I fell in love with Central Asian textiles during my first trip to this region back in 2014.
I discovered suzanis, atlas and adras and felt I had to learn more.
In this short story I am sharing the little I know about suzanis. Other stories will give you more information about yurts, felt, atlas and adras.
The first country I ever visited in Central Asia was Uzbekistan. I travelled with a guide/driver from West to East (Khiva to Tashkent).
When we visited Bukhara, my guide and I went for lunch to a local house where the owner did not only cook a delicious plov for us, he also demonstrated suzani making.
For some reason the patterns and colours spoke to me: it was love at first sight. While I admired the craftmanship of all these suzanis I preferred the fairly simple ones with a white base and black and red patterns.
After lunch I picked my personal favourite and packed it tight enough to fit in my small suitcase.
Suzanis usually have a cotton or silk fabric base which is embroidered in silk or cotton thread.
Stitches types are chain, satin or buttonhole.
Suzanis can be found in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan alike. Major types of suzanis are named after the city they originate from such as Bukhara, Khujand, Lakai, Samarkand or Tashkent. They are traditionally a part of a bride’s dowry.
When I went to Tajikistan in 2018 I was very lucky to be there at the right time: the National Museum in Dushanbe had a temporary suzani exhibition.
Needless to say I took many pictures and will only display a few here in order to show the diversity in colours and patterns.
For those who wish to know more:
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