From Workshop to Workshops

With my workshop behind me, it was good to finally get out to the artisan workshops and see the products being produced. With felt being the specialty of the Kyrgyz it was good to finally see how this product was produced and the different quality levels that exist in the market. While some artisans buy dyed pieces in the market, most are making their own colors. The plain (white) felt is produced in several regions throughout the country but Naryn seems to be a favorite location to buy good quality felt.

While there are many interesting scarves, bags and hats, the products that seemed to have the best opportunity for sale in the US given the mix of quality, style and price are ornaments and jewelry. Adorable fish, birds, angels, stars and more made from felt and embroidered with cotton and glittery beads certainly have a market in the US and I was particularly intrigued by rings made from felt that look like different types of flowers. One major advantage of these items is that they are lightweight and won’t break in shipping! Since there are limited options for getting these products out of landlocked Central Asia this is a bigger deal than one might normally factor in.

I was also able to coax a few stories from people and learned that many artisans have incorporated home work into their business model, making an effort to hire women, who for reasons ranging from being disabled to having to care for children, can’t leave home to come to work on a regular basis. Some groups, such as the one who makes the birds and fish and the angels in the photo above, have also reached out to the migrant community (people who have moved from the villages to the outskirts of the city to find work) who are living in makeshift homes with no plumbing or proper services, giving them much higher than average wages to produce items based on set specifications. Once again, however, it was not the artisans relaying the stories so much as the people from CACSA passing along this information after the fact. The artisans, did however pose for some photos, like this one of Oaxana wearing a silk and felt scarf.

Driving around Bishkek helped me further understand this emerging market, where people are clearly living fairly comfortably and there is a reserved confidence about the economy. It seems the prevailing attitude is that if the government doesn’t get in the way this market has unlimited potential. At the same time, people are a bit concerned that prices will jump too quickly (e.g., cooking oil has more than doubled in the past year) and wages will not keep pace.

On a personal note, I was very pleased that my wireless connection at the hotel allowed me to log in and see that the Red Sox pulled off a rally to make it to the World Series--and at the time of this posting are actually leading two games to none in the fall classic! Though the talk of this town was much more about the World Rugby Final, which went to the South African Springboks over the English Roses.