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[[File:Shyrdak on floor.jpg|thumb|A shyrdak on the floor of a home in [[Aksy District]], Kyrgyzstan]]
A '''shyrdak''' ({{lang-ky|шырдак}}, {{IPA-ky|ʃɯrdɑ́q|}}) or '''syrmak''' ({{lang-kk|сырмақ}}, {{IPA-kk|sərmɑ́q|}}) is a stitched, and often colourful [[felt]]<ref name="FergusJandosova2003">{{cite book|last1=Fergus|first1=Michael|last2=Jandosova|first2=Janar|title=Kazakhstan: Coming of Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jAu9ttUqiJoC&pg=PA213|year=2003|publisher=Stacey International|isbn=978-1-900988-61-2|page=213}}</ref> floor- or wall-covering, usually handmade in [[Central Asia]]. [[Kazakhs]] and [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]] alike traditionally make shyrdaks, but especially in [[Kyrgyzstan]], the traditional is still alive, and many of the products are sold to [[tourists]].

==Design==
[[File:Kyrgyz Republic Felt Rugs - Stierch.jpg|thumb|Steps in the process of making a shyrdak]]
It takes the wool from approximately five sheep to make one shyrdak rug. The process is slow and labour-intensive. Traditionally shyrdak rugs have been made by women.<ref>{{cite book|title=Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaoXAQAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS Press|page=152}}</ref> Once collected the wool is picked clean washed, dried then dyed. The Shyrdak is usually designed in an inlaid patchwork highly contrasting colours<ref name="BloomBlair2009">{{cite book|last1=Bloom|first1=Jonathan|last2=Blair|first2=Sheila|title=Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture: Three-Volume Set|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC&pg=RA1-PA377|date=14 May 2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-530991-1}}</ref> such as red and green, yellow and black, brown and white. Once the wool is dried a brightly coloured pattern is laid on to a plain background this is then soaked with soap and water rolled up and literally pressed this process is repeated.

Once the pattern starts to hold, the rug is reversed soaked and rolled again after some hours the shyrdak rug is left to dry. Two contrasting layers of felt are the laid on top of one another and a pattern is then marked on the top layer in chalk.<ref name="Turnau1997">{{cite book|last=Turnau|first=Irena|title=Hand-Felting in Europe and Asia: From the Middle Ages to the 20th Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dMofAQAAIAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Institute of the Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Sciences|isbn=978-83-85463-52-8|pages=80–2, 107}}</ref> This is painstakingly and laboriously cut out with the felt maker frequently sharpening the knife which will blunt quickly.

This creates a stunning positive/negative style visual image usually full of symbolic motif images that represent things around them i.e. the water, goat horns, a yurt etc. Representations of sheep and shepherds are particularly common in Kazkahstan.<ref name="Turnau1997" /> The felt that is cut from the top layer is not wasted and is used to create another mirror image shyrdak with the reverse colours of the original shyrdak.

==See also==
* [[Tush kyiz]]
* [[Ala kiyiz]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links ==
* [http://www.shyrdak-jurte.de/herstellung/ Film about the making of Shyrdaks]

{{UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding}}

[[Category:Ethnic Kyrgyz culture]]
[[Category:Kazakhstani culture]]
[[Category:Kyrgyzstani culture]]
[[Category:List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding]]
[[Category:Textile arts]]

{{Kazakhstan-stub}}
{{Kyrgyzstan-stub}}
{{culture-stub}}

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