Textile Reading
Traditional Textiles of Central Asia– Janet Harvey. An illustrated survey of the opulent velvets, exquisite embroideries, magnificent felts, fine cotton weaves, decorative motifs, materials, dyes, and looms of the region. There are vivid descriptions of the types of objects made and the diverse regional and tribal variations; clothes and costumes; and lavish embroideries and embellishments.
Silk and Cotton: Textiles from the Central Asia that Was by Susan Meller. The traditional textiles of Central Asia and the legendary Silk Road. Whether nomadic or sedentary, the people of this region created textiles for every aspect of their way of life, from ceremonial objects marking rites of passage, to everyday garments, to practical items for the home: suzanis for the marriage bed; prayer mats; patchwork quilts; bridal ensembles; bags for tea, scissors, and mirrors; lovingly embroidered hats and bibs; and robes of every color and pattern. Meller documents their history, use and meaning through archival photographs and fascinating travelers’ narratives spanning many centuries.
Modernity of Tradition: Uzbek Textile Culture Today by Gabriele Mentges, Lola Shamukhitdinova, Waxmann Verlag
Bright Flowers: Textiles and Ceramics of Central Asia by Christina Sumner and Guy Petherbridge
Beyond the Silk Road: Arts of Central Asia by Christina Sumner with Heleanor Feltham
Traditional Textiles of Central Asia by Janet Harvey
Ikat: Splendid Silks of Central Asia by Kate Fitz Gibbon and Andrew Hale
Uzbekistan: Heirs to the Silk Road by Johannes Kalter and Margareta Pavaloi
Kyrgyzstan: Costumes of Nomadic Peopleby Klavdiya Antipina, Rolando Paiva and Temirbek Musakeev
Architectural Textiles: Tent Bands of Central Asia by Richard Isaacson
General Reading
The Great Game: the Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk
The Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia by Karl E Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac
The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization by Jonathan Lyons
Travels into Bokhara by Alexander Burnes
To The Tashkent Station by Rebecca Manley
The Golden Ring of Khorezm V.N Yagodin and A.V.G. Betts, UNESCO publication available for free download. It includes excellent information on the desert fortresses in Russian and English.
Uzbekistan, the Golden Road to Samarkand by Calum Macelod & Bradley Mayhem
Friendly Stepppes: A Silk Road Journey by Nick Rowan
News From Tartary by Peter Fleming
Turkestan Solo: A Journey Through Central Asia by Ella Maillard
Central Asia: A Traveller’s Companion by Kathleen Hopkirk
Revolution Baby: Motherhood and Anarchy in Kyrgyzstan by Saffia Farr
Kyrgyzstan by Laurence Mitchell – Bradt Travel Guides
The Silk Road by Peter Frankopann
A Carpet Ride to Khiva: Seven Years on the Silk Road by Christopher Aslan Alexander The author was born in Turkey and grew up in war-torn Beirut. After university he moved to Central Asia. While writing a guidebook about Khiva, he fell in love with this desert oasis boasting the most homogenous example of Islamic architecture in the world, and stayed. Accompanied by a large parrot, a ginger cat, and his adoptive Uzbek family, Christopher Aslan Alexander recounts the sheer magic of Uzbek culture alongside his efforts to rediscover the lost arts of traditional carpet making and establish a self-sufficient carpet workshop offering employment to local women and disabled people.
The Dancer from Khiva : One Muslim Woman’s Quest for Freedom by Bibish (Translated by Andrew Bromfield. An unflinchingly honest memoir, The Dancer from Khiva is a true story that offers remarkable insights into Central Asian culture through the harrowing experiences of a young girl.
Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron: Shadow of the Silk Road records a journey along the greatest land route on earth. Out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran and into Kurdish Turkey, Colin Thubron covers some seven thousand miles in eight months. Making his way by local bus, truck, car, donkey cart and camel, he travels from the tomb of the Yellow Emperor, the mythic progenitor of the Chinese people, to the ancient port of Antioch—in perhaps the most difficult and ambitious journey he has undertaken in forty years of travel.
Novels
Ali and Nino by Kurbin Said
Jamilia by Chingiz Aitmatov
Samarkand by Amin Maalouf
The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov
Note: The above list is by no means exhaustive. If you’d like to recommend a book or movie that you’ve enjoyed or found informative and inspiring, please email us at retreatrecreate@gmail.com
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