My husband and I will be traveling to Turkey Sept. 16-30. We will be in Istanbul, and then in three places on the Aegean coast --Assos (Behramkale), Sirince (near Selcuk), and the Bozburun peninsula.
I have had e-mail correspondence with two people in Turkey who know about tablet weaving there, and *hope* to meet them in Istanbul. One is Dr. Serife Atlihan, who everyone says is the expert on tablet weaving in Turkey. The other is Josephine Powell, an American photographer and ethnographer who has lived in Turkey for about 50 years.
Plans are underway to create a Center for Anatolian Ethnography and Textile Studies in Istanbul, with Josephine's collection forming the core of the center. You can see many of Josephine's marvelous photographs at <www.marlamallett.com>. Scroll down on the home page until you find "Through Josephine's Eyes: Tribal Life in Anatolia".
There are some 40 odd tablet-woven bands in Josephine's collection. She says, "...about half from Turcmen villages that had used them in their felt lattice type tents that we call yurts or from villagers that used them as bands to wrap around their waists as cummerbunds or as straps to tie their babies on their backs etc. Some are almost complete and others are in great need of assistance. Interestingly there is no one that I can find in Istanbul to repair them although almost every other kind of textile can be very well repaired."
My hope is to get some photos and information about the bands, and then, with the help of TWIST members, see what can be done about conserving them.
The band collector (and TWIST member!) Fred Mushkat says, "There are several bands in my possession which have warp twining on the borders and ends, and have a field construction similar to the Bakhtiyari. I believe you describe this as 3:1 twill ... Of all the bands I own, or have ever seen, these are the very finest I know of. These bands were made in western Anatolia by Yuncu nomads, known as Yuncu Yoruk. The bands were made to hold baby bundles on the mother's back, much in the same way the Bakhtiyari used a type of band I have described in my Hali article as 'takel'."
I have been offered the chance to visit some Yoruk villages near Assos, as well as the DOBAG project in Ayvacik and the ethnographic museum in Tahtakuslar. Has anyone on the list visited these places? I would love to hear any suggestions that might lead to learning about tablet weaving in Turkey.
Take care, Linda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Linda Hendrickson, Portland, Oregon USA Tablet Weaving & Ply-Splitting Workshops, Books, & Supplies E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web site: www.lindahendrickson.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
