Marghilan is hosting the second Atlas Bayrami Festival. This year it turned more spectacular and, more productive.
It is no coincidence that Marghilan becomes the venue of the festival that was organized by the UNESCO Office in Uzbekistan in cooperation with local authorities and the Hunarmand Association. It is in this city, for centuries famous for its weaving art, that many artists work, honoring the traditions and techniques of their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. The quality of their products confirms the high demand for fabrics by European designers who value the traditional technology.
“This is a very important moment, since artisans entering the market who call themselves followers of traditional technologies, but make imitations, non-traditional products. The reason is lack of knowledge of the traditions,” says Academician, Professor, Doctor of Arts, head of the Department of Fine and Applied Arts of the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, the festival director Akbar Hakimov. “We agree with those who believe that any product of artisans has the right to life, if in the demand. But we are for all to be called by their names, preserve ancestral traditions. These technologies are more labor-intensive, complex, and the fabric is more expensive. It has not only material value, but the value in terms of the preservation of traditions.”
The festival kicked off with the numerous workshops and the round table ‘The Uzbek Textiles and Sustainable Development’ in the Marghilan Crafts Development Center.
“At this time, as at the first festival, held in September 2015, those who work on the original traditional technologies, we will deliver the UNESCO Seal of Excellence,” Hakimov continues. “Quality Signs serve as a guide for anyone who wants to learn and work on traditional technologies.”
The program of the Festival also includes the exhibition of traditional textiles and fashion design patterns in ethnic style at the Marghilan Crafts Development Center, as well as public festivities, performances of folk music bands, askiya singers, performances of rope-walkers, competition in pilaf making ‘Devzira’, and a puppet show.
