From October 10 to October 13, the George Washington University’s Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies hosted the “Crafts and Couture from Central Asia” festival. The festival was organized during the 20th Annual Central Eurasian Studies Society Conference (CESS 2019). The cultural event brought together artisans from Central Asia and private collections from both the US and Canada, displaying a wide range of symbols and designs of Central Asian clothing, Turkmen carpets, Uzbek suzani, Kyrgyz felts, and Kazakh silver ornaments, reports Voices on Central Asia, an online platform for researchers, students, and academia.
“Combining a centuries-long legacy with modern designs, the festival aimed to showcase the skills and knowledge of Central Asian artisans—many of whom struggle to bring their products to Western markets,” says Snejana Atanova, curator of the event, who presented a quick overview and description of some of the artifacts and objects that were displayed at the festival. For reading the complete feature click here.