Traditional and contemporary art of Kazakhstan

The craft of artistic woodworking was important and in demand not only in everyday life, but also in culture and art at various stages of the country's history. The availability of various types of wood and the further processing of the material with simple tools influenced the formation and division of specialisations among craftsmen. Archaeological finds of wooden artefacts are not numerous due to the organic properties of wood, but they do occur when researchers encounter unique soil conditions. For example, ancient Saka tableware made of birch is known: elongated flat dishes on low legs, a ladle with a turned bowl, found in the royal burial mound of Issyk (5th–4th centuries BC). The heritage of the Berel burial mound is well studied, where wood has been preserved thanks to the permafrost (5th–4th centuries BC): remains of wooden dishes, wooden tables-dishes, many wooden artefacts, the status of which Z. Samashev unites and defines as "a special Berel woodworking centre in the Pazyryk era, as the most important direction in the productive activity of the ancient cattle breeders of the Kazakh Altai" (Samashev 180). Other information, descriptions and examples of artistic woodworking products from different periods of Kazakhstan's history are given in Volume I of "The History of Art in Kazakhstan" (Shklyaeva, Muratayev). According to Professor T.F. Gabitov, the traditional period of Kazakh culture is associated with the formation of the Kazakhs as a nation, and it falls at the turn of the 15th–16th centuries. The materials presented in the web gallery feature items made in the 19th and early 20th centuries by folk craftsmen known as agash-usta.

Wood materials. The natural and climatic conditions of Kazakhstan's five regions (Southern, Northern, Central, Eastern, and Western) influence the growth of many different tree species and varieties, despite the fact that trees cover only 5.5% of the country's territory. To make decorated wooden products, craftsmen – agash ust – used wood with a beautiful texture (a natural pattern visible on the cut surface of the wood), strength and properties that allowed it to be processed by hand using simple tools. In northern and central Kazakhstan, craftsmen worked with birch, maple, ash, oak, etc. For products from Eastern Kazakhstan, cedar, pine, spruce and birch, which are characteristic of the region, were used; in the West, birch and apple trees were used; and in the South, walnut, pear, apple, archa, karagach, pine and tree-like juniper were used.

The mythopoetics of trees. Images of nature – the sky, mountains, water, trees, stones, etc. – are significant symbols in human spiritual life. In Kazakh mythology and folklore, the image of a tree is one of the most significant sacred phytonymic symbols, embodied in the mythological motif of the World Tree or Tree of Life. In the Turkic cosmological tradition, the World Tree or Baiterek embodies the vertical connection between the three levels of existence: upper, middle and lower. The souls of children dwell at the top of the Tree, guarded by the two-headed bird Samruk. The sacred birch tree, bay kayyn, was considered in the mythological consciousness of the Kazakhs to be a paired tree, symbolising the purity and fidelity of the feminine principle in relation to the sacred tree Baiterek. The tree, standing alone in the steppe for many kilometres, was deified, ribbons or strips of cloth were tied to its branches, and pilgrims asked it for help. If the tree grew on the grave of a saint, it was believed that this proved the holiness of the departed. This was the case at the grave of Abulkhair Khan, where a willow tree was planted and called the "Khan's Tree" or "Khannyn tally". It is also important to note that "… the tree was regarded by nomads as a living being, and the properties of the tree were preserved in products made from it" (Kogai).

Decorative techniques in processed wood. Various decorative methods were used in artistic woodworking, namely: wood carving – flat relief, three-sided notched, contour, openwork (openwork), bas-relief, sculptural. Painting on the surface of processed wood is most often found in combination with relief. Carved details – balusters – were used as an additional element in compositions with relief and painting. Various bone plates with curved edges create an expressive accent in the decoration of wooden products. The plates are often engraved with ornamental motifs and covered with paint in the depths of the cuts or have openwork carving. There were two ways of attaching such bone plates to a wooden surface. The first was intarsia, when a special bed was cut out for the plate, exactly matching the outline of the bone plate, which was then secured with silver nails with convex heads. The second method involved placing the plates on a wooden surface and securing them with silver nails, also with convex heads. This method made it possible to use the plates as pattern-forming elements, allowing different ornamental motifs to be created even from the same elements. Fabrics were placed under the openwork bone plates – red or blue cloth, sometimes other materials – metal, foil, etc. Products, mainly furniture items, densely decorated with bone plates on the front, were considered the most expensive.