International University of Sarajevo in cooperation with the International Festival Sarajevska zima 2017 organized the exhibition of Ebru works of Mrs. Nihal Türe, master of Ebru. Special guest, Professor Alparslan Babaoğlu, arrived from Istanbul to open the exhibition “An Infinite Array of Colours: Traditional Turkish Marbling” in Collegium Artisticum on March 10, 2017. The exhibition was organized by academics and students of Department of Arts of IUS. Design of the poster and promo identity was done by M. Furkan Hızır, expert in practice. Visual identity, brochure was prepared and set up was curated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Meliha Teparić, selector of the Visual Arts Program of Sarajevo Winter. The exhibition was attended by the IUS Rector Prof. Dr. Tahsin Erkan Türe, General Secretary Armin Kerić, Dean of FASS Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Bal, a number of academics of IUS and students of the VACD program.
Turkish Marbling is thought to have originated in the Middle Asia and come to Istanbul via the Silk Road. The oldest extant work dates back to the 15th century. Marbling is the art of decorating paper and has traditionally been used to decorate book edges and the borders of calligraphic panes. It is made by sprinkling or dropping non-acidic, light-resistant natural paints onto water with a thickened consistency, using a brush made of horse hair. The resulting design is then transferred onto a piece non-acidic paper by carefully placing the paper onto the water. There are several different types of Turkish marbling, such as battal, taraklı, kumlu, gel-git and floral.
Nihal Türe was born in 1960, Kayseri. She went to primary, middle and high school in Ankara. She is married with three children. Being the spouse of an academic moving around frequently, she lived in United States (3 years), Jordan (2 years), Oman (7 years), and Bosnia Herzegovina (3 years). She took illumination (tezhip) courses from Necati Sancaktutan, Mustafa Çelebi, and Saime Çelebi in Istanbul 2001 – 2005. In 2008, she started to learn marbling (ebru) and ceramic (çini) arts from Nuray Öyke. In 2011, she continued learning marbling arts with Önder Cankurtaran for a year. Since 2012, she has been working on marbling arts under the supervision of Alparslan Babaoğlu. Since 2013, she has the certificate of artist (sanatçı) from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In 2014, Alparslan Babaoğlu awarded her with the certification of master in marbling arts. According to marbling tradition, this title grants her the right to officially practice and teach this art. Between 2014 and 2016, she gave marbling classes at the Hüseyin Avni Sözen Anatolian High School. She has taken part in several joint exhibitions.
Alparslan Babaoğlu was born in Ankara in 1957. He finished his primary and middle school education in Ankara and Erzurum. He received a scholarship from the Turkish Government and went to England. He finished his studies in Electrical Engineering in 1979, and completed his master’s degree in 1980. After returning to Turkey, he worked as an engineer. In 1984, Babaoğlu started learning Ebru art at the workshop (Nakışhanesi) of the Topkapı Palace Museum. In 1985, he met Mustafa Düzgünman and learned the Art of Ebru from him. In 1989, Babaoğlu received a professional license from his master. He had his first solo exhibition at the Topkapı Palace Museum in 1990. Since then, he has had many solo exhibitions, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Turkey and abroad. In 2013, Babaoğlu won the Culture and Arts Grand Award from the Turkish President Abdullah Gül in Ankara. Currently, Babaoğlu continues making Ebru Art at his workshop in Istanbul.
