Economy and Identity: Felt Making and Marketing in Kashgar Region and Konya

Abstract

Kashgar in China and Konya in Turkey are centers of felt making. The making and marketing of felt in these places, however, developed in two fairly different directions. In Konya felt is a sought-after tourism item while in Kashgar felt is reserved for personal use in a rural context. This paper is analyzing why felt-making in Kashgar barely survived, while the felt industry in Konya flourished. The paper compares the processes of felt-making, as well as the living or working conditions of felt makers in the two regions and argues. That in Kashgar, felt is not only used for domestic purposes, but it is also a marker of Uyghur identity. Moreover, Kashgar is a historical center of Uyghur handicrafts and felt-making that had, due to the severe travel restrictions during the past centuries, little cultural exchange with other regions and, the felt making techniques and production patterns thus barely changed. The limited flow of people, skills, ideas and techniques reflect in a low marketability of felt in Kashgar and - Uyghur felt makers hardly reach their level of subsistence by focusing on felt making. In contrast, Konya is an tourist’s city and contemporary center of felt industry producing for tourists hunting local felt and felt products. As such, the Turkish felt makers incorporated modern patterns, eased and accelerated the production process and in doing so repurposed the use felt, making it attractive for a young clientele. In this way they were able to cure prosperity for their felt industry.