On a recent sunny morning, 70-year-oldAdalat Kozhoyarova sat hunched over a long, rectangular loom in her small workshop in the Kyrgyz village of Bayl.

The loom — at least the size of a king-size bed — is made from long wooden beams that lay right on the floor. Sitting beside two other pensioners, Kozhoyarova and the other women quickly wove yarn through the loom’s taut white strings. 

The morning sunlight illuminated their hands as the women stitched dark black and red yarn into designs of blooming flowers. They worked quickly, as if they were painting with yarn. 

“This is a tradition passed between generations for centuries,” Kozhoyarova said.

Kyrgyz were once a nomadic people who lived in yurts decorated with thick wool rugs that can take months to make.

Woven rugs in Kyrgyzstan’s southern Batken region were traditionally given as wedding gifts. 

Here in this isolated village at the end of a rough dirt road — at least five hours from the nearest major city — this weaving tradition continued for decades during Russian and Soviet colonization. 

When the Soviet Union ended and private enterprise opened up in Kyrgyzstan, Kozhoyarova and other women began selling their rugs to earn extra money. 

Beside her workshop, Kozhoyarova raises sheep in a small barnyard surrounded by walls made from mud and cow dung. 

Her son, Asylbek Azimov, raises the sheep and shears their wool. The family then cards the fibers and spins them into yarn for weaving. 

The finished rugs sell for about $250. Most buyers are other villagers in Bayl. 

But many younger Kyrgyz women no longer see a clear financial incentive to take up the hard work of weaving if they can simply find better-paying work by moving to a city or migrating abroad.

“There’s just not enough orders to make a living weaving rugs,” said Azimov. 

Around the world, many Indigenous crafting traditions are at risk of disappearing, even at a time when interest in handcrafted goods is increasing.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, sales of crafts in the United States on sites like Etsy exploded. Globally, handmade items are growing in popularity.

Online shopping has offered some crafters in countries like Kyrgyzstan an opportunity to increase their earning potential. But many struggle to reach an international market that can help them make craftmaking a sustainable way to earn a living.

Carpet weaving was once practiced in some other regions of Kyrgyzstan but has since fallen out of practice, according to Sovitbek Kachkynbayev, an entrepreneur who helps support Kyrgyz artisans. 

Kachkynbayev said that during Soviet times, foreign imports were either banned or too expensive for most people. In those years, clothes like Levi’s Jeans were considered luxury products. 

“If you could wear jeans, then you would be able to invite the most beautiful girl in your town on a date, and she would agree,” Kachkynbayev said. 

But after the Soviet Union collapsed and the economy opened up, some people in Kyrgyzstan really embraced buying cheaper, factory-made rugs instead of weaving themselves

In just a couple decades, Kachkynbayev said that many younger generations grew up not learning  how to weave.

Azima Karaeva, 66, recently drove more than 12 hours from her home in the Batken region to attend a pop-up craft market in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, where she displayed rugs woven with natural black and white sheep’s wool under a small tent in a city park.

Karaeva said that retired women, who have lots of free time, have an opportunity to get younger people interested in making rugs. Proving that city folk here will buy them is part of that effort. 

In just several days, Karaeva sold all five of the rugs she brought to Bishkek.

“It feels a little strange taking money because traditionally these rugs are gifts, but we’re getting used to it,” Karaeva said, laughing.

Other artisans working with wool have managed to expand their businesses to new and more lucrative markets outside of Central Asia. 

Farzana Sharshembieva makes scarves and dresses from wool mixed with silk that have been acquired by New York fashion designer Donna Karan and worn by actress Sigourney Weaver. 

Her designs have proven so popular that she said many people in Kyrgyzstan now make cheaper knockoffs of her work.

“I’m actually happy people are copying me because it means this work won’t end with me. And besides, you can’t put a patent on traditional crafts,” Sharshembieva said. 

Sharshembieva has modernized traditional Kyrgyz clothes, designing elegant, light summer blouses adorned with felted patterns that have proven popular with shoppers in the West.

“We’re not changing anything,” Sharshembieva said about her craftwork, “we’re improving it, so it will last.”

Despite her success, Sharshembieva still does not sell her work online because it requires too much work to maintain and the sales from month to month are unreliable

Weavers in Batken are still searching for a way to recreate their craftwork into something new that might appeal more to international shoppers. The younger generation spearheading that initiative has an advantage in knowing how to market the rugs on social media. 

Last year, Nargul Alieva, 33, and a couple of other women launched an Instagram called Taberik Kilem, showcasing the rugs made in their town to attract buyers and educate others about this art form. She grew up watching her grandmother weave rugs and has many fond memories of the work being part of her childhood.  

“I’m doing this because I don’t want my grandmother’s work to die,” Alieva said.

Alieva now studies weaving herself. On her Instagram, she and her team recently found their first regular client
— a promising sign that this age-old tradition will continue.