Interactive cultural essays · Craft research · AI-assisted film
Ossetian Heritage
The Ossetian Headscarf · The Golden Thread
Two connected stories about Ossetian textile craft. The Ossetian Headscarf began with Olesia learning to make the traditional netted headscarf with her craft teacher; she then translated that personal experience into an interactive digital essay and film.
- Role
- Concept, research, writing, visual and video direction, interactive design
- Stories
- The Ossetian Headscarf · The Golden Thread
- Published on
- MIYU Academy
- Craft teacher
- mzia_hand_made — taught Olesia the headscarf technique
The thread
01 Raw material
A craft Olesia learned by hand from her teacher: the netted Ossetian headscarf — and the gold embroidery of Ossetian dress.
02 What I built
Two interactive essays with films: draw the net knot by knot, explore the scarf, match motifs to garments. Plus Reels that bring readers to the stories.
03 What it changed
- Reel views in 3 days, organic
- 5,719
- Reel views in 3 days, organic
- Reel views in 14 hours
- 3,836
- Reel views in 14 hours
Instagram insights · no paid promotion for the Headscarf Reel
In short
The Golden Thread follows Ossetian gold embroidery — its objects and motifs, its history and heritage — bringing together original research, editorial narrative, cinematic visuals and interactive learning in one experience.
The product
Interaction as understanding.
Each interactive mirrors a real step of the craft or a real fact from the research.
01
On a phone
Recorded on a phone: drawing the net in “Knot by knot”, then exploring the headscarf through its light points.
02
Knot by knot
Move a cursor or finger across the field as if drawing a silk thread. The headscarf passes through the same four stages as in a craftswoman’s hands: net, embroidery, edge, shaping.
03
An explorable headscarf
Hotspots on the image open notes from the essay — the netted foundation, made progressively, row after row of small openings.
04
A hen for a skein
The Golden Thread, chapter 01: “The travellers’ party has stopped to rest. Choose what to bring out to them.” Goods go into the basket, one by one.
05
Four families of patterns
Choose a motif — Tree of Life, Whirl Rosette, Ram’s horns, Double scrolls — and the attire lights up where it lived, if researchers have described it.
Results
The Ossetian Headscarf — Reel, first 3 days
- views
- 5,719
- views
- likes
- 390
- likes
- saves
- 39
- saves
- new follows
- 36
- new follows
Source screenshot on file. Organic — no paid promotion for this Reel.
The Golden Thread — Reel, first 14 hours
- views
- 3,836
- views
- likes
- 303
- likes
- reposts
- 15
- reposts
- average watch time
- 24 s
- average watch time
Source screenshot on file.
My role
- Concept for both stories
- Craft learning and cultural research
- Writing and editorial structure
- Visual and video direction (AI-assisted)
- Interactive experience design
- Reels and social promotion
Craft teacher: mzia_hand_made, who taught Olesia the headscarf craft. She is credited for teaching the craft, not as a co-author of the site or films.
Tools & workflow
Olesia researches, writes and storyboards; AI tools generate candidate images and motion, which she directs, selects, edits and assembles into the essays and films.
- Image generation
- Key visuals (ChatGPT image generation)
- Video generation
- Cinematic scenes for The Golden Thread (Kling)
- Editing
- Reels cut for Instagram, vertical 9:16
From the production
Sound plays only when you press play.
Next project
Nartamonga
An Interactive Ossetian Saga