A Tribute to Dinara Ilimbekovna Chochunbaeva
It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Dinara Ilimbekovna Chochunbaeva - an artist, researcher, visionary guardian and tireless advocate for the traditional crafts of Central Asia. A close collaborator and friend to many at Selvedge, our readers may remember Dinara from the felt making workshops she taught during the 2020 pandemic. Her work has long been a guiding light in the global effort to preserve, understand, and elevate indigenous textile practices, and her death is a deep loss to the worldwide crafts community. Her spirit endures in the lives she touched and the legacies she nurtured.
As Director-General of the Central Asia Crafts Support Association’s Resource Center (CACSARC-kg), Dinara played a central role in revitalising craft traditions across Kyrgyzstan and the wider region. She understood craft not as static heritage, but as a living, evolving expression of cultural identity - and she worked tirelessly to ensure that traditional knowledge was not only preserved but adapted for a sustainable future.
Her vision took form in many ways. In 2006, she founded Oymo, the International Festival of Traditional Culture and Crafts, which quickly became a vital meeting point for artisans, researchers, and makers from across the globe. Through Oymo, Dinara wove together threads of cultural exchange, bringing fresh attention to Central Asian heritage while encouraging new dialogues in craft.
Her expertise reached the highest levels. As a UNESCO expert on intangible cultural heritage and a long-standing contributor to the UNESCO/World Crafts Council “Award of Excellence for Handicraft Products”, Dinara helped shape global standards for craftsmanship, authenticity, and cultural integrity.
Yet perhaps her most lasting impact was at the grassroots. Through the work of CACSARC-kg, she created training programs that empowered women and men in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, ensuring that craft could offer not just cultural expression, but economic resilience. Her initiatives also reached children with disabilities, to whom she brought the joy and pride of creative making.
Dinara was also a gifted author and educator. Her 2015 trilingual book Shyrdak, the Kyrgyz Felt Carpet remains a seminal publication on Kyrgyz felt-making traditions and is a work praised for its depth, clarity, and visual beauty.
Her early career even included acting; she portrayed Asel in I Am Tian Shan, the film adaptation of Chingiz Aitmatov’s The Red Scarf. That role, deeply tied to Kyrgyz literary and visual culture, hinted at the expressive energy she would later channel into her advocacy work.
Those who knew her speak of her grace, wisdom, and unwavering dedication - qualities she shared with her close friend and fellow cultural champion, the late Dr. Ghada Hijjawi-Qaddumi. Dinara leaves behind not only an extraordinary professional legacy, but also a personal one marked by generosity, humour, and quiet strength.
At Selvedge, we are honoured to have worked alongside Dinara and to have shared her belief in the transformative power of cloth and craft. Her light remains - woven into every felted rug, every festival stage, every artisan’s renewed confidence.
May her memory continue to guide us.
Rest in peace, Dinara.
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You can read more about Dinara Ilimbekovna Chochunbaeva's work and her involvement with Selvedge on the following pages:
Book: Shyrdak, the Kyrgyz Felt Carpet by Dinara Ilimbekovna Chochunbaeva
Blog Post: Traditional Kyrgyz Felting
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Image Credits:
Lead: Dinara Ilimbekovna Chochunbaeva. Photo Credit: Ryaskov Ivan