Framingham Woman Showcases the Art of Suzani Needlecraft

Zilola Ashurova remembers her childhood well. Growing up in Uzbekistan, she was only six when she used to observe her mother, aunts and grandmother working on complex Uzbek needlecraft projects. The process of smaller Suzani pieces evolving into larger stunning works of art captured Ashurova’s imagination. Noticing her curiosity, her mom gave Ashurova small pieces to work on. The young girl was hooked. It helped that she didn’t have many toys or gadgets to play with says the 30-year-old Ashurova, now a resident of Framingham, MA.

It was only fitting then that years after Ashurova herself became a mother, she took to the art of Suzani as a way of connecting back to her heritage and making it come alive for her two daughters and area residents. Analytical by nature, Ashurova appreciates solving puzzles of all kinds including crosswords and Sudoku. She finds much to love in similar challenges that Suzani needlecraft presents. “It makes you think a lot,” she says. “First, you should think about the pattern, what flowers, what shapes you can use to create beautiful designs. Then you work on it, playing with colors.” The process might involve complex planning but it’s also incredibly relaxing, Ashurova says, giving her a creative outlet as she juggles the demands of motherhood.

Ashurova is committed to the craft of Suzani, which, for centuries, has been a way of chronicling history too. “Native handcrafts tell us everything about the history, culture, traditions, even the future of the particular nation,” she says. The motifs used in these works of art can be traced to the slow evolution of the handicraft in Central Asia. For example, Ashurova points out that in Tashkent and Samarkand Suzanis, astral and solar symbols predominate and have their roots in the ancient way of life of the nomadic and settled cultures of this area. Later on, astral symbols transformed into vegetative and floral symbols, as seen in Surkhandarya Suzanis. ”Each and every motif and symbol used in Suzani is there to bring joy, fertility, long life, prosperity, good health, or to keep the evil eye at bay and ward off all evil from the home,” Ashurova says.

Ashurova has set up a business, Great Silk Road Craft, to sell her handcrafted works of Suzani at area art fairs. She is looking forward to getting to know fellow artisans in the region and spreading word about her native handicrafts far and wide. She has had a few challenges: early sales have not been as robust as she had hoped and materials have been more expensive and difficult to source. Nevertheless, Ashurova is determined to plow ahead. The first goal here, she says, is to be an ambassador for her beloved art, the rest will fall into place soon. “I was so delighted when people came to me and asked about Uzbekistan, some people even didn’t know about its existence,” she says describing her role as educator and artist.

Is Ashurova looking forward to passing the tradition down to her two daughters? Most definitely, she says. Ashurova’s 5-year-old, who is showing early promise with school art projects, watches intently as her mom works on pieces. “In every piece of work, you will find a small deliberate fault or unfinished area, it reminds you that every person makes mistakes, and it is also the expression of a mother’s dream for her daughter to be inspired to continue the embroidery creation,” Ashurova points out, adding that she hopes her daughters will keep the craft alive at least as a hobby.

“Our previous president Islam Karimov (God bless him) said it all the time, ‘Without the past we can’t build our future,’ which is very true. The embroidering I do now is passed from my ancestors. It is my duty to pass my work to the new generations,” Ashurova says.

For more information about Zilola Ashurova and her Suzani handicraft, visit Great Silk Road Craft.