Wender·Vista
Shymkent
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileKazakhstan
on the old caravan road in southern Kazakhstan

Shymkent

— — a market town the Silk Road kept passing through.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Shymkent is Kazakhstan's third-largest city, set on the northern apron of the Tian Shan in the country's south. The old caravan road from Samarkand to Taraz ran through here for centuries. The new city is broad and Soviet-planned; the older quarters around the bazaar still keep the slow afternoon.

from the studio
Shymkent
— bring it home

Shymkent, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Shymkent

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Shymkent lies in southern Kazakhstan near the Uzbek border, at the northern edge of the Tian Shan range. The city has roots in the 12th century as a caravan stop between Samarkand and Taraz on the northern arm of the Silk Road. It is now Kazakhstan's third-largest city, with about a million residents, and one of three cities of republican significance alongside Astana and Almaty. The Sayram-Ugam National Park lies a short drive east in the foothills of the Talas Alatau.

— informed by Wikipedia: Shymkent
— the year

Nauryz, the spring-equinox festival, draws the largest gatherings of the year, with sumalak cooked overnight in copper cauldrons across the old quarters. The summer melon season fills the central bazaar through August. Friday prayers at the Kazyret Sultan mosque, dedicated in 2009 and one of the largest in Central Asia, draw thousands. The town keeps the rhythm of an older trade city: slow mornings, long afternoons, the bazaar reopening when the heat breaks toward evening.

— the visit

The Shymkent central bazaar is the easiest way into the city's older texture; it spreads across several blocks just south of Independence Avenue. The Regional History Museum on Kazybek Bi Street covers the city's Silk Road and Soviet layers. The Kazyret Sultan mosque on the western edge of town is open to visitors outside prayer times. Sayram, the older satellite town with the tombs of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi's parents, lies about 12 kilometres east on the road toward Tashkent.

— informed by Wikipedia: Sayram
— where
Kazakhstan · Shymkent (city of republican significance)
— elevation
512 m · 1,680 ft
— position
42.3170° N · 69.5860° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
12 km E
Sayram
old town
60 km E
Sayram-Ugam National Park
national park
165 km NW
Turkistan
shrine city
200 km NE
Taraz
old caravan city
120 km S
Tashkent
capital city
N
Shymkent
Sayram
Sayram-Ugam National Park
Turkistan
Taraz
Tashkent
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Shymkent — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Shymkent is in southern Kazakhstan, about 120 kilometres north of Tashkent and at the northern foot of the Tian Shan range. It is one of three Kazakh cities of republican significance, alongside Astana and Almaty.

Documented references to Shymkent reach back to the 12th century, when it was a caravan stop on the northern arm of the Silk Road between Samarkand and Taraz. Excavations on the citadel hill have turned up earlier layers.

The city has about one million residents, making it Kazakhstan's third-largest after Almaty and Astana. It is the largest city in the country's south and the economic centre for the region toward the Uzbek border.

The Kazyret Sultan Mosque, dedicated in 2009 on the western edge of the city, is one of the largest mosques in Central Asia. It can hold several thousand worshippers and is open to visitors outside prayer times.

Shymkent has a continental climate with hot dry summers reaching above 35 °C and cold winters dropping below freezing. Spring and autumn are the most temperate seasons, with bazaar life at its busiest.

Yes. The city sat on the northern arm of the Silk Road and served as a stop between Samarkand to the south and Taraz to the northeast. Sayram, just east of the modern city, was the older settlement on that road.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Pieces of Shymkent travel well to the Kazakh diaspora and to anyone who has worked in or near the city. A Coaster or Small with a handwritten note from the studio carries well; the Medium suits a desk or hallway.

The Shymkent piece holds well in Silk Road, Maximalist, and Jewel-tone interiors. The deep blues and ochres anchor a room with kilims or carved wood; the patterning also reads cleanly against pale plaster walls.

Yes. Central Asian textiles and tilework are a current touchstone for layered interiors, and the Shymkent piece sits inside that vocabulary while remaining specific to the city rather than generic.

Above a standard sofa the Large reads cleanly. For wider walls the 4-tile Mural or the 9-tile Mural carries the scale; above a console the Medium is the usual choice.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and made for vertical wet installations such as backsplashes, shower walls, and powder rooms.

Microfibre cloth and water. No solvents or abrasive pads. The colour lives in the surface, so the piece will not fade or lift with normal household cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. We do not license third-party imagery; the eye is Reid Wender's, and the surface is hand-finished in-house.

— if this one stayed with you

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