Exhibition ignites passion for water marbling

Manama, Nov. 30 (BNA): Marbling, one of the most unique and beautiful forms of Turkish art, is winning new hearts in Bahrain through an exhibition and workshops held by Suna Koçal, one of Turkey's well-known experts. Known in Turkish as Ebru, water marbling creates colorful patterns by sprinkling and brushing colour pigments on a pan of oily water and then carefully placing the paper on the surface of the water in order to absorb the dye. Suna said that she was pleased and proud to be back in Bahrain and to reach out to the community of artists and arts lovers to share with them insights into the special decorative art. Introduced to the art at the age of 21, she has been working with great passion, holding exhibitions and workshops in several countries. Suna took her his first lesson in Ebru art from Hikmet Barutçugil in Turkey in 2001. From then on, it was the way forward for her. She worked arduously and passionately on improving her skills and creating her own style alongside developing her traditional techniques. Today, as an accomplished artist, she is keen on sharing her love for the art with likeminded people and she continues to teach and offer workshops in Ebru art in traditional styles under the Turkish Ministry of Culture in Yalova, in northwestern Turkey, since 2010 and in "Mutlu Çocuk Akademisi", an academy in Yalova, since 2011. "One drawing may take me more than one week as the art and the work on miniatures require great attention to details, patience and dedication," she said as she opened her exhibition in the Bahraini capital Manama. The ceremony was attended by several diplomats and local and expatriate arts lovers. "It was a great show and I loved the art," Bahraini painter Adnan Al Ahmed said. "It is not very familiar here, and there is great interest in it," he said. Turkish Ambassador to Bahrain Hatun Demirer, known for her strong penchant for arts, hailed the exhibition and invited people interested in the art and those who wanted to learn more about it to visit the exhibition at the Arts Centre and to take part in the workshops. Sana's work has been published in 15 art books, like the "Istanbul Miniatures" and she actively contributed to ensuring that marbling art be inscribed as Turkey's 12th cultural specialty in UNESCO annual Intergovernmental meeting of Intangible Cultural Heritage. According to Turkish artists, the decorative art is believed to have been invented in the 13th century Turkistan and then spread to China, India and Persia and Anatolia. Seljuk and Ottoman calligraphers and artists used marbling to decorate books, imperial decrees, official correspondence and documents. New forms and techniques were perfected in the process and Turkey remained the center of marbling for many centuries. Up until the 1920s, marblers had workshops in the Beyazit district of Istanbul, making art for both the local and European market where it is known as Turkish marble paper. The basic technique, throughout all its historical variations, has never changed. The process is always the same: paints are made to float on the surface of water where they are manipulated into designs and then transferred to a sheet of paper. The exhibition in Manama is held in collation with the Turkish embassy and the Turkish Cultural and Social Society in Bahrain. Number of readings : 256 Last updated : 10 : 16 AM - 30/11/2015