Dec 14 2025

Inaugurating Turkic Languages Day!

The day of December 15th has recently been proclaimed by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as a World Turkic Language Family Day. In 2025, we are celebrating it for the first time!

On this day in 1893 a linguist and turkologist Vilhelm Thomsen (1842-1927) made a very anticipated announcement that the text of the Orkhon Inscriptions (discovered in 1889 during the expedition of Nikolai Yadrintsev (1842-1894)) was deciphered (translation here). The 1300 years old inscriptions, also referred as Kul Tigin (684-731) steles and Bilge Qaghan (683-734) inscriptions, found in Orkhon valley of modern Mongolia, are the oldest known written records of the Turkic language.

Out of ~8 billion people worldwide, roughly 200 million are speaking Turkic languages, ~7 millions of whom are the Tatar language speakers/ carriers, active and passive. Although the usage of the Tatar language is diminishing due to the prevalence of various lingua franca in the areas of modern habitats, there is a great interest in learning and preserving the Tatar language these days, simply because it connects to the roots (incredibly rich oral, written, material heritage) and to the other Turkic people.

Turkic languages are characterized by the vowel harmony and agglutinative nature of grammatical relations between the words. According to the lexicostatistical matrix of Turkic languages and the article in Journal of Language Evolution, the Tatar language exhibits more than 50% of basic lexical similarities with most of the Turkic languages including Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Gagauz, Kazakh, Karakalpaq, Karachi, Khakas, KirimTatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvan, Uyghur, Uzbek. To have an idea how closely they sound, just give a listen to Bulat Shaymi’s short song where he sings in 12 Turkic languages!

For several millennia, in the vast territories of central EuroAsia, impressive networks have been connecting, non-stop, the flow of goods, skills, thoughts through the well-established trading routes (Volga Route powered by the Volga Bulgars, ancestors of the modern Tatars, and Silk Road) that had been managed by various influential forces, including nomadic Saka/ Scythian Empire, Turkic Kaganates, Mongol Empire evolved into several Turkicized khanates later become referred as Turkistan (Turan by Persian sources, Transoxania, Central Asia by western sources) -the ethnonym represents a conglomerate of many Turkic-speaking states/“-stan”s-, Rossiyan Empire through 1917.

Although Tatarstan is not a part of Turkestan geographically, the linguistic, customary and historic baseline of the Tatars (originally, Volga Bulgars) of the Volga-Ural area of modern Rossiyan Federation is linked to all Turkic people. The intelligible wide-spread Turkic languages have eased up the channels to carry on business, policies, thoughts, innovations, and the Tatars were instrumental in promoting successful collaborations and opportunities for the Turkic languages-speaking world and its neighbours creating so-called Tatar Empire, a term coined by Danielle Ross in her book.

Material cultures of the Turkic people have many common features that speak to the unified sources of inspirations and beliefs (a subject for a separate post), the distribution of which showcases the collaborative nature of the networks. The simple fact that shchiteqler – boots uniquely decorated with Kaiyly Kün technology mastered by the Volga Tatars – exhibited in collections of many museums worldwide and labeled as originated from various Turkic-speaking places (such as Asia, China, Crimea, East & West Turkestan, Europe, Georgia, Indonesia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Tatarstan, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan) speaks volumes.

The above Images of shchiteqler are courtesy of online collections (linked further) of PennMuseum of University of Pennsylvania, USA, Museum of Ethnography of Hungary, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA, Ethnography Museum of Sweden, British Museum of Great Britain.

The due credit and appreciation are not always given to the skilful developers of the unique art in those museum collections: Successful Tatar leather artisans and entrepreneurs had not only manufactured uniquely decorated footwear in its “birthplace” Kazan-Arshcha area of Tatarstan to sell globally, but also had travelled far to trade and open workshops in Central Asia/Turkestan, Caucasus, Eastern Europe, cities of Rossiyan Empire. They shared their exceptionally-processed leather technology inherited from the Volga Bulgars (referred as bulgari/ safiyan/ sahtiyan/ yuft’) and unique decorated footwear making skills, they trained apprentices throughout European and Asian continent for centuries up until early 20ies century.

Let’s celebrate, promote and practice the

Arts of Native “Skilled Tongues” and “Skilled Hands” everyday!

May 19 2025

A Force of Transcending Inspirations

A contemporary writer Nadeem Aslam’s phrase “pull a thread here and you’ll find it’s attached to the rest of the world” has inspired us to explore and pay tribute to myriads of impactful global contributions spanning millennia to shape the staple of human clothing – ornamented footwear. We are pulling the thread that uniquely and distinctly binds all decorative elements of soft leather shchiteqler to discover a continuum of captivating artefacts of material culture in the forms of vessels, stone carvings, organic fragments, paintings, photos, texts, cinematography…

Tall protective footwear enters EurAsian nomadic people’s life during the times of domestication of a horse around 3500 BCE (before common era). The first depictions of people wearing foot coverings appear between 9th and 7th centuries BCE during the time of Assyrian rule (nowadays the territories of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkiye). A leather boot from Pazyryk burials (Altai mountains, nowadays in Kazakhstan, Mongolia) of 4th-3d centuries BCE is the earliest example of impressive leather craftsmanship and spiritual significance embedded in ornamentation.

Roughly one millennium forward, in ~7th century CE (common era), the Volga Bulgars carry on the spirit and skills of nomadic predecessors to, eventually, become well-known for their processing of soft colored fragrant leather (reffered as bulgari, saffian, later as morrocco, russian). In 14-16th century, the descendants of Volga Bulgars (nowadays referred as Kazan /Idel-Ural /Volga Tatars of Rossiyan Federation) master Qaiely Kün’ ( referred in English as Tatar Leather Mosaic) technology to create exceptionally-decorated saffian boots –shchiteqler- a desired-by-many footwear.

