Traditional and contemporary art of Kazakhstan

Ceramics are among the most ‘eloquent’ archaeological artefacts, serving as a distinctive indicator and a reliable marker of the historical and cultural characteristics of any region. Ceramics held particular significance in the southern regions of Kazakhstan, where craft traditions were more developed thanks to a settled population and the trade routes of the Great Silk Road. In this respect, the pottery of Southern Kazakhstan, as a key indicator of the development of medieval urban culture, is a source of a wealth of information, including the historical, cultural and socio-economic interactions of this region with a wide range of countries in the Near and Far East. The Otrar, Taraz and Turkestan schools, which developed within the framework of the general Central Asian style of pottery, are particularly noteworthy. Archaeological finds attest to the high level of pottery production in the Middle Ages: vessels were distinguished by a variety of forms, ornamentation and technical solutions.

Ceramic items are classified by purpose into domestic, ritual and architectural categories. Their quality demonstrates the high standard and range of goods produced. Domestic pottery is represented by 32 types of items: bowls, tagars, platters and various vessels. Clay tableware was firmly woven into the fabric of ceremonial and ritual culture.

At the beginning of the 13th century, new trends emerged in the artistic design of ceramics: reddish-brown and light engobes with green and yellow glazes. The paintings were mainly monochrome, with large designs. Later, potters began to use different glazes: colourless, blue, green, and others. The colour spectrum of the paintings was also diverse: blue, indigo, violet, and turquoise in various combinations.

In the second half of the 14th and early 15th centuries, the famous blue-and-white ‘Timurid’ style emerged, with the Turkic, and later the Turkic-Mongol, aristocracy acting as its principal patrons. In the 16th–18th centuries, yellow-glazed ceramics appeared, likely associated with Sufi practices and teachings.

The ornamentation on traditional Kazakh ceramics served not only a decorative function but also as a means of conveying symbolic and cultural meaning. Geometric patterns, zigzags, rhombuses, lines and spirals often symbolised important aspects of nomadic life: a connection with nature, the cyclical nature of time, protection from evil spirits, fertility and the harmony of the universe. Ornamental motifs consist of complex compositions featuring plant rosettes, flower bushes, rosebuds, bunches of grapes, leaves, shoots and branches. Equally popular are compositions with cosmogonic symbolism: curls, spirals, the solar symbol and other various attributes of the Sky. Traditional nomadic patterns such as ‘qoshqar muyiz’ (ram’s horn) and ‘qos muyiz’ (paired horns) were widely used, as were lattice motifs inspired by the image of the kerege (the frame of a yurt). On some examples, lettering harmoniously blended into the framework of the ceramic ornamentation.

Small-scale sculptures in the form of animal and bird figurines, associated with local beliefs, are considered cult objects. The cult of the celestial ram, tracing back to the image of the Kangyu farna-ram, was characteristic of the culture of the Syr Darya region right up to the 20th century. These facts demonstrate the resilience of ancient traditions and, in general, the syncretic nature of the art.

An important feature of late medieval pottery from the 16th–17th centuries, produced from the northern slopes of the Karatau to the right bank of the Syr Darya, is the tradition of applying tamga-like marks under the glaze or by scratching. Tamgas of all three Kazakh zhuzes have been found on the pottery, most frequently those of the Kangly tribe of the Senior Zhuz. Experts consider this tradition to be local, not found prior to the 16th century either in this region or in other parts of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. It may have reflected the craftsman’s tribal affiliation or indicated that the workshop belonged to the head of a Kazakh clan. Later, pottery began to be marked with the personal stamp of the master – the head of the guild.