SEDA TOLMAÇ
Artist Gökçen Togay's exhibition titled as "Adding Life to the Traditional" met with art lovers at the Next Level Art Gallery.
The exhibition, which features selections on traditional Turkish handicrafts and was opened on September 21, draws attention with works created from traditional Turkish handicrafts such as felt, marbling, calligraphy, knitting, leather forging, kat'ı art, weaving and meerschaum.
In the exhibition, art works made from leather forging, felt, etc. were exhibited.
The exhibition, where artist Togay brings together different works of art with her leather forging work with art lovers of Ankara, as well as the Piri Reis Map, which the artist made from felt in its original size is waiting for its visitors until 30 September.
We, as Commercial Life Newspaper, had a conversation with the artist Gökçen Togay, with whom we came together at the opening of the exhibition, about both the works in the exhibition and traditional Turkish handicrafts.
She said that after studying Fashion Design at Ankara Advance Technical Institute Fashion Design, she graduated from Gazi University Traditional Turkish Handicrafts Teaching Department and completed his master's degree in the same department; and she added that, she is currently teaching fashion design at a private school.
I am interested in all aspects of art.
Saying "I am very interested in every aspect of art", artist Togay mentioned that she attaches great importance to the subject of 'recycling' and stated that she uses the materials she obtained in her works.
I used the ram horns that I collected from the sacrificial slaughter area.
Expressing that she used ram horn in her one of the work made of felt, Togay said:
“I used ram's horn in one of my art works. I dried the ram horns that I collected from the sacrificial slaughter area. Later, I used these horns in my works appropriately.”
In another work of hers, Togay stated that she used mosses found in nature and said that she attaches great importance to recycling in art and that art is exists in life.
I brought the pictures drawn by the travelers to the present day with 'leather forging'.
Artist Togay drew attention to the art works she made from leather forging among her works included in the exhibition and said, “Travelers came to the Ottoman Empire in the 1800s. These travelers drew pictures to convey the Ottoman Empire's way of life at that time to their own countries. Here, I have brought the pictures drawn by the travelers back to the present day with leather forging" she said.
Leather forging, a hard work
Emphasizing that the art of leather forging is a difficult job, Togay said that leather forging can be done in several stages. Togay stated that leather forging is a delicate work that takes time.
We need to promote traditional arts more.
Mentioning that traditional Turkish handicrafts have started to attract attention again, the artist Togay said, that there are many fields of traditional arts and that there are more than one technique used in traditional arts.
Togay said, “We need to promote traditional arts more” and continued as follows:
“When one thinks of traditional arts, the art of marbling comes to mind. So generally, marbling or calligraphy art is known. However, the field of traditional arts is very wide. Many arts such as Kat'ı art, leather forging, metal forging, felt are among the traditional Turkish handicrafts. Therefore, we need to promote these arts more with our work.”
About Traditional Turkish Handicrafts
Art of Kat'ı
Kat'ı art is an ornamental art performed by carving out an inscription, motif or shape on a piece of paper or leather and pasting it onto another piece of paper or leather. A work made in this way is named 'kaatia' or 'mukatta'; the artist is called 'kaati' and 'kattaa'. The writings made by cutting and carving the paper are called 'mukatta writing'.
Kat'i art is an art whose origin dates back to the 15th century. In the art of Kat'ı, which is also defined as the removal of the whole appropriate pattern or patterns in a carefully prepared composition by carving it positive or negative from a thin paper or leather, and sticking it to a suitable floor with skill, the other pasted floor can be paper, mat, glass or leather.
Felt Art
The main material of felt is wool. Sheep wool is generally used, but camel hair and alpaca wool are also used. Felt making is a very old craft. There are two types of felt making. One is the wet felting method and the other is the felts made with needles. Wet felt is more durable. Works made with felt needle are mostly made for ornamental purposes. Both can be used together too. In order to decorate in more detail, dry felt can also be used next to wet felt.
Felt is useful because it is made of wool. When used at home, it regulates the humidity rate in the room. When the environment is very humid, it will absorbs moisture, and when it is very dry, it adds moisture to the environment. Touching and caressing the wool during work also calms people down.
Marbling Art
In the traditional arts, the marbling art is the most well-known. Marbling art; it consists of a magical mixture of the colors in the marbling vat, the water and the reflected moods of the marbling artist. On the surface of the water concentrated with tragacanth, using special paints, tools such as brushes, awl and combs, and by transferring the patterns created with a number of special techniques onto paper is called marbling art. There are different techniques used to create many different patterns such as oversize marbling, tidal marbling, shawl marbling, strewing marbling, nightingale nest marbling, scalloped marbling, ground marbling, light marbling, wavy marbling.
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is the art of writing beautiful writing formed around Arabic letters. This art is done with writing and lines. The Calligraphy, which did not progress within the framework of certain rules and was made under the direction of the calligrapher, developed and became widespread through hand-written books before the invention of the printing press. A modern definition of calligraphy is described as “the art of giving shape to signs in a meaningful, harmonious and dexterous way”.
Today's technological developments have also affected the art of calligraphy. The calligraphy, which used to take hours, can now be prepared in minutes with the help of a computer. With the change, the number of real calligraphers has decreased considerably and continues to decrease day by day.
