Carpet Traditions of the Coastal Region

31 December 2021
5731

The variety and perfection of Turkmen matting carpets is a result of centuries of creative invention and selection of the most perfect artistic means and the talent of folk craftswomen. In such carpets, dark, brown-red and red-brown tones prevail, and the ornament and colour range differ depending on the traditions of different regions of the country, where their own unique foundations have been accumulated, amazing motives and performance characteristics have been concentrated, and schools that support their original trends and distinctive features of carpet weaving, including techniques for making patterns, have been formed. These skills have survived to nowadays and can be seen in the works of carpet weavers – our contemporaries. It is all the more interesting for specialists to see mutual influence or, on the contrary, adherence to purely local foundations of carpet weaving.

There are peculiarities of such art on the Caspian coast in the western part of the country. In cultural studies, “coastal” carpets are called Yomud from the late 19th-early 20th centuries. This area of the Turkmen carpet is an integral part of ancient folk art and is important for the study of their production, the continuation and development of local traditions in the modern look of the Turkmen carpet. Today, an extensive collection of such items are among the exhibits of the Main Museum of Turkmenistan of the State Cultural Centre, the exhibition displays of which can be viewed on its electronic resource by visiting the museum virtually. Part of the collection is articles made the inhabitants of the seaside.

Maral KLYCHMAMEDOVA,
a senior research worker at the State Museum, State Cultural Centre of Turkmenistan. Photo: the author
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