An illumination workshop organised by Albayrak Media Group in collaboration with Türk Altın and hosted by Arkin University of Creative Arts and Design (ARUCAD) took place at the ARUCAD Art Gallery on Friday, 6 November. Focusing on the intricacies of tezhip, a traditional Turkish art of ornamentation, the workshop gave ARUCAD students the opportunity to create their own works using gold leaf under the guidance of artist Canan Gülsüm Gügercin.
The third event in a series of workshops previously held at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and Boğaziçi University, this was the first time the series had been hosted in Cyprus, with ARUCAD serving as the venue. Supported by Türk Altın as part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives, the workshop brought together students from Türkiye and the TRNC, as well as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Iran. Students from different cultural backgrounds had the opportunity to explore traditional artistic techniques together.
During the workshop, students learned the fundamental principles of tezhip and took part in practical exercises involving the transfer of traditional motifs onto paper, the colouring of patterns and their decoration with gold leaf. Participants had the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of using gold in artistic production and incorporate traditional decorative techniques into their own designs.
