By Arif Ziya Tunç

 

In the first part, I would like to mention about some world famous traditional Turkish handcrafts, which developed in Anatolia despite the prohibition of art making in the Islamic world. In the second part, I will mention about Turkish art in the sense of West and about developing printmaking art in connection with this.

In the consequence of the fact that The Ottoman Empire, which had ruled in Anatolia and Balkans was collapsed in 1918, on the same lands, after the victory of National Independence War with the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, today’s modern Turkey was founded. Turkey is a country located on the lands called “Anatolia” is between Asia and Europe.

Anatolia is one of the oldest settlement centers of humanity starting from the first Pre-historic period and continuing all the way to the Hellenistic period.  Anatolia is also known as the cradle of civilization for many tribes and nations (The Hittite Empire, Assyrians, Phrygia, Lydia, Romans, Byzantines, The Seljuk Empire and at last the Ottomans). Anatolia houses many religious and ethnic groups altogether. Also, it is like a bridge which enables Christianity to extend from the west to the east. In Hatay, which is a city in southern Anatolia there is St. Pierre, the first known church. In Nevsehir, a city in central Anatolia, there are many underground churches and basilicas. In Izmir, a city located in the western region of Anatolia, there is the House of Virgin Mary.  Urfa, a city in eastern Anatolia, is also known as the city of prophets. All of these places which I have mentioned constitutes a small example of the cultural wealth that Anatolia possesses.  The cultural makeup and traditions of Turkey are surely different from the western norms. Islam had banned the making of art. That’s why in Anatolia where the majority of its population is Muslim, art and sculpture did not develop. However, the people of Anatolia found a way to get around this ban with their vivid intelligence. They found a way to express their unique artistic illustrations, even if not in the western sense, through miniature, Islamic calligraphy, gliding, ceramic, ornamental inlaying, wood carving, weaving (rug and carpet), batic and vein art.  The technical skill and aesthetical level reached in these artistic expressions are still of great interest in today’s art world.

Turkey had already turned its face to the west during the Ottoman period, had chosen the Western civilization as a goal for itself, and had strengthened this goal with the help of Atatürk’s Revolutions in the 1930s. In art, all of these revolutions were carried out.  Young students were sent to Europe in order to develop themselves and be educated in western art.  On their return these young students influenced by Western view of art and movements paved the way for the formation of Turkish Art in the sense of the West (especially impressionism).

The method of copying image, printing from pattern laying that forms the foundation of printmaking, had been known for years in Anatolia. This technique named as “Block printing” was a process which was used when paper did not exist in Anatolia. It was a process which made use of motifs that were by carving wood patterns and printed on a piece of cloth by hand and using madder.

Printmaking combined movements such as shape, form, shallowness, simplicity, and abstracting which was quite similar to the style and expression forms which Anatolian people had applied for hundreds of years. That’s why printmaking was rapidly embraced in Turkey. However, we should not forget the fact that printmaking has turned into an artistic structure and started to develop in the Western sense after the 1900s together with Turkish Art.

The first printing house in Turkey opened in 1493 during the period of the Ottomans by Jewish people followed by minor printing houses. In these printing houses, Armenian, Greek (modern), Farsi and Arabic books as well as Turkish ones were printed. The first Turkish printing house opened in İstanbul in 1727. This printing house made copies of famous love stories like “Rome and Juliet“ and epic stories like “ William Tell”  ( Köroglu, Sahmeran )  using the technique of lithography, although they are not considered as  a work of art, but  they are regarded as the first samples of Turkish Printmaking Art. In the following periods a variety of subjects such as the Ottoman Sultans, Atatürk, the wars, the earthquakes were used.

During the 1900’s with the effect of western movements, art schools opened in İstanbul and Ankara. Printmaking workshops were established in these schools. Initially, painting artists produced prints in these schools but they were done rather experimentally and most of them were pictorial.  These works dealt with portraits and rural life. The influence of painting on printmaking started to diminish and after the second half of the century printmaking artists started to reflect an independent art form. During this period printmaking became specific and aesthetical and started to embrace plastic values. The independence of printmaking in this context gave way to great developments. Artists embodied a variety of subjects and styles of expression in their work.  Pictorial expressions of the beginning left its place to graphical expressions. The artists, instead of expressing the outer world as how they saw it, came to present it by first creating it in their minds, spiritually, and then by reshaping this spiritual world according to the realities of life. Turkish printmaking artists engaged in printmaking in a modern way embodying the Anatolian rhythmical sense of art that embraces color and image repetitions. Turkish printmaking artists created their own illustrative styles by merging elements of expressionism and abstract- expressionism in their works. All of the methods mentioned above are modern printmaking methods which emphasize a variety in technique, and reflect the artistic view and understanding of the period.

Turkish printmaking art made a great progress after the 1950’s. As an art and a culture, it has been much closer to society. Our people have recently started to recognize printmaking art. It has become a piece of art which can be hanged on the walls. Actually, we have artists who make their lives only on printmaking and who are known by their printmaking techniques such as gravure, lithography or serigraphy.

Another indication showing the level which printmaking has reached in Turkey are the exhibitions. These are personal and mixed printmaking exhibitions and there are also competition printmaking exhibitions repeated every year with the support of private sector and the state. These exhibitions are helpful in terms of depicting the uniqueness of printing and laying out its limits and opportunities.

İstanbul, one of the oldest cities of the world, has served as a bridge between the civilizations of Asia and Europe.  In all civilized societies, the most important criteria of the modern world is the level which the societies have reached in culture and art. One of the centers where these values of societies are presented are the museums. Our first printmaking Museum- IMOGA- İstanbul Museum of Graphic Art- opened in İstanbul in 2005. IMOGA, by organizing The First International Printmaking Biennale in 2008, succeeded in attracting a broad attendance. This Biennale is surely important in terms of showing the level which modern Turkish printmaking has reached.

These improvements in printmaking art, have enabled Turkish printmaking art to be intended for Turkish Art History as a modern expression form.