Please read in conjunction with the photographs of the 'Yurtsmiths of Issyk Kul' along with other photographs from Kyrgyzstan.
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"We consider it our duty to pass on our history and art to the younger generation", Yurtsmith, Bektursun Usta
Located on the old Silk Road, in the north-east corner of Kyrgyzstan, not far from the borders with China and Kazakstan, lies Issyk-Kul Lake. It is one of the deepest and saltiest lakes in the world, and affectionately known as the 'Pearl of Kyrgyzstan'. The southern shore of the lake is relatively under-developed and has a windswept, slightly desert-like feel to it. It's on these shores that you can find the village Kyzyl-Tuu, which, in the Kyrgyz language, means 'Red Flag". This village is unique. Each family in the village makes yurts - whole yurts, not just the roof, or the sides, but the whole thing.
Back in the 1970's, some of the village elders, who were craftsmen making yurts, came up with the idea of opening a small branch of the famous the Kyial Folk Crafts Association which was established by Soviet decree in 1968. The initiative was a response to the mass exodus of the younger generations to cities, not only in what is now Kyrgyzstan, but throughout what was then the Soviet Union. Migration of young people today is still very common, especially to Russia, and the remittances they send home is an important driver of the Kyrgyz economy. All the mothers, fathers, and aunts in the village, at the time, worked in the handicrafts association and, as a consequence, the whole village learnt how to make yurts under the expert guidance of the elder craftsmen. This expertise has since then been passed down from generation to generation within each family.
According to village Yurtsmith, Bektursun Usta, when interviewed by the BBC, 'Yurt building is something that is passed from person to person without being told. We welcome a child who wants to work. Although we call it a yurt, it is very difficult to build. To make a yurt, a person must have skills and love for the work. Without it, the yurt will not be built. No one teaches you to cut wood like this. From an early age, they were satisfied and later became carpenters. As a result, a child, who has built a yurt, will never be able to quit. In the same way, they pass the art on to the next generation."
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kyrgyz Republic was born, and the Kyrgyz people had, for the first time, their own nation. This period was however quite traumatic by modern standards, massive social changes due to the collapse of the command economy controlled by Moscow. More-or-less overnight factories closed, as almost all of their exports were for the Soviet Union. Important industrial centres, such as the nearby port city of Balykchy, on the western end of the lake, fell into disuse, and disrepair. Today the dilapidated city of Balykchy, which must be passed through to reach the lake from the capital Bishkek, stands as an emotive reminder of the boom times, when most people had stable jobs and of the lack of investment in the economy that holds back the country's progress today*.
The collapse prompted a revival in the nomadic culture of the Kyrgyz people and this created a local demand for yurts, as people returned to livestock breeding to make a living. People left their villages during the summer to take their animals up to the high meadows in the mountains, called 'jailoos', to feed their horses and sheep on lush pastures. The shepherds lived in the yurts and sometimes their families joined them too. Families living in yurts, can be seen frequently when travelling by road through the country today. Often they are situated close to the few main roads that pass through the mountain areas and sell fresh horse milk and other animal products such as cheeses to travellers (the art of cheesemaking actually originated from nomads who found that the milk they carried in the lining of animal stomachs, coagulated and turned to cheese), as well as fresh cooked meat dishes. Yurts are also now widely used for family gatherings, weddings and festivities, and many people come to Kyrgyzstan just to stay in a yurt.
Back in the 1970's, no-one in the village could have envisaged the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic strife that followed. The establishment of the Folk Crafts Association in the village was a prophetic act that turned out to be a huge investment, not only in the survival of the village of Kyzyl-Tuu, but in the prosperity of the generations to come too. When the collapse came, the villagers began making yurts in earnest, as for many of the people in the village, yurt-making was a side business, as most would have had jobs within the Soviet economy. The yurt has always been a symbol of the Kyrgyz people and their nomadic culture, and it remains so today with the revival of their culture after years of suppression under Russian and Soviet domination. The Kyrgyz flag even features the pattern of a yurt 'crown' at its centre, and the flag is red just like the name of the village. In recent years the village was awarded the title of 'City of Yurts' by the World Crafts Council**.
