It’s not about the ‘Tongues’,
It’s about the ‘Mothers’.
An ongoing artistic research of Darya Andijan
Hands on hips: Some of which are gelin kiz, cocuklu kiz, aman kiz, karadoseme, seleser, kahkullu kiz, cengel, sarmal, cakmakli, eger kasi, turna katari. It is the symbol of motherhood and fertility. To observe the evolution of the motif we start with a goddess statuette of 3000 B.C
mother
南倚昆仑、北临塔克拉玛⼲沙漠的和⽥地区，降⽔量少、昼 夜温差⼤。当地群众⼤多会建⼟墙厚实、窗⼦较少的平顶⼟ 坯住宅。屋内是实⼼⼟炕，主⼈在上边铺上⽺⽑地毯，全家 ⼈睡觉、吃饭、待客都在其上。这张⼟炕，正是南疆现代⽂ 明发展缓慢的⼀⼤痛点。
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document? repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=95ea53e0c570eba85d 3fd8335d97f4a3771bb74a
阿萨尔村村委会主任阿⼒⽊·热合曼，是在炕上⻓⼤
天上的织毯圣⼈ “那克希王” 来到⼈间传授 地毯绝技 在和⽥⽟⻰喀什河畔 少⼥格 兰姆汗拜其为师 格兰姆汗勤学苦练 学 会了⽤棉线做经线 ⽑纱结扣栽绒的地毯 技术 学成之⽇ 师傅不辞⽽别 为报答 师傅传艺之恩 格兰姆汗愈加勤奋织毯 并将⼿艺传给同村⼈及周边村⺠ 从此 织毯技术在和⽥地区⼴为传播.
的。“那时候，村⺠对家居的布置没概念，要说装修也就是 炕上铺地毯，再沿墙裙挂⼀圈颜⾊鲜亮的布料，吃饭、睡 觉、喝茶、会客，都上炕。现在想想，房间不透⻛，地毯很 久才打扫⼀次，脏，容易⽣病。”阿⼒⽊感慨良多。
The tools doesn’t change much in
Once upon a time in Khotan, the king's daughter, Gulam, understands the language of birds. When a bird warns the king about women's power, the king marries Gulam to a poor shepherd. Gulam's weaving skills make them rich and her husband becomes a king, proving the bird's message. Gulam's father finally believes in the birds.
thousand years
Now
The symbols
Carpet from Khotan
Kingdom
Myth around carpet making
Visuals
Red carpet also symbolizes as fire, used for the ritual in
About the name
“Gilam” /Gulam
<Feminist Mythology> Each variations of a myths is
the wedding
Expressing their wishes on the carpet, an imagination of better
当地毯⿐祖那克⻄万乘坐神毯⻜向东⽅之后 塔玛
户 户会织毯” 的繁荣景象 巴依看到织毯有利可图 便 派⼈暗中偷学⼿艺 不料从天窗掉下来摔死 于是 巴依绑架了阿不都拉 逼迫其为他织毯 阿不都拉 忍着剧痛砍断了⾃⼰⼿指以示反抗 绝不为巴依织 ⼀⼨地毯 巴依随后绑⾛古兰姆 并⽤铁链把她锁 在机架上 古兰姆始终没有给巴依栓结⼀个绒头 九天九夜后惨死在机架上 古兰姆的灵魂⻜向太阳 升起的地⽅ 找到了祖师 那克⻄万听了她的哭 诉 同她乘坐神毯⻜到巴依庄园的上空 呼来⼤⻛ 折断了他的机架 唤来⼤⽕焚烧了庄园 把被活捉 的巴依甩到波涛汹涌的⽟⻰喀什河⽔中淹死 除恶 之后 那克⻄万⼤声呼喊 “古兰姆!古兰姆!” 丢下神毯 离去 此后 整个和⽥⼈都称地毯为 “格莱姆” 并⼀ 直持续⾄今
古村村⺠在阿不都拉的携领下已是 “家家有织机
equally true.
future
The past
A girl name Gulam Khan,once dreamed of a persoon telling her how to weave carpet, then she woke up and start weaving.And the family got rich.
