Source: CCTV.com

04-11-2006 09:50

In the Cappadocia region in central Turkey, there's a small town called Avanos. Besides its spectacular landscape of rock cones and capped pinnacles, the town is famous around the world for its traditional handicraft artistry -- featuring pottery and carpets.

A piece of Turkish hand-made carpet or kilim is always on the shopping list of many foreign tourists. For over two centuries, Turkish carpets, with their vivid colors, intricate designs, and delicate weaving -- have won worldwide acclaim.

In contrast to the frequently used chemical dyes in cities, Turkish carpet makers use natural ingredients to dye the wool. For example, brown comes from walnuts, and yellow comes from saffron.

Aside from wool, silk is another important material used in making carpets. And by putting cocoons into boiling water -- silk is gradually extracted and rolled...

Faruk Keles is the owner of this carpet factory called Gallery Anatolia. He's in the second generation of this family business, which began in the 1960s. As a professional carpet dealer, he knows the importance of originality in the carpet-making business.

Faruk Keles, Carpet Dealer, said, "We not only have traditional designs for ordered carpets, we also encourage new patterns, which are usually created by the weavers themselves. We want something original."

This 15-year-old girl already has five years experience weaving carpets. Sitting in front of the loom for at least 8 hours a day, she says she never gets bored. Instead, she puts all of her her imagination and creativity into her work. And her feelings are shared by her co-worker.

Yound Waver said, "It's a hard job, but I don't feel tired at all, I like making designs and creating something."

It usually takes several months, or even years, to put together a masterpiece. According to Faruk, traditional carpet-making is gradually losing its popularity nowadays in Turkey. This, as the pace of life gets faster, and people have more options. But in this village, making kilim, or carpet, is still a must-learn skill for women, and an everyday part of life. Some programs are offered to the villagers to learn carpet-making. But Faruk says enthusiasm and love are the most important ingredients to keep this art form alive, and also to keep it thriving into the future.

Faruk Keles said, "They have to love, and be enthusiastic... and they have to feel that they want to create something from their heart and imagination..."

There's a famous saying in Cappadocia. It says "Avanos is a place where soil turns into art. And even the blind man can find a way to Avanos, since the path is lined with broken pots". Indeed, Avanos has thousands of years of tradition in making pottery as well.

This is a typical Turkish pottery workshop in Cappadocia. Tourists from around the world come here to enjoy this form of art. But for locals, this workshop is a special place to pass on folk art from generation to generation.

Most of the pottery workshops in Avanos are part of the houses that are cut into the rock. This helps to provide a stable temperature for pottery-making.

Saim Gul is in the seventh generation of his family. And his family and their ancestors have been carrying on the pottery business tradition -- for over 200 years. Actually, over half of the workers here are all family members, and they all share the same goal...

Saim Gul, Workshop Partner, said, "Every generation is a bridge. And we want to carry on this art, and carry it on into the next generation."

This worker is also in the seventh generation of his family. And he’s an expert at shaping clay. Like a magician, he easily turns a rough piece of clay into a beautiful pot. He says he has his own special reasons for continuing on with this art form for over 15 years.

Clay Designer said, "Firstly, I love this art. Secondly, I want to put my special designs into my works. And I love to give shape to the clay. This is where I make art from the clay."

But just as in carpet-making, the number of those who desire to learn clay pottery are becoming fewer and fewer. So in an effort to preserve this art form, the pottery workshop offers a free training program for 30-35 students during every summer. It's open to those from universities or local communities.

Since pottery-making is traditionally for men, every boy between nine and ten years old from this town must begin learning this skill.

And today, in this small town of Avanos, about 75 percent of the people still make a living by making pottery. Saim and many of his co-workers say this traditional art is so special that whenever they sit down to touch the clay, they feel happy and relaxed.

And now, Saim says one of his dreams is to introduce this art into the world -- to carry on his family's proud tradition for future generations.

 

Editor:Chen