1. Dinara’s Story, ak’s original handmade felt doll
Dinara, ak’s original hand made 45 cm felt doll was born nearly four years ago in response to requests for a larger version of our loved finger puppet, Mia. Named after ‘the real Dinara’, who manages ak in Kyrgyzstan, she was soon joined by a younger brother Ben. The two dolls, who are distinctively central Asian in appearance, quickly attracted a wide circle of friends and admirers. Like our felt finger puppets Dinara and Ben had the striped legs that characterise all of ak’s own designs and were dressed in hand-made felts appliquéd with central Asian motifs of stars and flowers. They also wore colourful, printed cotton clothes chosen to reflect the complex cultural traditions of the region over past centuries. Today, Dinara and Ben still have their distinctive striped legs, but their wardrobes along with their horizons have expanded considerably.
How it all began...
Dinara and Ben’s signature clothes are all removable and available in numerous colour combinations - we use Kaffe Fassett pure 100% cotton exclusively in our products together with our own hand-made wool felt. Each ak doll is made by hand by skilled artisans in Kyrgyzstan. We intentionally produce limited numbers of each clothing combination, and the individuality of our dolls is enhanced by the fact that we choose to use hand dyed felt. Colour variations are an integral and desirable part of the hand-dyeing process – frequently a doll may be a total ‘one off’. We suggest that if you see a doll whose personality face and clothes speak to you, do not hesitate – we will not be able to supply an identical.
Please contact us for further information about the dolls we currently have in store and read on the more about the next chapter in Dinara’s story...
copyright ak 2008
Dinara’s story. ak’s original hand made doll