From Ancient Greek, Ottoman
How to tell a story and keep the history that can last forever without being erased?
History
Carpets
Turkish
) كلیم
kilim, “carpet
,(”
from
Old Anatolian Turkish [script
needed] (kilīm, “blanket”), from
Persian
Meanings
) گلیم
gelim, “blanket
,
Uyghur history often written in a half fictional form
garment, cloth, carpet”).
Trading
Tazkirah: collected the sayings or writings of saints or poets alongside their biography. They expected readers and copyists to participate in the continued creation of the text as it was reproduced and transmitted across generations.
in the ancient time, the king Yutian ordered a most famous weaver to complete a huge carpet within one month. The weaver knitted day and night without resting in order to fulfill the job. It is thoughtfully of his daughter Gülam who didn’t have the heart to see her father slaved by the work to help the work. They finally finished the work on time. When the king was delighted to see the elegant and beautiful carpet, he decided to reward them. However, the father and daughter refused to take the reward. Instead, they requested the king to exempt villagers as poor as them from taxes for three years. The king who was moved by their love and caring granted the request. Therefore, the villagers were grateful to Gülam and her father and learned skills to weave carpet which were
Shared patterns
Her journey in EU
Recordings with
Ana
Home
Story of mothers
The loss of the memory, culture, humanity
Re-open the Connections with
others
Words with Sem
Party with friends on the carpet
Carpet from my great- grandma
Sumerian
goddess
named Gülam .
Great-grandma from Khotan
Kingdom
Critical Review
Darya.Andijan
I’m sitting in the aftermath of what had happened in the last 5 years - it’s not something new, it’s not even a war, and it’s still ongoing. I’m still not sure what it has done to my body and soul, Is it possible to heal through the intervention of those experiences?
<We didn’t speak English at English Garden>
I made an extended cinema for last semester, with the recording of my cousin, who’s suffering from bipolar.It’s a connection of mental illness and fear of speaking in an imprisoned language.
Sulu.Artco
An image formed from the names of Uighur writers, intellectuals, and artists in China’s internment camps and prisons, made by the Uighur art collective Sulu.Artco
At a carpet manufacturer in Khotan, 1957
PC: Ru Suichu
Once I started this semester, I found the fear rooted in my body. The fear of expression, the fear of losing - of losing the family, of being erased. I need something to help me overcome this fear, something beyond me, somewhere that I feel safe. And for me, this thing is carpet.
So I started to research the carpets of Khotan, which was famous for its long history of weaving and trading, and its colorful patterns.
Kälkün: Kälkün means “waterflood” ,As it is like the whirlpool and spray when the flood surges, it is called “scattered wave” pattern .
Took from a carpet store in Amsterdam.
Prayer Carpet: a set of patterns in the layout of skeleton type is extended upward in left-right direction in one or several shrine-shaped designs.
Anargül(pomegranate blossom pattern): in the pattern, pomegranate branch, leaves, blossom and fruits are folded in half or are arranged symmetrically.
A Khotan carpet gifted from my great-grandmother, as a blessing when I was born.
She said：“the carpet cannot be easily destroyed, so you’ll remember me forever.”
The weaving tools doesn’t change much in 2000 years.
The weaving tools now
The weaving tools Khotan people use 2000 years ago
Khotan woman weaving
<Turkestan Alive>, Basil Davidson, 1957
After the carpet's ancestor Nakxivan flew east on a magical carpet, the village of Tamagu, led by Abdullah, thrived with "looms in every home, everyone weaving carpets." Seeing the profit, the wealthy Bai tried to steal their skills but failed. Furious, he kidnapped Abdullah, who resisted by cutting off his fingers, refusing to weave. Bai then kidnapped Gülam, chaining her to a loom, but she didn't weave and died after nine days. Her soul found Nakxivan, who, upon hearing her story, flew back and destroyed Bai's manor with wind and fire, drowning Bai in the Yurungkash River. Afterward, Nakxivan shouted "Gülam!" and left. Since then, the people of Hetian have called their carpets "Gülam," a tradition still alive today.
