Mongolian Economy

magazine

A Perfect Design

2011-12-27 17:05

By Kh. Khulan

Mongolians are known as a “felt nation”. They have a long history of making felt out of the wool from their livestock and have applied traditional methods of turning this white gold into household items. Felt making is a tradition that has been developing for thousands of years as an essential part of nomadic culture. In this issue Made in Mongolia introduces the art work of felt artist D.Maira

D.Maira’s grandmother was well-known for her embroidered handicraft in Altantsugts Soum, Bayan-Ulgii Aimag. Her granddaughter, who used to spend her summer holiday with her grandparents watching granny stitching embroidered rugs decorated with multi-coloured patterns, probably never imagined that she would one day become a felt artist herself.

Maira founded her art studio Felt Mongolia in 2008 and decided to develop her felt art as a freelance artist in 2010. Her wish is to promote modern-designed, high-quality Mongolian felt products on the global stage and sell her goods. Upon entering her studio, one can see a large volume of sorted, fluffy wool atop the wooden shelves in the workroom. She plans to convert the little room in the corner into her shop. The Felt Mongolia art studio is located on the way to the city checkpoint No. 22 on the west side of Ulaanbaatar, just behind the Monos medical institute. Shoppers may purchase products or create their own felt masterpieces at a felt-making workshop. Placed in the corner room are ready-made products such as felt slippers, rubber-soled shoes, and fancy nuno felt scarves and casually-designed felt scarves.

Her fine wool felt products are thick, and the slippers and shoes of there can be washed in the washing machine. Maira’s latest designs are doubled-soled shoes. Most of one’s body weight is concentrated at the heel of the foot where slipper usually wears out. Therefore she decided to put a second layer there. People like consuming popular brand products because of their good quality. Many people would definitely love to dress in premium quality felt garments that suit their uses. A pair of handmade stylish felt slippers with rubber sole costs MNT 37,000; children’s shoes are MNT 18,000; and the unique nuno felt scarf is about MNT 64,000. Thin wool layers and mulberry silk can create marvelous textures for the nuno felt scarves.

She produces her products based on their usage and design surveys. Maira mentioned that a well thought out design contributes to 80 percent of a successful product, while the remaining 20 percent is pure production process.
When asked how she comes up with new ideas for her products, she replied, “Ideas can be found everywhere. Recently I watched the film Avatar with my children, and came up with an idea to make a scarf with big round patterns. Another example is when I tried to recreate the shape of sea-buckthorn with wool”.
The first green leaves in spring, white snow, soft rain, and other natural phenomena are inspiration to a designer who uses her emotions to create her work. Several years ago Maira saw Indian moccasins and thought she should create comfortable and warm slippers, leading her to produce her “Khalzan” slippers in 2003. This product was involved in the list of the “Best Products of North-Eastern Asia” by UNESCO in 2010.

Maira started her first work as a felt trainer in 2001 for the project, Wool Processing and Marketing, sponsored by the Norwegian Lutheran Mission until its end in 2007. The project was implemented in Ulaanbaatar and Darkhan. Its main impact was the founding of the cooperative union “Nooson Zangilaa” and the opening of the wool shop Tsagaan Alt (Mongolian for white gold). The Wool Processing and Marketing Project has been held for almost ten years and has contributed to the sale of felt products. It also helps to promote of Mongolia and the development process to felt art. One of its merits that must mentioned is the project’s successful resurrection of embroidered felt art to fashion. The coarse wool of the sheep is considered to be the best material for making a ger (the traditional dwelling of the Mongols) and carpets, while the fine and semi-fine variety is suitable for all types of felt garments and other various items.

“In the beginning of the project, the fine and semi-fine sheep wool was used for handicraft”, said D.Khishgee, who has worked for many years at the WPMP as a manager and has seen a decline in the number of fine wool products left in Mongolia. “It was widely available at that time. But now it might have become so less because many people use it for handicraft activities. For the future, policies for the improvement of sheep with fine wool breeding is necessary. Wool can sometimes be scarce, but this could be solved blending wool with other materials, or by applying innovative technology. If cooperatives want to maintain their resources themselves, then they could even breed their own cattle”.  

Maira has sketched over 300 felt and woolen design; from slippers, to rugs, bags, and hats throughout her time working for the project. She received 20 patents for products and two technological innovations from the Office of Intellectual Property. In order to export her products, an official patent is necessary. The first technological innovation is a technique used to dye wool efficiently. The second is a process for printing on felt. For the first Discover Mongolia conference, the event facilitators ordered felt bags from the producers of the Norwegian project. One of the individuals responsible for those felt bags for investors was Maira.
On the back of the bag, the bag makers had to place the logos of the companies who participated at Discover Mongolia, so they attempted something that had never been tried before: they printed logos on the felt. This story is the beginnings of a new technology, and since then this method has been widely used.

Her slippers “Khalzan“ and “Helena“, and baby boots “Uyanga“ and “Emma“ are the main sample products for the public. The original names of the felt slippers are “Haliuna“ (Helena), “Tsagaadai” (Emma), but these were changed because of a big order from the Norwegian company XinCon that requested names more familiar to Europeans.
Maira organized her first exhibition, “Felt Inspiration” last July at the Fine Arts Museum of Zanabazar in Ulaanbaatar. She created unique felt art works inspired by museum exhibits such as the deer stones, rock paintings, and the elements of water and fire. She sells her art products not only within Mongolia, but also can deliver products through her website. 
What separates handmade goods from from mass produced good is their value, time, labour, the heart and soul put into them, and their perfect design solutions.