Jamilya Jepbarova

Turkmenistan

Year(s) attended: 2010

Weaving and Embroidery

During Soviet Rule, the diverse weaving and embroidery traditions of the Turkmen people were threatened with disappearance by a national propaganda campaign that sought to “do away with the vestiges or shibboleths of the past.”

Along with her husband, Jamilya Jepbarova is seeking to revive these diverse traditions, some of which had been all but forgotten until recently.

These include elaborately-embroidered silk dresses and robes, shawls that are used as head coverings, and sheep wool robes that protect their wearers from the desert sun during the day and from the mountains’ freezing nights.

Camel wool is used to make special sacks for transporting goods, and “sachak” - a particular type of cloth that keeps bread fresh and soft and that is often used during ceremonial occasions when guests are welcomed with bread to one’s home or community.