A girl named Gülam Khan born in a poor family in Khotan, once dreamed of a person telling her how to weave carpet, then she woke up and start weaving.
Then she helped the whole family got wealthy.
In ancient times, the King of Khotan kingdom ordered a famous weaver to complete a huge carpet in one month. The weaver worked tirelessly, and his daughter Gülam, not wanting to see her father overworked, helped him. They finished on time, and the king, delighted with the beautiful carpet, offered a reward. The weaver and Gülam declined the reward, asking instead for a three-year tax exemption for poor villagers. The king, moved by their selflessness, granted their request. The grateful villagers named their weaving skills after Gülam and her father.
There’re different myths around the Uyghur name of the carpet: Gülam/Gilam
Even if the factual history of Gulam remains unclear, I do believe that the woman who wove and created existed, and it’s her who is responsible for creating and forming our traditions and customs; to create a homeplace for us to rest and resist. In some way we’re all sharing memories of Gulams body, walking along the seams of her myth. Claiming a well defined Version of who she “really” is doesn’t seem to matter here, but rather following and understanding her feelings and following her voice which lingers throughout our language and in our bodies. We’ re building a new continuum, in which a multitude is equally true.
So I dived more into the ancient time, then I found these 5 carpets that was made 2000 years ago in the Khotan kingdom.
Surprisingly, the carpets are telling a missing piece of Sumerian myth, a story of Gilgamesh trying to rescue his brother from hell, finally, the goddess Inanna helped to bring his brother back to life.
But carpets like this are very expensive, who and why did they make this?
In one of the myths of Gülam, it mentioned the king asked the weaver to finish a carpet within a month.
According to this book, these carpets were made for a resurrection ritual.
During that time, the Khotan kingdom was suffering from drought, although they believed in Buddhism, they retained some old beliefs. So they went to Shaman for a solution when the monks said you cannot be against nature, and the solution was to sacrifice a warrior to the river. A general volunteered for it, so the king asked people to make the carpets and hold a resurrection ritual for this man. Magically, based on the history, the land started to rain again, and they named this place after the general’s name.
How can I enter this story?
Kharosthi Inscriptions
The language they used in Khotan Kingdom
How do we encounter and re-connect with our ancestor’s knowledge through image-making? How do we pass on that knowledge without fear?
Then I made this piece with my boyfriend S, who speaks Turkish.
(Uyghur is part of the turkic language.)
the Sumerian goddess Inanna
In a consultation with Dianna, she told me to think of the core concepts of all these stories I have. And in Saodat Ismailova’s workshop I finally realized, the core is the fear of being erased.
What I’ve been looking for, is something that can never be erased.
What are the other things that haven’t been erased?
And why & how they are lasting in the history?
Archive from Swidish missonary in 1920s. An Uyghur girl weaving.
Carpet from my great-grandmother
Saodat told me, it’s nature to worship the older women in the family, that could be a trace to look back to the Khotan carpet I found, where the Sumerian goddess Inanna showed up.
Turns out the goddess Inanna never left. In Uyghur, the word "demon" is actually her, a women with a lot of breasts. She was demonized during Islamisation.
Maybe some traces of worship the women are still there, like the love for pomegranates. While I look at the pomegranates carpet my great-grandmother gave me, I realized, pomogranates in Uyghur called 'Anar', which is one word different from the word 'Ana', which is mother.
Me holding pomogrante when I was 7
Then all the stories suddenly start to connect:
It’s not about the 'Tongue' in ‘mother tongue’,
it’s about the mothers, the divine feminine.
Languages are always changing, but what we inherited from our mothers is always there and lasting.