Doll of a standing Kyrgyz woman dressed in a white, high hat and scarf; white dress with long sleeves; skirts ruffled around the hem and waist and a black faux velvet surcoat which is sleevelessand embroidered with 'leaf' motifs on the lower skirt. The doll has two long braids of hair. The 'face' is made from two crossed bands of red, white and blue cotton. This is in accordance with the Islamic ruling against human representation. Osh is a particularly politically sensitive area of Kyrgyzstan as it has a large Uzbek population - the area has seen riots and ethnic tension for the last 30+ years. This doll appears to have been made with the express intention of being sensitive to cultural (and especially religious) sensibilities - this is probable given that it was on display at the modern Sultanat Gallery which aims to be sensitive in these ways. (The tendency to avoid human representation because of Islamic beliefs is more pronounced in Kyrgyzstan than in Uzbekistan.)
A price tag on the front of the skirt reads '352/5' som (currency of Kyrgyzstan). The doll is mounted on four sections of reed/straw. This doll was probably made for both the local and tourist markets and is of a stylized Kyrgyz woman and is probably a decorative item rather than a child's plaything. The local name for 'doll' is KUKULI (the same term is used for 'puppet'; they are interchangeable). The doll was bought from the Sultanat Gallery, Osh.
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