Thesis
Old designs for young people: Art, innovation and cultural continuity in Kyrgyzstan
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2005
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/355
Abstract
The Western world’s obsession with authenticity in the developing world has been the subject of countless discussions in anthropology, and many anthropologists now conclude that there is no single, bounded, continuous past or tradition from which authenticity can be judged. Instead, traditions are part of the structure within which individuals negotiate their identities, and the practices that are canonized as traditions shift and warp over time as the past is called upon to serve different needs in the present. After centuries of making them for personal use, Kyrgyz women began making felt carpets called shyrdaks for sale after Kyrgyzstan’s independence in 1991. Based on three months of field research undertaken in 2004, this paper compares shyrdaks made for tourists and contemporary shyrdaks made for women’s homes to heirloom shyrdaks made before independence, to explore how tourism has affected carpet construction and motifs. Interviews were carried out to determine to what degree learning and production processes have changed to meet market demands. While many believe that the sale of traditional arts has a corrupting influence, my research supports the conclusion that tourism can help preserve the art of traditional shyrdak making.
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Details
- Title
- Old designs for young people
- Creators
- Tiffany L. Tuttle
- Contributors
- Nancy P. McKee (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Identifiers
- 99900525391001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis