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Silk and Ikat

The term Ikat refers to textiles, which are manufactured by using a tie-dye technique where parts of the yarn are tied according to a desired pattern. Dyeing according to this method requires tying  bundles of yarn by hand using a color-resistant material in order to resist it from dye color previous to the dyeing process. In order to create a fabric with a multi-color pattern that is charactersitic for the region of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan this process must be repeated multiple times for various colours. After dyeing, the yarns are used as warp or weft on hand or semi-automatic looms. During the weaving process, the pre-dyed yarns create the iconic blurred patterns which ikat textiles are known for. These fabrics carry the tradition of silk production and processing and reflect the Central Asian culture, making the two countries an integral part of the Great Silk Road.