AKIPRESS.COM - Craftswomen in the village of Bokonbaevo, Issyk-Kul region create colorful handmade shyrdaks, traditional stitched felt rugs popular among tourists.

Kunduz Asanakunova, manager of the Teaching Felt Creation school, told about their activity. "I work in this institution for about 20 years. We have 5 women and 2 men in our team. We also have craftswomen working from home. We buy wool from our local shepherds, process it, and make felt for yurts, shyrdaks, different carpets. During the pandemic our work was suspended, but since last year it has resumed again," she said.

Foreign tourists are interested in their products, they order them choosing the desired color and size. Tourists are especially interested in the manufacturing process, they wonder how all this is done manually. "We offer master classes for them," said Asanakunova.

Over the past 10 years, they sold their creations to Kazakhstan, Russia, Canada, Germany, France and European countries. In addition, the goods took part in world exhibitions.

Making shyrdak is uneasy, it takes 2 months to make one 3/2 meter felt rug, she said.

"We provide jobs for unemployed local residents, those on maternity leave, and pensioners. Every year the number of women who know how to create a shyrdak is decreasing, so we teach them," Asanakunova noted.