The Rose Means Woman, the Tulip Means Man: The Crimean Tatar Ornament Ornek

The rose stands for a married woman, the poplar or cypress for an adult man, the tulip for a young man, the almond for an unmarried woman or girl, and the carnation for an elder, wisdom and life experience. Unusually for a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage decision, the meaning of each motif is written in. In December 2021, at its 16th session held online, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee inscribed “Ornek, a Crimean Tatar ornament and knowledge about it” on the Representative List. The nomination was submitted by Ukraine.

A Pattern That Becomes a Story When Arranged

According to the decision, ornek is a system of symbols and their meanings, now used in embroidery, weaving, pottery, metal chasing, jewelry, wood carving, glass painting and murals. The symbols are arranged to create story-like compositions, and Crimean Tatars are said to understand the meaning of the symbols, often commissioning craftspeople for a composition with a specific meaning. There are about 35 symbols in all. Geometric patterns are used mainly in weaving, while plant patterns are used in all other crafts, and have spread even into fields that were not originally part of Crimean Tatar tradition, such as glass painting and murals.

The meaning of a plant symbol is reinforced by a distinctive color scheme and combination of symbols. The example the decision gives is that placing a tulip inside a rose represents love or a bond between a man and a woman. It also states that many symbols are used as amulets.

The Symbols Listed on the Inventory Card

The nomination to UNESCO was accompanied by Ukraine’s national inventory registration card, with an English translation. The card lists the symbols divided into “female symbols,” “male symbols,” and “other.” The main ones are tabled below.

As amulet symbols, the card lists thorns, a double-bladed axe, an arrow, scissors, a comb, a fortress, a triangular amulet, horns, a house, and a chili pepper, stating that they were added to whatever needed protection. Small elements shaped like berries, flowers or leaves are said to represent diligence and richness of spirit, material things and body. Unexpected color combinations, not tied to how things actually look, are also listed as a feature of this pattern.

Even within the materials for the same nomination, the wording differs slightly. The decision describes the rose as a “married woman,” while the card says only “woman”; the carnation is also described as an “older woman” in the card’s Ukrainian text. When citing what a symbol means, it is safest to note which source’s explanation you are using.

Women Embroider, Men Chase Metal

According to the inventory card, the pattern is used mainly in embroidery on clothing, shoes and hats, in jewelry, pottery and metal vessels, woodwork, furniture, and carpets. Items bearing the pattern are used at every stage of life — a child’s birth, a marriage proposal and wedding, a boy’s circumcision, moving into a new home, and funerals. Its practitioners range from teenage students to the oldest, at 89.

The decision states that embroidery is done mainly by women, and metal chasing and wood carving mainly by men. Knowledge is passed down within families and at venues such as embroidery classes, and is also taught at universities. The decision names the Kyiv State Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design, and Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts.

A Pattern That Survived Deportation and Return

According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta), the Crimean Tatars are a Turkic people who arose in Crimea, taking shape as a nation with the formation of the Crimean Khanate in the mid-15th century. In 1944, they were collectively deported from Crimea by the Soviet government, and their return was permitted only at the end of the 1980s.

The inventory card states that, precisely because the pattern was a means of passing knowledge from generation to generation, knowledge of ornek was preserved even through the era of deportation. According to the decision, in the 1980s and 90s, the Crimean Tatar organization Chatyr Dag conducted fieldwork, interviewing elders about the meanings of the patterns they had at hand. The Ukrainian government is said to have advanced learning in educational settings, a virtual museum, an illustrated catalogue, and exhibitions, from 2001 to 2019.

In Occupied Crimea

Russia has occupied Crimea since 2014. UN General Assembly Resolution 76/179, adopted on December 16, 2021, calls Crimea “temporarily occupied” Ukrainian territory, and expresses deep concern that Ukrainians and the Crimean Tatars, Crimea’s indigenous people, face restrictions on preserving their identity and culture and on being educated in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar.

Condemns the reported destruction of cultural and natural heritage, illegal archaeological excavations, the illicit transfer of cultural property, and the persecution of religious traditions, which deliberately erase Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar cultural identity from Crimea’s ethnocultural landscape.

From UN General Assembly Resolution 76/179 (adopted December 16, 2021). Translated by the author.

The same resolution calls on Russia to immediately reverse its decision banning the activities of the Mejlis, the Crimean Tatars’ representative body, as an “extremist organization.”

The shadow of the occupation also appears in the inventory card attached to the UNESCO nomination. Many of the practitioners the card lists are craftspeople living in Crimea, and as measures to protect the pattern, it lists inviting Crimean craftspeople to events on mainland Ukraine, holding online lectures, and adding courses on the pattern to classes at mainland universities. Besides Crimea, the places listed as using the pattern include Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Lviv, Lutsk, Melitopol, and Vinnytsia. The card called for a state support mechanism, stating that protecting ornek was in an unprecedented situation in post-independence Ukraine.

The decision lists, as the significance of inscription, that it strengthens the Crimean Tatar community’s sense of belonging and identity, and deepens dialogue with Crimean Tatars living abroad. UNESCO’s introduction of the element opens by describing ornek as “a Ukrainian system of symbols and meaning.” Other intangible cultural heritage elements from Ukraine on UNESCO’s list are covered in our article “Ukraine’s Cities and World Heritage”.