Traditional and contemporary art of Kazakhstan

Kazakh carpet art is a unique cultural phenomenon that bears the imprint of regional and tribal characteristics. Kazakh carpet-making also occupies its own place within the Central Asian tradition, producing, in the words of B.H. Karmysheva, a typically Kazakh style of decoration. Kazakh carpet products are characterised by regional and tribal features, a fact repeatedly noted in the works of a number of researchers: R. Karutz, A. Felkersam, M.S. Mukanov, U. Dzhanibekov, A.Kh. Margulan, N. Alimbay, K.B. Kasenova and others.

The earliest records of Kazakh carpet weaving date back to the 18th–19th centuries. More detailed information only appears in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the works of A.E. Felkersam, S.M. Dudin and R. Karutz. However, even these works pay little attention to the specific characteristics of Kazakh carpets. More detailed and comprehensive information is presented in the works of domestic ethnographers M.S. Mukanov, A.Kh. Margulan, Kh. Argybaev, U. Dzhanibekov and others. The syr kilem is examined separately in the works of Turkish researchers T. Parlak and O. Zayimuly (2002; 2006).

In Kazakhstan at the beginning of the 20th century, distinct regions to produce pile and non-pile products were clearly identified. According to M.S. Mukanov, pile carpet production was concentrated in the Syr Darya river basin and South Kazakhstan region, whilst non-pile production was centred in the regions north of the Syr Darya river – Kustanai, Aktobe and other regions (Mukanov, 1959: 94). The Atyrau and Mangystau regions are also considered geographical centres of pile carpet production (Alimbay, 2020:71).

The area of pile-free carpet production covered the south (Kyzyl-Orda, South Kazakhstan, and the western part of the Zhambyl region), the west (Mangystau and Guriev regions), Central and Northern Kazakhstan (Zhezkazgan, Turgai, Kostanay and North Kazakhstan regions). In the south and west of this region, pile-free carpet weaving was supplemented by pile weaving. Kyzyl baskury – pile-free patterned strips – were woven throughout Kazakhstan; ak baskury – strips with pile patterns on a plain weave base – were found only in the Syr Darya basin and the Caspian Sea region. Pile weaving in the Kazakh milieu is believed to have been linked to the ancient carpet-weaving traditions of Central Asia and the Middle East, which penetrated the milieu of the early nomads and were further developed in the Turkic world (Alimbay, Mukanov, Argybaviev, 1998: 138–139).

Thus, carpet products can be pile, non-pile, or made using a mixed technique. Moreover, Kazakh non-pile weaving is considered more ancient and is associated with the circle of nomadic cultures of ancient Eurasia. Archaeological examples of weaving from Tuva (Arzhan 1, Early Iron Age), Western Siberia (the Saigatinsky burial ground, 13th–early 14th centuries, the Surgut region of the Ob River basin), etc., provide grounds for such hypotheses (Glushkova, Oktyabrskaya 2007: 441).

In terms of weaving technique, pile carpets are classified as follows: ‘qaly kilem’ – the largest, and ‘masaty kilem’ – densely woven. The general term is ‘tukti kilem’. Non-pile carpets are commonly referred to as ‘taqyr kilem’. To this day, distinctive names have been preserved in folk memory: syr/qonyrat kilem, mangystau/adai kilem, torgai kilem, jetisu kilem, and others. These carpets have distinct differences in ornamentation and colour scheme. The main ornamental structure of carpets and carpet products is based on complex geometric compositions. Depending on the types of medallion patterns in the central field, pile carpets are classified as ‘sharshy kilem’, ‘samauryn kilem’, ‘shatyrgul kilem’ (or ‘zhuldyzgul kilem’) and ‘gulkumbezdi kilem’. The ornamental basis of the ‘sharshy kilem’ is a square or rhombus; that of the ‘samauryn kilem’ is a medallion resembling a samovar; that of the ‘shatyrgul kilem’ is a star-shaped medallion pattern; ‘gulkumbezdi kilem’ – a pattern resembling a kumbez dome. Such carpets are characteristic of the South (Turkestan and Kyzylorda regions). Carpets from Western Kazakhstan also have their own iconographic features, largely like Turkmen products.

Pile-less carpets are also classified according to weaving technique and iconography and are found throughout Kazakhstan. Based on weaving technique, they are known as: ‘orama kilem’, ‘beskeste kilem’ and ‘terme kilem’. Iconographic features form the basis of the following names: ‘sharshy kilem’, ‘badnas kilem’ (a variant of the word ‘podnos’), ‘taqta kilem’, ‘samauyrin kilem’, ‘shatyrgul kilem’ or ‘zhuldyzgul kilem’. There is a variety of small-scale carpet products: bags – dorba, pillowcases – jerzhastyk, shoulder bags – korzhin, and others.

Traditionally, weaving was practised mainly for personal use and carried out by the women of a single family or aul. In the mid-20th century, the ‘Kovrovshchitsa’ cooperative was established in Almaty, which set up factory-scale production of carpet products. This cooperative became one of the first Soviet enterprises to systematically develop carpet weaving as an industrial craft. Initially, it comprised female craftswomen who were skilled in traditional hand-weaving techniques. From as early as 1937, artists and designers worked at the cooperative, developing sketches for carpets and tapestries. Among them were well-known Kazakhstani artists such as A. Kasteev, N. Tsivchinsky, A. Ismailov and others.

Today, collections of Kazakh carpets and carpet products are held at the Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the A. Kasteev State Museum of Art, and the East Kazakhstan Regional Museum of Architecture, Ethnography and Natural Landscape (Reserve); the Turkestan Regional Museum of History and Local Lore, the Kyzylorda Regional Museum of History and Local Lore, the Mangystau Regional Museum of History and Local Lore, and a number of others.