Traditional kazakh carpets and carpet products: types, composition, semantics (materials of the Central state museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a case study)

Abstract

The article examines mainly two key aspects of Kazakh carpet making traditions: a) typology of certain
types of carpets and rugs; b) the semantics of the ornamental composition, as a kind of artistically
organized text for reading the “semantic field” of a carpet product. The source base for studying the issue
is the collection of carpets and carpet products of the Central State Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan,
collected from almost all regions of the republic. It is concluded that according to the materials
used, manufacturing techniques, and practical purpose, these products are typologically divided into
the following five groups: 1) pile carpets (“qali kilem”); 2) pileless carpets (“taqyr kilem”, “tyqyr kilem”,
occasionally, “taz kilem”); 3) alasha (floor carpet); 4) wall carpets (“tuskilem»); 5) carpets of small forms
– saddlebags “qorjyn”; “bogjama” or “ten” (for transportation and storage of small household items,
mostly soft goods); “dorba” (bag of various sizes for storage and transport of clothing and bedding, and
other commercial and household items in small sizes; “qarshyn”, “kerme”, “shabadan” (soft bags of various
sizes); “qap” (bags of various sizes used predominantly for household); “jerjastyq”, pillowcases etc.
The author pays special attention to the study of the structural organization of the ornamental space
of a traditional carpet. The researcher believes that this aesthetically organized space implements the
traditional Kazakh idea of a nomadic lifestyle as an ideal model of social organization.
Key words: carpet, pile carpet, lint-free carpet, small-sized carpets, ornament, iconography, composition,
semantics.