Kyrgyz Shyrdak

Author: Gábor Wilhelm
Photos: Edit Garai, Erika Koltay

This thick, richly decorated felt wall hanging known as a shyrdak was both a decoration, and an integral accessory of the nomadic Kyrgyz yurt. The felted wool from which it was made offered excellent insulation from both the winter cold, and summer heat, while its ornamentation lent individuality, hominess, and intimacy to the yurt interior. The rug’s colours and patterns reflect both the deftness of its makers, and their connection to elements of their environment.

Over time, the shyrdak was to become a Kyrgyz family’s most valued, and most valuable possession, and was also an indispensable part of a woman’s trousseau. Inside the yurt, the shyrdak hung opposite the entrance, where it marked the place reserved for the highest-ranking guests.

The techniques and motifs applied to the shyrdak’s production are several thousand years old. Similar pieces have been discovered among grave goods dating to the late bronze and iron ages. However, the appearance of the shyrdak has changed over time, adjusting to circumstances and surviving even the challenges of the modern age. In this way, it remains a living tradition in Kyrgyz culture even today.

Among the Kyrgyz, the making of felt wall hangings has traditionally been women’s work. Each piece requires the autumn-shorn wool of approximately five sheep and several month’s manual labour. The process begins with the felting of a natural brown or black backdrop, over which a pattern is fitted together in mosaic fashion from pieces of finer material in different colours. The elements of this upper layer are then sewn and embroidered (sirik) both to the base, and to each other, the embroidery serving to accentuate certain elements of the design. The finished felt hanging is extraordinarily durable: it is not unusual to find one that has been in use for as many as a hundred years. Elements from the Kyrgyz people’s natural environment—water, mountains, the yurt, the ram’s horn, the ewe, the deer, etc.—are featured in symbolic form.

Given the shyrdak’s esteemed place in Kyrgyz tradition, daily life, and festival culture, in 2013, the craft was included on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The shyrdak shown here was donated to the Museum of Ethnography by Aigul Zhaparova, the Kyrgyz first lady, in 2023, following the visit to Hungary of the nation’s president.