Innovating Traditional Skills, Inheritors Of Xinjiang Intangible Cultural Heritage Make Kazakh Embroidery Shine

Brigham Habrahati instructed women in the same village to make Kazakh embroidery. Photographed by Zuo Dandan

Songs and horses are the wings of Xinjiang Kazak people, and embroidery is their ideal. Over the years, skillful Kazakh women have created colorful folk crafts with embroidery, and decorated their daily life with embroidery. With the development and changes of the times, Kazak embroidery is also constantly innovating on traditional skills, radiating new brilliance.

　　 Integrating into modern life and making embroidery innovative in inheritance

Halimaxi Ahet is a inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of Kazakh embroidery in Urumqi County. When she was young, she watched her mother embroider, and became very interested in this traditional skill. She began to learn drawing at the age of 10, and began to learn crochet at the age of 12. For more than 30 years, her love for embroidery has never stopped.

Halimassi Ahet painted Kazakh embroidery patterns on the cloth by hand. Photographed by Rong Rui

Entering the home of Halimassi Ahet, all kinds of embroidery home textile products came into sight, "There are many kinds of Kazakh embroidery, such as various patterns of sheep's horns. My mother told me that when herdsmen live in summer and winter pastures, they will look at the horns of sheep, argali and other animals to design patterns with different radians." Karimaxi Aheite said that such patterns have been followed up to now and become a feature of Kazakh embroidery.

In the past, the conditions for coloring flowered felt were very limited. Halimassi Ahet told reporters that women at that time would use white wool and black wool to make felt, and then fill them into the horn pattern on the flowered felt. Make black and white felt by adjusting each other. There is too much selectivity on patterns and colors now, and the aesthetic of young people is different from that of the past. People in the past like colorful patterns and colors, but today's young people prefer simple colors. They don't like too many colors in embroidery products, so they have made corresponding adjustments in color design. "For example, there are only four colors on the pillowcase of this pillow. The brown color is from dark brown to light brown, and there is basically no jumping color." Halimassi Ahet introduced while holding the pillow.

Heng Habulahati designs Kazakh embroidery patterns on the computer. Photographed by Zuo Dandan

Halimassi Ahet also told the reporter that even though the color and style have changed, the traditional Kazakh embroidery method has not changed, and now many materials and tools are readily available, which is very convenient, and can make more modern embroidery home textile products.

　　 Collision between traditional embroidery technology and modern technology

Buliheng Habrahati is a inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of Kazakh embroidery in Midong District, Urumqi. Unlike Halimaxi Ahete, who paints on cloth by hand, and who mostly uses pure manual embroidery, she combines traditional Kazakh embroidery with modern technology, thus improving production efficiency and meeting the consumption needs of different groups of people, This makes embroidery products go to more markets.

Brigham Habrahati collages felt embroidery patterns cut by laser cutting machine. Photographed by Zuo Dandan

She majored in computer design when she was in college. After graduation, she engaged in the production of Kazakh national furniture. During this period, she bought a laser cutting machine. Later, she found that the laser cutting machine could cut felt and cloth. In 2017, she came up with the idea of doing Kazakh embroidery and felt embroidery. Compared with the traditional purely handmade way before, Brigham Habrahati designed all kinds of traditional Kazakh patterns on the computer with his own professional knowledge, and used laser cutting machine to cut patterns. In her opinion, the laser cutting machine is faster and more convenient, and the cut patterns are more neat and beautiful.

"People in cities will choose more retro patterns, while people living in pastoral areas will choose patterns that are relatively bright in color and combine with modern ones. The patterns I designed, while retaining the tradition, also add some modern design elements." Combined with current life, in view of the needs of different consumer groups in cities and pastoral areas, Buliheng Habrahati keeps innovating in design. Whether it is a retro pattern, a modern pattern, or a combination of retro and modern patterns, she has been constantly adjusting to the needs of the market. At the same time, considering the regional characteristics of Xinjiang's multi-ethnic regions, Buliheng Habrahati has also designed embroidery patterns of Kirgiz, Tajik and Mongolian, This has made her products more popular.

Kazakh embroidery pillow made by Halimaxi Ahet. Photographed by Rong Rui

　　 Intangible cultural heritage products become the way for Kazakh women to become rich in agricultural and pastoral areas

Brigham Habrahati led women from the same village to make Kazakh embroidery and felt embroidery. At present, the order has been placed for one month. This year, more than 20 pieces of flower felt have been sold to Kazakhstan.

Today, Kazakh embroidery not only continues to decorate the life of Kazakh people, but also becomes a way for Kazakh women in agricultural and pastoral areas in Xinjiang to become rich. In Fuyun County, Altay Prefecture, Kazak embroidery has become an industry for women in agricultural and pastoral areas to increase their income and become rich. Local ethnic embroidery cooperatives have been established, which has driven more than 70 women to obtain employment and achieved long-term, sustainable and stable income growth.

Halimassi Ahet is doing hand embroidery. Photographed by Rong Rui

In Mulei County, Xinjiang, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Kazakh embroidery, Saikal Hushan, relies on exquisite embroidery skills, combines national culture with modern fashion, actively explores and develops new products, and becomes a well-known talent for getting rich. Under the leadership of Saikal Hushan, more than 400 rural women have become skilled embroiderers, who inherit and innovate with diligent hands, Pursue a happy life.

At the Red Flag Farm of the Sixth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, Kurasi, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Kazakh felt embroidery and cloth embroidery, combined Bian embroidery, Suzhou embroidery and Kazakh embroidery through exchanges and studies all over the country, and the products were loved by people all over the country. Her embroidery cooperative also purchased 44 embroidery machines, built 2 machine embroidery workshops and 2 hand embroidery workshops, and attracted more people to join the cooperative.

(Source: China News Network)