Kazakhstan · Feltwork / Textile
Текемет (Tekemets)
Tekemets (Текемет) is the Kazakh pressed felt tradition — producing floor coverings and wall panels with geometric patterns formed during the felting process rather than cut into finished felt. Unlike shyrdak (CRAFT-0698 — cut and swap) and ala-kiyiz (CRAFT-0699 — pre-placed tufts), tekemets uses a resist-pressing system: patterned wooden templates are pressed into the wet wool before felting, creating raised and compressed areas that produce the pattern through differential density rather than color. The defining technical knowledge is the template pressure calibration: 'the template must press deeply enough to mark the wool but not so deep that the compressed area becomes too dense — if the wool under the template will not felt with the rest, the mark becomes a hole.'
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Kazakhstan national ICH list — component of Kazakh felt traditions
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