Turkish Homewares: (Re)presenting the Past in the Present*

Sharing is caring!

Turkey has long produced exquisite and practical objet d’art made from paper, stone and glass. Careful attention to detail and a focus on maintaining tradition, means many items are still being made using production methods dating back hundreds of years. Beautiful on their own merit, they conjure up images of distant lands where order, method and technique were highly prized. However today, although traditional methods are still being taught, it is the modern re-invention of these old materials that really makes the pulse race. In order to understand how Turkish artists and designers make paper into whimsical art, transform clay so it can tell stories and blow glass that transcends time, it’s necessary first to trace the artistic path from Ottoman tradition to Turkish post-modernity.

Caferağa Medresesi: Traditional Turkish Arts Centre

The modest archways and stone-lined courtyards of the Caferağa Medresesi in Sultanahmet, completed by the great Turkish architect Mimar Sinan in 1559, house the Traditional Turkish Arts Centre. A series of intimate rooms contain individual atelier, each dedicated to a different type of long-established Turkish art. Inside them, usta, highly experienced artisans, pass on their knowledge to eager students. Time stands still as age old methods are explained, demonstrated and practised. The apprentices must learn to mimic their masters in order to produce almost perfect copies. Skilled as they are, the masters know only Allah can realise works of absolute perfection. This adherence to convention ensures that century’s old arts such as hand-painted ceramics, mosaics and ebru live on. Of all the old skills, ebru, known as paper marbling in English, is the most engaging. A combination of art and science, watch and experience the wonder as oil mixes with water on paper, and creates magic.

Caferağa Medresesi – Traditional Turkish Arts Centre, Küçük Ayasofya Mahallesi, Akburçak Sokak No 11, Sultanahmet, Fatih, Istanbul, Tel. +90 533 549 8597, call to arrange a free ebru demonstration, closed Monday,

Kağıthane: House of Paper

The clean bright surfaces of the Kağıthane shop in French Street Karaköy are festooned with paper. The owner and designer Emine Tusaval has taken the time-honoured Turkish tradition of valuing paper as art, and reworked it. Her background as a Fine Arts lecturer means she uses the language of contemporary design to create something extraordinary out of the ordinary. Whether folded, curled or shaped, each sheet contain hopes, dreams and fantasies. There are paper animals, flowers, words, cards and more, every item paying homage to Istanbul’s obsession and reverence of cats, food and architecture.

Kağıthane, Kermankeş Mustafa Çelebi Caddesi, Fransız Iş Geçidi No 10, Karaköy, Istanbul, Tel. +90 212 244 1583.

Iznik Classics: Turkish Ceramics beyond Time

The ceramics on display in the Iznik Classics gallery link the past to the present. During the 15^th and 16^th centuries, the wealth and grandeur of the Ottoman Empire was evident in the exquisite workmanship and creativity of its ceramics. Ceramicists based in Iznik and nearby Kütahya experimented with chemical blends of newly discovered pigments to produce magnificent bowls and tiles. The most famous of these featured designs using the then much prized tulip, as well as other natural influences. Iznik Classics honours this past while also developing modern designs for contemporary living.

Iznik Classics – Turkish Ceramics Beyond Time, Utangaç Sokak No 13-17, Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Tel. +90 212 516 8874

Fy-Shan Glass Studio

Felekşan Onar, founder of Fy-Shan Glass Studio, made a passion for collecting glass into a way of sharing her ideals. She dreams, designs and produces glass based on the belief art should be both functional and decorative. After mastering conventional techniques, she developed a flair for experimentation. The results are superbly crafted artistic statements, encompassing small stylish ranges of glass homewares and grand interiors which echo the importance of their purpose.

Her studio is based in Beyoğlu. When she first moved to Istanbul Felekşan was instantly drawn to the area. The mix of stately 19^th and 20^th century architecture combined with an intangible yet uniquely Turkish character, intrigues and inspires her. Literature and music also play an important part in her creative processes. An avid reader and piano player, the words she reads and the notes she hears spark innovative and perceptive notions. Her skill lies in how convincingly she turns these into corporeal objects.

Felekşan Onar, Fy-Shan Glass Studio, Asmali Mescid Mahallesi, Gönül Sokak No 14, 2 Fl, Apt 5, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Tel. +90 532 213 8954, by appointment only.

*This piece first appeared in the now defunct Luxos Magazine, Spring/Summer, 2018.