Boysun. Masterpieces of Central Asia
CRAFTS (P.22-23)
In spite of numerous modern industrial goods, the Boysun people continue to use products made by local masters (УustoФ); as a rule, they are cheaper and more practical. Besides that, the main thing is that they keep the soul of Boysun folk culture. The more remote a kishlak is, the more hand-made products its inhabitants use. A significant part of wooden products and ceramics are made by Boysun ustos. Wood is used for utensils, saddles and yurt frames. The workshop of Usto Izzatullah Eshankulov operated in Boysun up to the end of the last century. He is from the family of hereditary potters coming from the native region of Baha ad-Din Naqshband near Bukhara. Usto Izzatulah made dishes, pialas, jugs and other items of slipware. Manufacturing of leather products has very ancient sources. These include footwear, clothes, and horse equipment. Characteristic products are chests with a colored pattern on metal, wooden cradles, clay toys and metal products. Almost every house has a big clay furnace (УtandyrФ). All these item can be seen at markets and in the workshops of Boysun ustos.
BoysunТs environs are rich in iron ores which give a reddish color to foothills. Historically smiths or УtemirchiФ, enjoy a high respect; in the past they built the famous Iron Gates. At the end of the 19th century the Bukhara emir ordered a metal processing manufacture to be founded in Boysun begstvo. It had twenty five furnaces. The metal was supplied to the smiths living in the mahalla around the fortress of Kurgan-i Bolo. Even today it is impossible to imagine Boysun without the products of local smiths. They make knifes, axes, horseshoes, shovels, fences and such delicate products as chang-kobuz a musical instruments. The majority of these products are unlikely ever to become industrial goods. Most likely, they will be forged by a smith. In 2005, in Boysun, a special Center of Folk Crafts was established in order to preserve original craft traditions within the framework of UNESCOТs project together with a TACIS programme for rural income development.
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