It took Mekenbek Osmonaliyev and his family about five years to design and construct their decorative yurt, which won a national competition celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of Kyrgyzstan.
Today, the public can watch the award-winning yurt (a portable domed tent that nomadic cultures call home) assembled in the middle of the Mingei International Museum, Escondido. It will be the showcase of the exhibit “Nomadic Legacy, Tent and Textiles of Central Asia and Iran,” opening with a reception on Oct. 12. This will be the second time the yurt has been exhibited in San Diego. The Mingei's downtown location borrowed the circular dwelling in 1997 after it was purchased by Christy Walton, daughter-in-law of Wal-Mart pioneer Sam Walton.
Last year, Walton donated the yurt to the museum, and now it's intended to be a future traveling exhibition that will offer a window into the life of the nomadic tribes of Kyrgyzstan and other parts Central Asia.
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“Nomadic Legacy, Tent and Textiles of Central Asia and Iran”
When: Yurt assembling today through Oct. 11. Exhibit reception, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 12
Where: Mingei International Museum, Escondido, 155 W. Grand Ave.
Tickets: $3-$5
Phone: (760) 735-3355
Online: mingei.org
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The yurt takes hours to set up, so Osmonaliyev, its original owner, will travel to San Diego with his relatives, Raiymbak and Ishembi Obolbelkov. They'll teach museum staff how to build and disassemble the circular latticed walls and position the engraved wood stakes. A tyunduk, or open-domed compression ring, forms the top and it requires several helpers to connect it to the rest of the structure.
“The idea is that they will put it together and take it apart throughout the week,” said curator Rochelle Kessler. “People can walk around while we install didactics for the exhibition.”
The public is invited to watch the group work every day through Saturday, Oct. 11.
Though “Nomadic Legacy, Tent and Textiles of Central Asia and Iran” officially opens next week, those who visit the museum to watch the yurt being assembled can get a sneak preview of the show's 19th-century Turkoman, Uzbek and Kazakh robes on the museum's upper level.
Kessler said the items were worn by the pastoral nomads who traveled the steppe region or plains of Central Asia. Throughout antiquity, the tribes were bullied off their grazing lands or conquered by different empires that hoped to claim the territory along the Silk Road.
This exhibit makes it clear that despite their struggles, the nomadic tribes traveled in style.
Embroidered robes, in rich hues of scarlet, teal and ochre, are decorated with repeating geometrical designs inspired by nature or symbols of fertility and strength.
Fringe and tassels adorn hems and sleeves. Dark colors were worn by younger women, yellow indicated that a woman was married.
“There are a couple of different stitches used: the chain stitch, slanted button-hole stitch and a cross stitch,” said Kessler. “In fact the large, magnificent robe in the center of the room is entirely cross-stitched with silk thread on a cotton foundation. That was a specialty of a region that is known as Shahr-i Sabz.”
There are displays of silver heart-shaped braid ornaments that women wore beneath their veils. Jeweled headpieces and bracelets are embellished with intricate carving and studded with ruby red carnelian.
One wall is devoted to a colorful display of Central Asian hats, another to velvety Persian bag faces.
“Whether people were relocated or not, in all these cultures, there is this conscious awareness of nomadic roots, folklore and the importance of ancestors,” Kessler said. “It was shared by an oral tradition that told of great warriors going back thousands of years. That still continues.”
