Splendid Treasures of the Turkmen Tribes from Central Asia

April 24 to July 18, 2010
http://www.ringling.org/Exhibitions2.aspx?id=6994


The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, northern Iraq and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family. Today the term of Turkmen is usually restricted to two Turkic groups: the Turkmen people of Turkmenistan and adjacent parts of Central Asia, and the Turkmen of Iraq and Syria. With about five million people, the Turkmen are the third most numerous of the Central Asian peoples after the Kazakhs and Uzbeks.

Throughout their history they have pursued largely nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles, where wealth was measured in horses, sheep and goats as well as silver jewelry. The Turkmen, practice mainly Sunni Islam, but hold to pre-Islamic customs and traditions, a blending of the old and new which is common in many Islamic societies. They consider themselves to be descendants of an ancestor known as Oghuz Khan. Turkmen rugs, coats, and jewelry that are focused upon by this exhibition are rich with aesthetic beauty and symbols from their ancient culture. For the Turkmen silversmiths who made it and the Turkmen people who wore it during special ceremonies and festivals, as well as in their daily life, this jewelry, apart from its economic value, implied a continuing attachment to their mythical ancestors, a wish for many children and a belief that the symbolic power of this jewelry could ward off evil spirits.

Mr. Stephen Van C. Wilberding purchased a large group of Turkmen jewelry, as well as some rugs and coats, in Saudi Arabia in 1984-1989 when he was living in Riyadh as Senior Advisor to the Saudi central bank. The work involved running the kingdom’s $150 billion of reserves and advising on economic policy matters. At that time, Afghan traders were bringing out the jewelry obtained from Turkmen living in northern Afghanistan to sell during the final period of Russian occupation. In 2009, Mr. Wilberding donated 69 Turkmen pieces, including 68 pieces of jewelry and one armless coat, which were made from the 19th to early 20th century, to the Ringling Museum of Art. Focusing upon this collection, this exhibition casts a new and fascinating light on Turkmen culture, as well as advances our understanding of Turkmen people.