Minister of National Education Ziya Selçuk attended the "Weaving Atlas Exhibition" prepared as a part of "Turkey's Weaving Atlas Project" carried out under the auspices of Emine Erdoğan with the purpose of collecting local weavings of Turkey.
Making a speech at the opening ceremony, Emine Erdoğan said that they have come together in order to add new miles to the weaving journey of Anatolia which began seven thousand years ago adding that, "This project herald s the revival of weaving art".
"Weaving does not only mean patterns and threads. It is blended with life and it witnessed every stage of life," said Emine Erdoğan, "Turkish weaving history reveals deep marks of our national journey. Famous weavings from the Seljuk and the Ottoman era was known as "Turkish fabric" in the World."
"Trends and tastes change faster than speed of light"
Emine Erdoğan expressed her gratitude to those who worked for the project and went on to say, "Very detailed work was carried out for the identification of weavings belonging to seven regions of the country as a part of this project. Now, thevtextile and fashion world can take an inspiring journey in the route designed by the Weaving Atlas.
Stressing the importance of culture and cultural heritage, Emine Erdoğan stated that Turkish weaving is one of the unique examples of cultural heritage.
"It is hard for traditional arts to survive in modern times. Trends and tastes change faster than speed of light but I believe that traditional arts can survive if they can be adapted to today. But we must commercialize traditional arts. Sometimes, we see that traditional arts are used as commercial material in the textile and fashion sector. But, it is possible to blend traditional arts with modern designs. This is the vision of Turkish Weaving Atlas Project," said Emine Erdoğan.
Noting that the textile sector is among the sectors that has adversely affected the environment in a bglobal scale, Emine Erdoğan said, "Unfortunately, 85 percent of textile products are going to waste every year. In other words, a truck load of clothes are burned or dumped to waste containers in every second."
"We can achieve a lot together"
Explaining that a new approach emerged in world textile despite the existence of waste culture, Emine Erdoğan said, "Organic, nature friendly and sustainable clothing demand is gradually increasing. We can offer our nature friendly traditional weaving culture to the market in the world. Our country is a strong actor in the textile sector. Turkey's force in the textile sector will make a contribution to add new values in the fashion world. Value of original products has almost vanished. At this point, I believe that Turkish weaving and extremely talented designers will open a new page in the sector."
Erdoğan stressed that "Sericulture and Silk Weaving Culture" is among the six cultural values presented to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism adding that such efforts will increase recognition of Turkey's culture in the international arena.
"We can achieve a lot together. I would like to thank Ministries of National Education and Commerce for their cooperation. I wish that this opening will be a milestone in praising our cultural values," added Emine Erdoğan.
Minister Selçuk: "We would like to engrave these weavings in the memory of our children"
Minister of National Education Ziya Selçuk thanked Emine Erdoğan for leading the project during his speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition.
Expressing that his Ministry does not consider education only as a way of teaching the curriculum but also as journey of humanity in the stages of life, Selçuk went on to say that: "Due to this reason, values of our climate and culture must be engraved in our memories. A hair braid of a girl, a 1000 year old carpet design and weavings are telling us a bigger story. This is the story of Anatolia... As the children of a nation which had witnessed hundreds of different cultures, thousands of arts and listened to thousands of stories and thousands years old sayings in the heart of Anatolia, we have no doubt that we will put our signatures under lot more bigger stories. There are many achievements ahead when we hold hands. Together we are strong and we will be stronger. We would like to see these weavings engraved in the memory of our children. We are determined to assume responsibility in this context."
Minister Selçuk stated that they aim at forming synergy by blending data collected as a result of researches carried out in libraries, universities and workshops as a part of Turkey Weaving Atlas Project and added he had faith in the eye of his colleagues for the successful implementation of the project.
Following the speeches, Minister Selçuk, Director General for Lifelong Learning Yusuf Büyük and Principal of İstanbul Beylerbeyi Sabancı Advanced Technical School for Girls Yusuf Gürlek gave a silk woven shawl to Emine Erdoğan as a present.
Emine Erdoğan visited the exhibition and received information from the curator of exhibition Güneş Güner about weavings.
Minister of Family and Social Services Derya Yanık, President of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey and Gaziantep Metropolitan Mayor Fatma Şahin, TİKAD Chairwoman Nilüfer Bulut and Demet Sabancı Çetindoğan as well as artists, designers and academicians such as Günseli Kato, Suzan Toplusoy, Banu Yentur, Gönül Paksoy and Nedret Taciroğlu were also present at the opening of the exhibition.
151 different types of weaving are on display
"Turkey Weaving Atlas Project" prepared as a part of renovation of Advanced Technical School for Girls campaign is carried out by İstanbul Beylerbeyi Advanced Technical School for Girls affiliated to the Directorate General for Lifelong Learning of the Ministry of National Education.
There are 151 different types of weaving collected from various different parts of Turkey. Moreover, selected Ottoman fabrics from the collection of Yusuf İyilik were also on display at the exhibition.
Panels namely "Evaluation of Traditional and Local Weavings from a Different Perspective", "Living a Culture; Weaving Art and Geographic Marks" and "Collaboration in Turkish Weaving" will be organized as a part of the exhibition.
Academicians, local administration officials, textile sector members, weaving masters, famous names from the fashion and design sector will attend the panels.
Exhibition can be visited six days a week for the next 3 months.