Asel Moldotasheva

Kyrgyzstan | Traditional Kyrgyz Jewelry

Asel Moldotasheva is a jeweler based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, working in the traditional metal jewelry practices of Kyrgyz nomadic culture. Her work centers on preserving and reconstructing techniques, forms, and symbols that have largely fallen out of everyday use and now survive mainly through museum collections, historical records, and oral knowledge.

Her path into jewelry was gradual and grounded in broader craft practice. For many years, Asel worked with traditional Kyrgyz crafts including felt making, natural dyeing, embroidery, pattern study, and traditional costume construction. Jewelry was not initially her focus, but these disciplines formed a deep understanding of Kyrgyz material culture and design language.

During the quarantine period, Asel’s attention turned more fully to traditional Kyrgyz women’s dress. In 2021, she enrolled in a course organized by the Kiyiz Duino Foundation on cutting and sewing traditional costumes. The program included a single lesson on the restoration of traditional jewelry, which became a turning point. It clarified a long-held interest and set the direction for her work.

Soon after, Asel began apprenticing with master jeweler Dmitry Byzov at the Kara Zerger workshop, one of the few places in Kyrgyzstan where traditional nomadic metalwork is still actively practiced and taught. Given the physical demands and technical difficulty of the craft, he was initially hesitant to take on a student. Within the first week, however, Asel demonstrated the level of commitment required and was invited to continue working under his guidance.

Over three years in the workshop, she trained in historically accurate metalworking techniques. Her practice now includes forging, engraving, granulation, filigree, chasing, embossing, niello, and hand soldering using foot-operated bellows. She works primarily in silver, which, historically, has been valued in Kyrgyz culture for its protective and symbolic qualities.

Motifs in her work draw from traditional oyu symbolism, including Umai, the female protective deity; Bugu, the deer; Kun, the sun; and Jany ay, the new moon. These forms are tied to protection, strength, and continuity and are used with attention to historical placement and meaning.

Asel works primarily independently and also shares her knowledge through workshops and informal teaching, helping rebuild a lineage of jewelry-making that is now rare in Kyrgyzstan. She frequently reuses silver from older pieces and sources materials locally when possible, reflecting long-standing nomadic approaches to resource use rather than a contemporary sustainability framework.