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Sometimes there are roads, mostly not – at least not visible ones!

Between Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, is the vast geographical area called The Steppe, a landscape which the textile historian Viveka Hansen at iTEXTILIS has traversed and studied textile traditions. This odyssey with many surprises and exciting stories, over the endless steppe shows a rich selection of pictures on beautiful textiles, landscapes and meetings with fascinating people.

BACKGROUND TO THIS iEXPOSURE STORY
Yurts and textiles, natural dyes and trade along the wide-stretching caravan routes all provide important traces of traditional everyday life. One early observer of these textiles was the Linnaeus’ apostle and naturalist Johan Peter Falck, who lead one of the Imperial Academy of Sciences’ natural history expeditions in 1768 to 1774, from when he kept a detailed travel journal. The nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples were often in focus. This visual story is one branch of the ongoing IK Foundation project BRIDGE BUILDER EXPEDITIONS – RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN & KYRGYZSTAN in Natural & Cultural History, which aims to establish links to 18th century records of various textile traditions, stretching both earlier in time as well as up to present-day.

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