| Description |
Glazed tile and ceramic household stuffs or wallboards of several colours and motifs made by firing the pulped clay soil are called “çini”. Çini-making means the craftsmanship shaped around traditional Turkish art of çini since 12th century with its own specific production and adornment techniques like “minai”, “luster”, “polishing”, “underglaze”.
Çini craftspeople generally have used “underglaze technique” since 16th century in their production pursuant to the prescriptions they prepare with their traditional production knowledge about nature. In this technique clay is pulped. Having shaped, the clay is lined and dried. Next, it is fired in çini ovens smooth surface called “biscuit” appears. Patterns prepared by drilling on the paper with openwork technique are transformed to the surface with coal dust and the outer contours are drawn by hand with black paint and brush. Later, patterns are dyed with dyes prepared according to the prescription. The surface of çini is covered with glaze and after it is fired at 900-940°C the çini-making is completed.
Among çini adornments generally geometric shapes, plants and animal figures symbolizing cosmic thoughts and beliefs are used in different colours. Using red, cobalt blue, turquoise and green on white or navy blue background is the characteristic feature of traditional çinis. The basic element that characterizes the art of çini is traditional craftsmanship manifested in the applications and the knowledge transmitted from generations to generations about the supply of the raw material, preparation of dyes, production and usage of the tools, firing process, adornment techniques and aesthetics. |
| Social and cultural significance |
The element has an important cultural function in transmitting to the next generations the knowledge and skills of art of çini, the practices about nature and universe, aesthetic manners, cuisine culture, the space perception in which social applications, oral traditions and religious rituals are kept.
Since art of çini has been used for mental healing for centuries, it is used as adornment on the public and religious building fronts. Apart from its being an important part of the city identity for Kütahya, İznik and Çanakkale, it is a special part of the city image in terms of giving characteristics to symbolic buildings in big cities like Antalya, Konya, Kayseri and İstanbul.
Colours, symbols and allegorical narratives in the patterns of çini that are used as household stuff in daily life and that appear frequently in public and religious buildings. These patterns have reflected the beliefs, world views, life styles, perception of people in an artistic and subliminal way from past to present. Thus, çini-making contributes to strengthening the cultural bond between past and present and transmitting the cultural continuity and sense of identity to the future.
Pursuant to the tradition çini craftspeople and trainers teach çini-making and application techniques to their apprentices and students. They also encourage them to use their time appropriately, to be creative, patient, disciplined, balanced and harmonious. Thus people attending to çini-making courses also develop themselves in terms of having positive mental attitudes, dealing with stress, having healthy social relations, improving creativity and self-confidence. |
| Transmission method |
Ethical manners, knowledge, techniques, prescriptions and rituals of çini-making developed collectively throughout centuries have been conveyed to the present through master-apprentice/parent-child relations. Çini workshops which have been still operating since 14th century especially in Kütahya are well-known cultural places to maintain the common memory about the element. Although written permission from the craftspeople is not required in traditional craftsmanship of çini-making, there is a verbal “getting the green light” tradition. The foreman “getting the green light” is accepted by society as a craftsperson who has a command of all production means and process, applies prescriptions and adornment techniques successfully and has gained all the ethical norms of a çini craftsperson; and can train apprentices.
It has been observed that common and formal education institutions, becoming widespread in the last 20-30 years, contribute to transmit and maintain the knowledge and techniques about the element. Across the country there are 10 Vocational Schools of Higher Education providing two-year degree on art of çini, 34 Fine Arts Faculty providing education on traditional Turkish handicraft including art of çini and 1 Antique Çini Repair Department.
In courses of 970 Public Education Centers of Ministry of National Education across Turkey “çini-making courses” are offered with the aim of education and self-development. Along with çini-making courses, there are çini workshops built by metropolitan municipalities like İstanbul, Edirne, Ankara, İzmir, Bursa, Antalya, Diyarbakır, Kayseri, Konya and local municipalities contributing to the transmission of the knowledge and skills related with the element to larger masses. |
| Community |
The relevant and inclusive community of the element are çini (traditional art of tiles and ceramics) craftspeople, çini trainers, individuals personally interested in the art of çini and related NGOs.
Çini craftspeople called by several names like “Kâşiger”, “Kâşigerân”, “Çinici” or “Sırçacı” are people whose knowledge and skill are confirmed by the society and who have learned the art of çini through master-apprentice system to maintain their lives, keep the art alive, express themselves or perform the art for self-development.
Çini trainers are also çini craftspeople who provide formal education, common vocational and personal development courses in universities or Public Education Centers.
Individuals personally interested in the art of çini and çini-making are people such as art historians, folklorists, mining engineers, scientists like chemists, collectors and art lovers.
Bearers and practitioners of the element are çini craftspeople and trainers. According to the research conducted during the file preparation process in 2013 and 2014 more than 5000 çini craftspeople are estimated to be in Turkey. In çini workshops there are craftspeople like “çarkçı” shaping çini, “tahrirci” making the decorations, dying the interior parts of the patterns and adornments, “zımparacı and rötuşçu” rubbing and undercoating the biscuit, “fırıncı” firing çini, foremen and apprentices who are very effective in transmission and application of the tradition. There are determined 417 active çini workshops in Kütahya, 40 in İznik, 85 in Nevşehir and 8 in Çanakkale. Furthermore, many people perform çini-making at home number of which is estimated by NGOs as nearly 25,000 people bearing and practicing the element across Turkey.
Çini trainers working as craftsperson-trainer in Public Education Centers and academicians in the Fine Arts Faculty and Vocational Schools of Higher Education of Universities, transmitting the traditional knowledge and skills through common and formal education, can be classified as another group, since there is a difference in their functions, production aims and working conditions.
Communities and individuals are organized through local NGOs. There are 4 local NGOs in Kütahya and 2 in İznik. Efforts to sustain the tradition have been also maintained through several NGOs working on traditional Turkish handicraft in İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir. Their function in safeguarding, transmitting, introducing and conducting new researches is remarkable. |
| Type of UNESCO List |
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity |
| Incribed year in UNESCO List |
2016 |
