For centuries, the nomadic tribes of Central Asia used colorful textiles called suzanis as seating, prayer mats, bedding and dividers in their yurts – the traditional tents that were their homes. Women would pass the skill down to younger family members, and the textiles, woven with symbols representing luck and fertility, would be presented to the groom as part of a bride’s dowry.
The tradition continues today. Twenty-four-year-old Aziza Tojiyeva, who lives in a small village about 50 kilometers (30 miles) outside of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, learned how to embroider from her mother, Mukhabbat Kuchkarova, who learned from her own grandmother. “I grew up in an embroidery family,” said Tojiyeva, “When I was a tiny girl, I was interested in doing this work.”
Tojiyeva is the first generation to sell the creations online, on Etsy, Instagram and eBay – using digital technology to give a centuries-old craft tradition a bright future. Each week she sells two or three items, from throw pillows to bedspreads, on Etsy – plus a few more on other platforms. Most of her orders come from the US, but she has customers in places like Spain, Italy and the UK.
Online sales only represent about 2% of retail sales in Uzbekistan, compared to about 25% in the US and more than 30% in China, according to accounting firm KPMG. Most craftspeople in Uzbekistan – from knifemakers to carpet weavers – haven’t yet gone digital. But entrepreneurs like Tojiyeva demonstrate how young people from traditional backgrounds are starting to leverage technology to reach overseas markets.
“The younger generation … they know how to use digital media, and they’re helping their parents or grandparents show their products to the to the world,” said Dr. Indira Alibayeva, a postdoctoral researcher at Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University’s Research Centre for Entrepreneurship (NURCE). Alibayeva worked on a book, “Roots of Heritage: Honoring Hunarmandchilik Tradition in Uzbekistan,” about craftspeople in Uzbekistan, which includes a chapter on Tojiyeva.
Economic evolution
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of tourists visiting Bukhara, a site popular for its Silk Road heritage, plummeted and Tojiyeva wanted to help her family find a new source of income. After doing some online research, she set up on Etsy and other platforms.
The journey of their family’s business is closely linked with the country’s economic evolution.
Uzbekistan came under Russian control in the 19th century, and traditional Uzbek craftsmanship almost didn’t survive the Soviet era. Craftspeople, from suzanis and carpet makers to potters, had to work in factories to play their parts in the planned economic machine, said Professor Shumaila Yousafzai, the director of NURCE, who also worked on the book.
Still, people continued with their crafts. “Uzbek identity is all about being an artisan. No matter what trade you do, you do something with your hands as well,” said Yousafzai.
After the country declared independence in 1991, handicrafts enjoyed a revival, and many turned their hobbies into income. In 2000, Tojiyeva’s parents decided to start an embroidery business, and began selling their wares in the local bazaar.
Today, the average monthly salary in Uzbekistan is less than $400. Its president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, is championing reforms to reduce state control over the economy and promote private sector activity, boost its per capita GDP and reduce poverty. Wide-ranging efforts include trying to attract tourists, investing in an expansion of its capital city, and supporting industries from startups to handicrafts with tax breaks and other incentives.
The liberalization of the foreign exchange market in 2017 allowed entrepreneurs to receive money from overseas online sales into an Uzbek bank account, Muzaffar Azamov, the chairman of the E-Commerce Association of Uzbekistan, told CNN via email.
From yurt seating to upscale interior design
Suzanis are experiencing a resurgence, in Uzbekistan and overseas. Fashionable Uzbeks wear clothing made from the fabric, and suzanis have become popular with interior designers from the UK to Singapore, who use them as wall décor, bedding, or as the fabric for throw pillows. Yousafzai said she thinks that’s because Uzbekistan has grown in popularity as a tourist destination.
In addition to Etsy, Instagram and eBay, Tojiyeva’s family also sells goods to tourists visiting a museum they set up at their home to show off their sewing techniques.
She said that she has regular online customers in places like the US who re-sell her items in their homeware stores, adding that at least some of them found her from her posts on Pinterest – whose “mood boards” are a favorite of interior design enthusiasts – where she does her marketing.
On Tojiyeva’s Etsy page, throw pillows fetch about $90. A pillow might take 10 to 15 days to complete; an embroider can only work for about two hours a day, otherwise it might hurt her eyes and fingers, she said. Larger items, like an intricate tapestry, might command more than $600.
Tojiyeva isn’t alone. Others in the country have taken to online platforms to sell items like robe-like garments called chapans and Gijduvan ceramics, a craft that began in Bukhara in the 3rd century AD. There are efforts to get more sellers online; early adopters have taught others, and eBay has a Central Asia Hub which highlights products from the region, an initiative supported by USAID and other development agencies.
E-commerce could help reduce poverty, improve social mobility and create employment opportunities for millions of citizens, said Azamov. Since the purchasing power of the Uzbek population is relatively low, foreign markets could play an important role, he added.
Tojiyeva says her mother is impressed with the uptick in sales. The family business now works with a network of about 200 women from local villages to keep up with demand from their orders, she says.
But for Tojiyeva, it’s more than a business. “It’s like meditation when you sew. You forget about everything else,” she says. “And when you sew something beautiful, you feel satisfaction.”
