Paper long abstract:

“Altyn Asyr” bazaar in Ashgabat, attracts thousands of visitors. Local residents and foreign tourists rush to explore the richness of the country’s largest market. National crafts, whose demand stimulates the production of a wide variety of consumer goods, from embroideries to carpets to jewelry and clothing, constitute a significant proportion of the bazaar’s diversity. By exploring the links between the demand for and consumption of handicrafts within the space of the Ashgabat bazaar, by analyzing interactions between Turkmen artisans and consumers, as well as international guests, this paper explores how the high demand for handicrafts is driven by traditional rituals and practices, how handicrafts represent a livelihood and daily consumption practice, and how handicrafts linked to traditional rituals give room to everyday narratives of Turkmen identity, how they express “banal nationalism”.

As Michael Billig states “the term banal nationalism is introduced to cover ideological habits which enable established nations of the West to be reproduced.” Some nationhood signs are not recognized as such by the population because they are “so familiar, so continual.” In Turkmenistan national crafts seem to be the main reminders of national belonging. Carpets, embroidery, dresses and jewelry make individuals bearers and creators of national narratives, and make the Turkmen nation ‘flagged’ .

The majority of publications on post-Soviet Central Asia focus on states’ narratives, created and disseminated by official authorities and academia. Based on historical or even mythological past, these narratives are devoted to raise national awareness and to legitimize and consolidate state power. A limited number of papers explore the role of handicrafts in unofficial narratives in Central Asia, analyze crafts as a source of identity and livelihood, discuss the role of textile heritage in nation building and cultural identity, or examine artisanal products within the context of new market environment. Although there are academic papers on Turkmen handicrafts themselves, no research is devoted to handicrafts as a source of national identity. This paper aims to fill the gap by focusing on handicrafts presented through the space of the Turkmen market and traditional rituals and practices.

This research is based on visits to the Altyn Asyr bazaar in Ashgabat in August 2013, October 2017, and April-May 2018. I apply a combination of qualitative methods to analyze Turkmen handicrafts and social practices in Ashgabat. This includes interviews and conversations with bazaar sellers and customers, Turkmen citizens and international visitors, and participant observations within and beyond the bazaar. It is based on statistical data on social-economic indicators from the State Committee on Statistics of Turkmenistan together with data on international tourism from World Bank and IndexMundi.