In
the following minutes you will be introduced to bakır işleme and one of Antep’s finest in this craft, Süleyman
Akbuğa.
Bakır işleme (copper processing) was created by the Seljuk
Empire (Seljuklular) as early as the
2nd and 3rd centuries BC in central Asia. It was brought
to Turkey, more precisely to Gaziantep, by Hacı Horoz, when he went to Syria in
the 1950’s and found some pictures in one 12th century book. In
Anatolia, the oldest existing Seljuk piece of metalwork is a silver tray with
the inscription "Alp Arslan is the Greatest Sultan" and a silver
candle stick dated 1137. It has today a noticeable Ottoman influence.
In the beginning it was
practiced using only nails and rough tools. Nowadays the kekiç and the çelik kalem (hammer and steel pen) are the main
tools for the drawings inscription, although lots of other tools are used
depending on the technique applied.
Copper or copper/zinc
(tombak) were always the materials of
choice. Bronze, silver and gold can also be used, but it’s not very common.
This has to do with a rule originated in one of the hadiths of Prophet Mohammed that has irreparably affected the art
of metalwork – According to this hadith,
the use of materials such as gold or silver is to be avoided by Muslims since
they are regarded as luxury items and are therefore in contradiction with the
Islamic ideal of simplicity.
Almost
every information on bakır işleme was
provided by and reflects Süleyman’s knowledge on his profession. He was born in
1971 in Kahramanmaraş and begun learning when he was just nine, mastered by Mehmet
Lütfü Ustünboyar and Teyfik Kavsara. He always worked in Millet Hanı!
To be very good at
this you have to start very young and learn from a master. There are several
different pieces that can be done with bakır
işleme and also different ways to process them. Süleyman explains that the master
(usta) studies the apprentice’s (çırak) best skills and develops them,
before moving to the next technique.
He
says that until the mid 1990’s, he got pleasure from doing this, but since then,
other craftsmen started to imitate each other and originality was almost lost,
so now he does it to make his and his family living. It’s easy to copy, for
instance, a personalized breakfast design, and sell (apparently) the same set
by a quarter of the price using machines.
In
exchange for the time I took from him he put me to work. Win-win for me. I’m
learning bakır işleme and despite don’t
being good at it, I just keep doing it because I enjoy it so much.
Me and Süleyman are usta and çırak. We communicate with the help of the dictionary, body
language and by shouting to each other, because when someone doesn’t understand what you are saying because he doesn't know the a
language, if you shout at him, he will immediately understand! Going to his
shop and working there is always a laugh.
Paco
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