Kyzyl-Tuu is at the heart of this revival, with the fourth generation, of the 1970's line of Yurtsmiths, manufacturing around 200 traditional 'bentwood' style Kyrgyz yurts per year, during the water summer months, when its easier to dry the wood. Bentwood yurts, sometimes called Turkic yurts, are more common in western Central Asia, and usually have a taller, and steeper, shape, that differs from the typical Mongolian 'Ger' in eastern Asia, which has a straighter roof. Impressively, the red trellis ('kerege') walls of the yurt, are bent with a double curve, giving the Yurt a unique, and organic shape. The Yurtsmiths use steam to bend the roof poles ('uuk'), hence their westernised name. The uuk connect the kerege with the 'tunduk', or crown, at the top of the yurt to create its frame, which is very rigid and able to withstand very strong winds.
Their yurts are exported in significant numbers to neighbouring Kazakstan, who ethnically, are like brothers to the Kyrgyz, and to Turkey to whom they owe their ethnic roots. Yurts are also very popular with the Arab nations. The cost of a finished yurt is between $3K and $20K USD each, depending on the size and specification. Components such as the wooden yurt frames, consisting of the uuk (roof poles), made from individual, sustainably grown, willow trees bent using steam, and carved by hand, and kerege (trellises), that are tied together using strips of animal hide, are also exported, especially to overseas yurt companies that utilise them in the construction of yurts suited to local climatic conditions.
The village is also now famous for Kyrgyz carpet production made from felt, which is sheep's wool stretched, layered and compressed together in the same way as the yurt coverings are made. The carpets are also exported all over the world, all a legacy of the decision to establish a branch of the Folk Crafts Association in the village. During the summer tourists come to see first hand how yurts are made, and each year, the village comes alive, when it hosts the annual Kiiz Duino festival. The festival attracts thousands of people who come to enjoy the festivities and participate in traditional events such as, horse racing and eagle hunting demonstrations.
The social outcomes from this initiative are just fantastic. Yurts are incredible mobile homes that can be erected quickly and have been tried and tested for thousands of years. They are both loved and in demand the world over. Yurt building is a highly practical skill, and while it's possible, to some extent, to mass produce a yurt, most yurt customers are looking for the real thing, which gives them a big advantage. The fact that the whole village is engaged in yurt making gives it extra gravitas and publicity. The children grow-up, not only learning first hand essential traditional skills, but also the business of yurt marketing. By the time they are adults, they are fully fledged Yurtsmiths engaged in a thriving business, surrounded by loved one, friends and other craftspeople.
Critically, because of this nurturing, and these skill being passed down within families, they are able to avoid many of the social pitfalls that people in de-industrialised countries, the world over, commonly suffer, most notably; migration, unemployment, isolation, loneliness and sadly quite commonly, hopelessness and addiction. The Yurtsmiths are able to keep their families and community together, and strong, while other villages and towns across the country, lose their children to an often unskilled, fragile or distant future.
As Yurtsmith, Bektursun Usta says; "No matter what house you enter, everyone is busy. There is no time to sit or walk on the street. When it comes to work, young people are distracted and avoid bad habits. Very few people drink alcohol or smoke. Our village is improving day by day thanks to handicrafts".
*For a beautiful and touching account of life in Balykchy today, please have a look here at the work of Photojournalist, Jo Kearney
**For a fantastic video overview of yurt building in the village please have a look here at this video
References
https://www.bbc.com/kyrgyz/kyr...
https://www.kyrgyzstantravel.c...
https://issuu.com/documentaryg...
https://hearthworks.co.uk/sale...
https://iaunrc.indiana.edu/doc...