When your dream comes true and you, finally, can “touch” (…well…stay in front of ) the 2300 years old organic exhibit – the leather boots of a noble Altai woman -, a sensible connection with the past starts pulsating through your veins. You can actually feel the rhythms and visualise the reality of those times through the impressively intricate and symbolic decorative handwork captured on the boots. They have been waiting for so many years to be appreciated, interpreted.
The worldview of early EurAsian steppe nomadic people of Turkic background (ancestors of Bulgar-Tatars) dwelled on a strong belief in procreation and progression of life as well as promotion of marriage and healthy offsprings. This core belief was protected by Tengri and Umai – the spiritual deities of well-being, wellness, family unit and woman health.
In artistic interpretation, the Bulgars-Tatars have been illustrating the code of wellbeing in the form of a stylised progression from the ground towards the sky. The creative way of showcasing this code was mastered in shchiteqler – a unique artistic form of Tatar people. A traditionally decorated shchiteq composition has four parts that corresponds to stages of human life: birth, growth, blossom, and afterlife. Each part is depicted through specific stylised symbolic elements that tell a story of the boot’s creator or owner.
Unique Leather Mosaic of the Tatars 