GROUP JOURNAL FOR

TRADITIONAL WEAVING AND FIBER ART TOUR
September 8, 2005 - September 22, 2005
 

Kathy Kline’s Notes on
Melitour “Textiles and Fabrics”  September 8-22, 2005

9/13/05   Day Seven

Left the wonderful hotel at 9:00 am. Went via bus to Goreme valley to a monastery. There were 350 churches with frescoes from the mid-11^th c. St Paul was born into a Jewish family with a well off father. He was a Roman citizen who accepted Christianity in his teens. He changed his name from Saul to Paul and went to Antioch where St. Peter was. 47 AD built up followers and created the name of a group. He traveled to Anatolia and Cyprus and went to a passage through the Toro Mountains. He went to Kayseri where the Romans were dominant who persecuted Christians who hid in the Cappadoccia mountains. Paul went to Konya. In 323 AD, Constantine accepted Christianity as a state religion.

St Basil, St. Gregory and one other saint went to the Black Sea in eastern Turkey where there is a rain forest. They built a church, which became a monastery. They sent letters to get teachers to teach Christian dogma. Monastic life = every monk had a classroom; used illustrations made by artists financed by rich people. Until about 1924, monastery functioned community fed monks who were not confined to it; went to Greece during shift by the British. Frescos showed Jesus naked but later added a loin cloth. Dread were wrapped in a shroud (both Christian and Muslim). Muslims carried 7 meters of cloth as a turban to be used for burial.

Sultans wore flowers in their hair. Black scarved women are not necessarily fundamental but folkloric outfits.

There were no Roman theatre or Hellenistic structures in Cappadoccia so they painted designs. Rooster represents St. Peter; not know who was the cockroach; Jesus with red cheeks and red hair; baptismal fonts.

Helena, mother of Constantine, was very religious and convinced her son to become a Christian as well. Jesus’ cross was brought to Istanbul and brought to a Greek monastery. Catholics took half to Rome. Saw an image of a hermaphrodite, a woman with a beard.

Jesus on a cross looks healthy standing between a moon and a sun. Animals were warming Christ with their breath. There is also an image of the sultan of Selchukians  shaking hands with a saint.Avanos is a pottery city. We crossed the Red River which produces the clay. You can see piles of broken pottery (seconds) in the middle of city streets. We visited a workshop of artist Galip who represented Turkey. He is a 5^th generation pottery. He uses his feet to drive a subterranean wheel. He made a bowl, tea pot and showed us how to make a hollow tube. Items are fired 10 hours after drying in the sun.

Wood, hay and dried grape seeds are used for firing. Not use hay if glazed objects are being fired. First firing is at 950 degrees, not wrap objects

Between firings, dip in molten glass as a coating/glaze after all painting on plate, Second firing, lean against pot and pack hay for changing color

Started using electric kilns because wood is expensive

Blue = ward off evil

Tulips = Turkish

Border= Cappadocia valleys Offers a summer workshop for foreigners, Clay from river beds and mountains. Sizzles when it meets water. Dries quickly.

Tile making began in Iznik. Use quartz as a base (from powder); translucent; very expensive; Galip makes replicas of plates residing in European museums.

 Lunch at Dayin Yeri restaurant – southern Turkish meat, bread, cut up salad in pomegranate juice. Meli brought out lemon water which she poured over our hands at the end of the meal. The nice driver of the bus passed out baklava which Meli had purchased.

 Caravanseri at Sultanhan  Many caravanseri as part of the Silk Route 1228 AD

4,000 trade; Seljukians superimposed on the old route; offered a safe and comfortable play to stay. A camel can travel 40-50 km per day. Some people stayed the whole winter at a caravanseri. The trip was 18 months from Xian in China to the Aegean Sea. One had a spiral staircase to the second floor. Males were in one area. Women were the owners of a caravan (including the wife of Muhammad who was her accountant). Accountants had the most important room. A mosque was in the center. The majority of travelers were Muslims. Exchange of cultures. Stables accommodated animals and stuff they carried. The structure of the caravanseri was later copied for European cathedrals.

 There are no fences. Farmers put 8 stones on the top of each other at the corner of their property to indicate if it is for grazing by others or not. There are no granaries but huge mounds covered with hay.

 Islam

Religion is what makes people happy. Rules incorporate social behavior, economics, psychological aspects of person. 1,400 years ago, rules which were not appropriate today. There are 5 pillars of Islam

            visit to Mecca – Haj

            giving alms

            fasting during Ramadan

            praying 5 times per day

            only one god and Mohammed is a prophet (the last one)

baptism  no clergy you submit to god

 Praying 5 times a day

            ablution   exercise and stretching 1.5 hrs per day   like meditation

 Fasting for a month

   begins at puberty  changes 10 days/year  wake up before sunrise drink water;
   none before break fast at sunset with at least one other person

 Giving alms

            face-to-face  1/40 of your wealth yearly; not in  money but in goods

 Go to Mecca once

            wrap yourself in a shroud

            sacrifice animal to give to the next campers; same with water
Konya

Hotel Baykara; average room and bath Dinner at Kosk – okra soup; special Konya stuffed grape leaves, yogurt and garlic, sauted bread in olive oil, onions, sumak and meat balls, big round bread. Afterwards we went to the back of an antiques store and sat on a pile of kilims to listen to 3 young Turkish musicians. Jack Larson, a NYC-based designer, joined us.