"Tuppi" Male Hanging Ornament - Fair Trade

• Handcrafted hanging ornament by Munir
• UNESCO Award of Excellence (together with "Tuppi" Female Hanging Ornament)
• Approximately 2 1/2" X 2 1/2"
• Makes a unique new baby gift, Christmas ornament, or pin cushion
• Design based on traditional designs and meanings contained in traditional Tajik hats:
• "Traditionally both men and women should cover their heads. This was the main reason that they started to decorate the hats in different ways. Even from childhood they had the skull caps. The skull caps had a square and round shape. Embroiderers used to put meaning, their wishes on each piece of artwork. For example, the traditional men’s hat has such meanings:  4 sides of the world, 4 periods of life, 4 Holy khalifs. White black, two poles, two principles. Four white cell-cycle, the sun sign, the sign of the black square of the field of space, darkness. Vortex is formed, which is freezing and lost look, and you go to the funnel-approximating peace and harmony. The traditional women's hat represents beauty & life.  Mostly flowers & birds are embroidered on it. In the past, embroidering protectors were a symbol of health and happiness." 

Munir is headed by Munira Akilova (at left above), who has a passion for preserving and revitalizing the traditional patterns and ornaments from the Zerafshan River Valley of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in designs for the modern woman.  Each piece "has its own meaning." Her designs have received the UNESCO Award of Excellence and have been exhibited at international fairs and exhibitions. She works with a team of impoverished women from rural mountain villages in the Panjakent region of Tajikistan (just across the border from Samarkand) and in the villages surrounding Khujand, helping them to build a future beyond daily survival. Click here for more information about Munira and her team.