Some 500 years later, in 2025, a boundaries-and-times-transcending look of a modern Tatar girl by @tatar.mosaics incorporates saffian shchiteqler by Sahtian with a SABR sweater featuring a painted version of the boots by Guzel Khaib, and Aigel Salakh leather bag, designed with the same Qaiely Kün technology as shchiteqler, both utilizing a so-called “Kazan” zhoye (stitch) that is featured in a recent eponymous documentary by Mira Rahmat and Bai Khairullin. The look is a synergy of millennium-long human ingenuity, innovation and craftsmanship. It could not be possible without impactful contributions of many creative agents that feed from wisdom of previous generations and impact the future connections.

There wouldn’t be a popular SABR Yaratu Collection sweater without all previous collaborations of human creativity. This sweater impressively empowers the modern wearers through signaling belonging or/and awe: it features two uniquely-Tatar cultural staples – shchiteqler and “mongly zhyr”(soulful poem/song) and offers a new, accessible way of “owning” a Tatar cultural icon. There wouldn’t be a talented Guzel Khaib’s famous painting without social virtual networks and the beloved Tatar song about a heart’s yearning for shared love “Shchygarsynmy Karshy Alyrga?Would you come to greet me?” (lyrics by Damir Garifullin, music by Valeriy Ahmetshin) originally performed in 1963 by legendary Tatar singer Ilham Shakirov. And so on…

We are grateful to all forces and links in the history that inspire creative spirit of modern artists. Reminded by Diana Darke’s “everything is a continuum – nothing just appears out of vacuum”, we promote a respectful and appreciative mindset: different, versatile, distinct people and cultures contribute and inspire the evolution of material heritage that is interconnected, and, thus, the most valuable!

Feb 11 2025

Exploring Labyrinth In Marrakesh

It is a fact that overwhelming reliance on technological advances is eroding our memory. So, finding engaging activities to hone cognitive abilities is a must! What can be more engaging for the brain than challenge of finding your way without GPS (global positioning system)? One of the best places to be lost and search for the way out without a map are the mazes of Marrakesh Old Medina.

Rows of eye-catching, fragrant, colorful, locally sourced goods made of leather, fibers, brass, clay, straw. Endless flow of sellers, buyers, donkeys, cats, bikes. Mesmerizing geometry of shapes, blasts of vivid colors, clouds of fragrant aromas of simmered-for-hours dishes, soothing sounds of call for prayers and chatting in Amazigh, Arabic, French. Moroccan labyrinth of souks captivates and educates. Our goal of “not to be lost” were successful the more we practiced it. Although, the other goal, fueled by our passion to leather craft, was not so much. We were on a mission to observe and document the decorative leather stitching technology that looks like “Kazan” stitch that has been utilized and mastered for centuries in Tatarstan. It is roughly 5000 km of air distance between Tatarstan and Morocco, but those are the places where, up to this day, this distinct manual decorative stitch is being actively used despite of pressing lures of mechanized world.

In Marrakesh, we explored myriads of tiny workshops that had leather merchants and crafters working the magic of creating and attuning to the leather goods (Ottoman poufs, Berber bags, babouches), but every time we wondered about the leather decorators (stitchers and embroiders), there were silence, suspense, mystery around it. We were told that all decorative stitching happens in the female cooperatives in the Atlas Mountains.

When we asked to arrange for the compensated educational tour, various excuses were offered with subtle intention of pretense. We left Marrakesh without being able to see the stitching in action, but we got excited to find the only workshop that sells Tbourida boots. The boots that are worn during famous annual festival of riding horses and firing riffles that has been a Moroccan tradition since Middle Ages.

The decoration of these boots is made with the technology of leather mosaic that also the Tatar boots (shchiteqler) are made with. The decorative pattern cutouts and their attachment with distinct decorative stitch are similar, but shchiteqler are created with much more sophisticated technology of Tatar leather mosaic that is unique in its design complexity and intricacies of ornamental patterns and colors.

The inquisitory nature of our short trip to impressive Morocco led us to having more questions than answers, specifically: How the exchange of leather crafting technologies happened in the time of Volga Bulgaria, Ulus Ulug, Kazan Khanate, Kazan Guberniya of Russian Empire (the earlier state names of current Tatarstan, the subject of Rossiyan Federation)? Is there any reason for the distinct manual decorative stitch to be deliberately guarded in Morocco? What do the Arabic words “sabra” and “sarma” referred in the souks mean? We might be digging for the answers to the first question for some time, but answers for the other two yielded some results thanks to…well… technological advances: internet. It seems that in a middleman economy of Morocco, creating an enticing enigma and baseless mysteries are the ways to keep the tourists coming. It turns out that:

An Arabic صبر “sabra/sabr” (meaning “patience”) is referred to the cactus and the thread that is used to decorate the leather goods. It is widely believed that the thread is made from cactus, but is it really?: Here is an investigative story on searching the puzzling “sabra” silk.

An Arabic سارما “sarma” (from Ottoman Turkish صرمه meaning “golden or silver thread, wire; wrapping”) is a term for the stitch that we have been looking for: It is performed similarly to the “Kazan” stitch. This compassionate FB page LarahCollection introduces the artisans of the Altai Mountains and their craftsmanship without the “burden” of the middleman. Sarma stitching is described as “a special embroidery work on leather that consists on sewing two pieces of leather together with special knots in the junction. All this work is done on the back of the leather”.

The page offers a video of the stitching that is performed almost in the same manner as “Kazan” stitch with a little difference. Can you engage your brain to identify this little difference by comparing the process of creating the Tatar “kazan” stitch and the Moroccan “sarma” stitch?