Uzbekistan is a landlocked nation of 27 million people that borders Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan. Since establishing independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, Uzbekistan has faced many challenges including widespread poverty and civil unrest. It was once, however, the center of the great Persian and Sassanid Empires that stretched across Central Asia and the Middle East, home to the warrior-king Tamerlane, and Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand, the fabled cities of the ancient Silk Road.

‘Ikat’ weaving, in which thread is dyed with a complex pattern before it is woven, has been practised for centuries in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, China, and India. The common term ikat is Malay-Indonesian, though the poetic Uzbek term ‘abrband’ translates as ‘cloud tying’. The ikats of Uzbekistan are considered the finest in the world. Traditional ikats use natural dyes such as pomegranate and saffron, and weave patterns of peacocks, people and trees of life.

During the Soviet Union’s seven-decade rule, regional crafts in its fifteen republics largely declined. But since independence, ikat has re-emerged as an important cultural export. Leading the renaissance is Rasuljon Mirzaahmedov, a master weaver whose birthplace, the Uzbek city of Margilan in the fertile Fergana Valley, is also the most vital silk production center in Central Asia. In 2005, UNESCO awarded Mirzaahmedov, who weaves for Jali Designs, an international crafts prize for reviving the art of velvet ikat. Mirzaahmedov has also produced ikat for couture and established fashion houses such as Oscar de la Renta.