For hundreds of years, Turkmen craftswomen have been conquering the hearts of ethnic art connoisseurs with artistic embroidery. This is evidenced by the rich museum collections of folk clothing with unique specimens of embroidery, the variety of styles of which is fascinating.

The history of this decorative and applied art goes back to the antiquity and is closely intertwined with the culture of the Turkmen people. The embroiderers’ works reflect the way of life, traditions, customs and reverent attitude to the world of nature, and all this was recreated in combination with a flight of creative imagination and professional techniques. Stitch by stitch, the dexterous hands of embroiderers continue to interpret traditional patterns in a modern way and bring fresh ideas to ancient art. Turkmen embroidery is special in that it is diverse and covers “in its own way” tahya and decorates women’s dresses and scarves, men’s dressing gowns and children’s clothes with graceful patterns. The ornament of each motif is unlimitable, created with silk threads and blends harmoniously with neighbouring patterns – this is how the canvas of the ornament, in which an embroiderer reveals her rich imagination, skill and talent, is formed. In old times, this decoration of clothes spotlighted the social and family status of the owner, marital status and partly age, not only served for beauty and aesthetics, but also had a cult significance – people believed that the message encrypted in the “cipher” of the ornament would save a woman, child and bride from adversity and disease.