01Kyrgyzstan · 2018

Bishkek: an artist’s drawing, pressed into felt.

In September 2018 we made our first trip to Kyrgyzstan, to the felt-makers of ala-kiyiz and shyrdak — wool laid, wetted, rolled and pressed by hand, one of the oldest textile techniques in Central Asia. It was where AKA’s work with artists truly began.

The first project was with Vargas-Suárez Universal: his drawings were laid out full size on the workshop table, and a master felt-maker built them up in black and white wool, sample by sample, until the felt could hold every line.

A felt-maker spreading raw white wool over a long table under a wooden roof — Laying the wool, Kyrgyzstan, 2018.

A master felt-maker pressing black wool onto a full-size drawing on the workshop table — The master felt-maker works over the full-size drawing.

Two felt-makers rolling wool inside a reed mat in a yurt, felt samples hanging behind — Rolling the felt in a reed mat, inside the yurt.

A felt-maker in a green velvet tunic smoothing a black and white felt panel on the workshop table — Checking every line of the drawing in the felt.

Felt-makers and Vargas-Suárez Universal reviewing a black and white felt panel together — Reviewing a panel with Vargas-Suárez Universal.

Black and white felt samples laid across a long workshop table — The samples for Vargas-Suárez Universal, Bishkek, 2018.

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