. Sometimes a carpet is stitched connecting its upper-side and under-side by stitching

This method is used in Tien Shan and Issyk-Kul.

In Toktogul region and Chui region craftswomen do not use stitching. 

For detaching ornament lines they sew down cord “jeek” which masks a joint line of a pattern.

Technique of sewing, stitching is the most ancient and it gives considerable durability to the product. They created patterns with spiral, concentric circle, zigzag, parallel lines, meander line with the method of stitching.

Making of shirdaks and al- kyiz at the workshops of TUMAR is based on using of classic color combinations and traditional ornaments. More than half a century Mamytova Shambubu makes them

Her workshop makes Chui shirdaks of high quality and fairness.

A workshop of Mustapaeva Aisha  makes shirdaks stitched by Naryn variant:

Ala-kyiz workshop of Makashova Roza makes rugs, wall panel, pillows with traditional ornament and color and products with modern design.

Product assortment based on traditional techniques of making felt carpets include not only shirdaks and ala-kyiz but modern products for interior such as ottoman, floor pillows, seat mats and etc.