TRAVEL
the world narrows into rhythm — the rustle of mulberry leaves, the soft clack of wooden looms, and the murmur of artisans who have known this work since childhood. At the renowned Yodgorlik Silk Factory, one of the last places in Central Asia to produce silk entirely by hand, the air is saturated with the scent of natural dyes. Indigo pots simmer, saffron stains the fingertips of dyers, and long stretches of raw silk shimmer in gold-tinted daylight. Watching atlas silk take shape is like witnessing history being woven one luminous thread at a time. Each piece carries the imprint of a lineage, a story, a set of rituals repeated with reverence rather than routine.
Nearby, the village homes open their doors to travellers, eager to share how cocoon becomes thread, and how thread becomes fabric imbued with the region’s ancient aesthetic. Just beyond Margilan lies Rishtan, a village where almost every family has been shaped by clay. This is the cradle of Central Asian ceramics, a place where pottery does not merely decorate life — it defines it. The streets echo with the sound of spinning wheels and the soft tap of tools that have not changed in generations. Artisans here paint swirling vines, pomegranates, and floral motifs with an instinctive grace that seems almost inherited. Their hands
move confidently, guided by memory rather than sketch. The secret to Rishtan’s world-famous ceramics lies in its ishkor glaze — an ancient mixture of burned mountain plants and mineral-rich soil. When fired, it transforms into a luminous turquoise glow, a colour so distinctive that collectors across Asia can identify it instantly. In workshops filled with drying bowls and freshly fired platters, time feels suspended — pottery here is not manufactured, but deeply respected. Food in the valley becomes an unspoken language of lineage and landscape. Markets spill over with apricots soft as velvet, almonds in papery shells, grapes glistening like
42
EC Magazines | Busan Edition 2025
Made with FlippingBook Proposal Creator