ANATOLIAN ARTISANS

Photo: Menel Huzmeli with one of her mosaic works. Photo credit:Karaca Erdem

EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FOR TURKISH ARTISANS

Update June 6: THANK YOU SO MUCH for your donations. With your donations, we were able to send the three artisans mentioned below $3K each for their immediate needs.

Nahya Guzelyurt was able to relocate to a nearby town and buy quilting materials make new quilts to sell.

Menel Huzmeli was able to rent an apartment and afford to pay rent for four months.

Refik Buyukasik used the $3K as a partial payment to purchase a plot of land to rebuild his workshop.

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Help artisans in Antakya (ancient Antioch) rebuild their workshops after the devastating earthquakes & preserve ancient cultural heritage for future generations!

Today, we are asking your help to revitalize the work of three accomplished artisans in Antakya: Nahya Guzelyurt (quilt-maker), Menel Huzmeli (mosaic artist), and Refik Buyukasik (silk-weaver).

100% of the donations will go directly to artisans. No amount is too small!

We will provide transparent updates to all our supporters.

Antakya is one of the hardest earthquake-hit cities; its tremendously rich, ancient cultural heritage is now in peril.

Your support will not only help individual artisans to rebuild their lives, but will help preserve our shared human heritage!

Anatolian Artisans (AnArt), a 501c3 charitable organization based in Maryland, USA, has over 20-year experience in working to preserve traditional arts in crisis situations in Turkey.

Please visit our website for more information: www.anatolianartisans.org

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Like all of you, our hearts broke after two devastating earthquakes hit south central Turkey and Syria on February 6. On that day AnArt artisans lost friends, colleagues, and family members. People have come from around the world to do rescue and recovery, cleanup and rebuilding; but the need of individuals is dire. We’d like to use our network to provide a few artisans with a real start at a new life.

AnArt has always supported arts entrepreneurship with skilled artisans and developed artisan-based microenterprises for low-income women using their traditional skills. For more on this, see our programs after the mine disaster in Soma, and with Syrian refugees: www.anatolianartisans.org

Antakya, the ancient city of Antioch, is the capital of Hatay province. It was a center for skilled artisans before the earthquake wiped out 80% of the city, including the homes and workshops of our three featured artisans…

Nahya Guzelyurt is a quilt-maker from Antioch. Working in a traditionally male field, she is the only female traditional quilt maker in Turkey. Her house didn’t collapse entirely but was badly damaged and is currently unsafe for occupation. Currently she lives in a tent with 16 other people. She has salvaged what she can from her home and workshop, but most equipment and materials were buried under the rubble. With her mother and sister depending on her, she desperately needs new equipment and materials to get back to work. Donations to Nahya will help her buy a new overlock machine, carding machine, fabric, and workshop rental.

Menel Huzmeli is a mosaic artist from Hatay (Antioch). The Hatay Archaeological Museum is famous for its Roman and Byzantine mosaics. Menel makes replicas of these, as well as her own designs. She has developed a unique style using tiles to create 3D panels. Menel lost everything; even her cell phone is under the rubble. These photos are from Instagram and Facebook. The only pieces she has left are a few she left with a friend in Istanbul just before the disaster. She is temporarily living in Sigacik, near Izmir. To restart her work Menel needs natural and synthetic stones in a variety of colors, water-based glue, pincers, mosaic tweezers, a computer, printer, mosaic cutting machine, hammer with diamond point, anvil, paints, plyboard, and frames.

Refik Buyukasik is a silk-weaver from Hatay. His workshop was badly damaged during the earthquake. One of the few silk weavers in Hatay, his workshop employs 8 people. With their families, 65 people are dependent on Refik’s small business. Committed to keeping the tradition alive, Refik also teaches silk weaving to young people in other provinces. As a larger enterprise, his restart costs are larger than for the other two artisans. He would appreciate any financial support for rebuilding.

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We would be so grateful for anything you could give to help preserve the rich and ancient cultural heritage in the earthquake regions of Turkey. Unless you specify one artisan, all donations will be evenly divided between these three people.