Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer attended the opening of the 'Turkish Weaving Atlas' exhibition, which was held at the Tophane-i Amire Culture and Art Center in Istanbul, aiming to introduce the traditional weavings of Anatolia to the world as a 'Turkish Brand' with modern designs.
Organized under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife, Emine Erdoğan, and bringing together Turkey's local weavings for the first time, the "Weaving Atlas" exhibition, which was prepared within the scope of the "Turkey Weaving Atlas" project, was held in Istanbul after the Presidential Complex. and Art Center.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of National Education Mahmut Özer stated that as the Ministry, they not only provide education and training services, but also play a major role in supporting the citizens in two important units affiliated to the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning and in actively reproducing the cultural and artistic heritage that will be carried from the past to the future.
Stating that they actively support the courses demanded by citizens within the scope of lifelong learning in approximately 81 public education centers serving actively in 922 provinces and 967 districts of Turkey, Özer said that in 2022, these courses will be more actively accessible to citizens, stressed that they are making efforts to increase their diversity and capacity.
Pointing out that public education centers provide a very important service in terms of lifelong learning of citizens and increasing the personal skills and competencies of adults, Özer said: “Our goal is to reach 1 million citizens every month with these courses and to reach the service. Even with low numbers at the beginning, we have brought together about 3 million of our citizens with these public education courses within 2,6 months so far. Hopefully, we aim to bring 1 million citizens together with public education courses every month. 70% of this is women. In other words, it also has a great function in terms of employment and re-education of our women.”
Maturation institutes carry cultural heritage into the future
Stating that another important service is the maturation institutes located in about 24 places in Turkey, Özer stated that the aim of the institutes is to follow the traces in the lands where different civilizations came to life and leave their traces in the provinces where they are located, to bring them back to life and to enrich them with new forms and make them accessible to the citizens.
Minister of National Education Özer said, “Today, Turkey's weaving atlas is a very important mission for our citizens to see and to carry this cultural heritage to the future by bringing together all the acquis from weaving-related fabrics to techniques in all four corners of Turkey, starting from this mission and function of our maturation institutes. fulfills. This project is being carried out under the patronage of Emine Erdoğan. I am grateful to them for their support to maturation institutes and this project.” used the phrases.
Özer, who thanked İsmail Gülle, the President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly, and the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association for their support to the project, continued as follows: The more we can carry it to the future by carrying it to the present day and by injecting it into daily life with new forms, the more we will be able to survive as a country with an identity in the 21st century and to become a country that has an influence in the world. Because in the globalizing world, countries have begun to forget their identities and their ties with their past day by day. Here, maturation institutes, those modest structures, have a cultural mission of bringing all the products that were produced with great efforts in the past all over Turkey to the present.”
Maturation institutes aim to get 10 thousand design registrations by the end of the year
Minister Özer stated that they set a new goal in maturation institutes and said, “We now have 24 maturation institutes; not only do these services as conventional, but they also started to serve as R&D centers. In other words, we currently have 15 maturation institutes and 24 R&D centers in Turkey. These R&D centers and maturation institutes play a major role in bringing the products of the past to the present day, also within the scope of intellectual property and industrial rights.” he said.
Noting that the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning has started to work on obtaining the design registration of archives in maturation institutes, Özer said:
“They applied to the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office for 7 thousand 843 design registrations. They received 6 design registrations. All products in the past maturation institutes now have a design registration. This is one of the most important services we have received to protect our cultural treasures and to prevent their exploitation within the scope of intellectual property. All products are now registered. Hopefully, our General Directorate aims to develop these studies more comprehensively in all maturation institutes by the end of 830 and to obtain approximately 2022 thousand design registrations.”
148 kinds of Turkish handwovens are on display
The "Weaving Atlas" Exhibition, prepared for the first time within the scope of the project where local weavings such as Üsküdar cross, Edirne red, Hatay silk, Denizli buldan cloth, Antep kutnu, Ankara sofu, shawl şepik, ehram and beledi were brought together for the first time, will be held by Emine Erdoğan in June 2021. After its opening at the Presidential Complex with the participation of the President, it was presented to the appreciation of the interested parties at the Tophane-i Amire Culture and Art Center.
In the Turkey Weaving Atlas Exhibition, which is the first initiative of the project, it is possible to travel back in time among 58 historical and 148 types of Turkish hand-woven weaving by following the regional routes from the old to the new in order to get to know the weaving culture of Anatolia for thousands of years.
The exhibition also includes a timeline in which young designers create brand new designs for the present and the future with inspiration from traditional fabrics.
prof. Dr. Hülya Tezcan, Prof. Dr. Aydın Uğurlu and Prof. Dr. Güneş Güner was the curator of the Turkey Weaving Atlas Exhibition, which was prepared under the consultancy of Mehmet Akalın and the coordination of Ayşe Dizman.
“Turkish Weaving Atlas” project
The "Turkish Weaving Atlas" project, which was prepared within the scope of the renewal studies of maturation institutes, is carried out under the auspices of Emine Erdoğan with the support of the Istanbul Sabancı Beylerbeyi Maturation Institute, which is affiliated to the Ministry of National Education's General Directorate of Lifelong Learning, and the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association (İTHİB).
The project, to which the Turkish Exporters Assembly and the Ministry of Commerce also contributed, aims to introduce the traditional weavings of Anatolia to the world as a “Turkish Brand” with modern designs in accordance with their originality. Revitalizing cultural tourism by creating "Weaving Culture Routes" and "Living Museums" are among the future goals of the project.
Turkey Weaving Atlas Project aims not only to keep Turkish weaving alive as a valuable craft, but also to make a difference in the world fabric sector by making use of technological changes and developments and to turn it into a prestigious commercial activity. It is also planned to develop sustainable and nature-friendly textile products and to support an environmentalist approach with the project.
With the project, it is also aimed to bring local textiles to the industry and to contribute to women's employment, local development and cultural diplomacy.
As a result of the academic research that continued with the realization of the project, 425 local fabrics that make up the fabric map of Turkey under the headings of "Ottoman Palace Fabrics" and "Anatolian Local Fabrics" were determined and their properties were recorded in the database.
Within the scope of the project, transforming traditional weavings into value-added products with designs that will increase their aesthetic and functional values and introducing them to the world are among the main goals. It is also among the objectives to design and create local and global exhibitions, workshops and collaborations under the leadership of traditional weavings determined as "Turkish Weaving".
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