Craftsperson from Karaganda makes animal bone items in traditional Kazakh style

Real artworks made of animal bones - Karagandy region resident Zhomart Malik carves various tools and dishes from them. He began to engage in this unique craft from an early age. He was taught this skill by his father. It is important to keep transparency and color of the material to make the piece look good, the craftsperson says. In his work, Malik combines bone parts with wood and leather, and even uses horns, hooves and animal teeth.

“After eating meat, the bones remain. But for carving, they need to be well boiled again. To do this, I add baking soda. This removes excess fat and softens the bone. I often cut the blades out. They have a large area, so you can do a lot of things,” Malik said.

The master actively popularizes his craft. He conducts free master classes for everyone. Some of his students are planning to be engaged in bone cutting professionally.

“I entered this club ‘Young Master’ because I was interested in the products of the teacher such as kobyz, yurts. You can make items out of such bones and wood. And from the horns fish, sculptures can be made,” said student Akylbek Yerlan.

Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova and Saule Mukhamejanova