Qiz-gilam: A Unique Example of Carpet Weaving by Semi-Nomadic Uzbeks in the Southern Regions of Uzbekistan

Interaction between sedentary and nomadic cultural traditions has played an important role in the centuries-old history of applied arts in Uzbekistan. By the late 19th and early 20th century, driven by urbanization in the region and the gradual transition of nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples to sedentary lifestyles, many industries and traditional cultural forms of formerly nomadic ethnic groups disappeared. Nevertheless, their role in shaping the national cultural identity of the Uzbek people is great. This is true in relation to one of the largest ethnic groups in Uzbekistan, the Kungrats, whose applied art represents a unique, viable, and yet little-studied phenomenon in the national culture of Uzbekistan. The article reviews carpet weaving, one of their surviving crafts, exemplified by qiz-gilam, a unique type of rug made using a combined technique. This study helps to show the nature of historical and cultural interrelations in the carpet weaving of Central Asian peoples and their cultural contacts with the carpet art of neighboring regions more widely and objectively. An important theoretical result of this study is the creation of criteria and tools for identifying qiz-gilam carpets. This allows us to bring clarity to the yet undeveloped system of their identification in museum and gallery practice.