First Lady Sibel Tatar addresses the ceremony and hands out certificates to women who completed the "Felt Design" courses conducted under the Rebirth of Felt in Northern Cyprus project
“It is our duty to carry our cultural values to the future”
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First Lady Sibel Tatar addressed the event where she paid tribute to women who completed the Felt Design courses conducted under the “Rebirth of Felt in Northern Cyprus” project.
Held under the auspices of the Presidency and the First Lady, the project aims to create the “Keçada” brand with the handcrafted felt products which involves the process of turning a protein fibre, such as sheep wool, alpaca, mohair etc, into a piece of fabric by connecting the individual fibres.
The courses were organised for women in the region of Mehmetçik by the Association for Research and Preservation of Turkish Cypriot Embroidery at the Municipality of Mehmetçik.
The official launch of the "Rebirth of Felt in Northern Cyprus" project will be held at the Concorde Hotel in Lefkoşa on December 9, at 6pm. The project and the "Keçada" brand will be introduced, and information about the efforts carried out to date will be displayed. A fashion show will also take place, and products will be offered for sale.
First Lady Sibel Tatar, the Mayor of Mehmetçik-Büyükkonuk Fatma Çimen Tuğlu, Turkish Cypriot Embroidery Research and Preservation Association Chairperson Dervişe Çeliker, teachers and trainees participated in the certificate presentation event that was held at the Ramona Café in Lefkoşa.
Addressing the event, First Lady Sibel Tatar, who pioneered the "Rebirth of Felt in Northern Cyprus" project, said that she was very happy to announce the "Rebirth of Felt in Northern Cyprus" project, following the success of the "Rebirth of Silk in Northern Cyprus" project, which was initiated with the aim of supporting women's labour and reviving cultural values of the Turkish Cypriot People.
First Lady Tatar stated: “I have always placed significant importance on social responsibility schemes and projects that aim to revive forgotten cultural features of the Turkish Cypriot People. We first embarked on this path of revitalising forgotten cultural features with the proposal put to us by the Cyprus Turkish Embroideries Research and Survival Association. When they briefed me about the idea of putting together a scheme for reviving silk weaving, I embraced the idea and put it into practice. This project came to fruition with the brand name “Kozada”, which is proudly being displayed at Ercan Airport, and has generated great interest from tourists and locals.”
Stating that the “felting project is also tantamount to being an environmental protection movement and recycling project”, Mrs. Tatar added: “Sheep, lamb and goat wool is being thrown away into nature. It is causing environmental pollution. With the support of the Municipality of Büyükkonuk-Mehmetçik and its Mayor, we collected this wool and recycled it. Despite the difficulty of processing the felt, the teams worked with devotion. The scheme is based on women's labour and solidarity. Felt design courses administered by the Association contribute to the development of women's skills and talents, enabling them to acquire a profession in production, as well as secure the survival of our cultural heritage.”
Sibel Tatar emphasised her belief in the power of women's solidarity and said: "I am proud that we have implemented these projects together with our women. It is the duty of all of us to carry our cultural values into the future."
Also speaking at the event, Fatma Çimen, Mayor of Mehmetçik-Büyükkonuk, also noted that the municipality is carrying out the "Rebirth of Felt in Northern Cyprus" project in order to “revive and preserve the traditional cultural heritage alive and support women's labour”, and she expressed her gratitude to First Lady Sibel Tatar for pioneering the project.
Emphasising that this initiative is an environmentally friendly effort that highlights women's labour, Mayor Tuğlu stated that felt is an asset that has a place in Turkish Cypriot culture, which has been forgotten over time.
Dervişe Çeliker, chairperson of the Association for Research and Preservation of Turkish Cypriot Embroidery, also touched upon the history of felt in her speech, adding: “Felt has been an important element in the nomadic culture of the Turks. It has been used in many areas from carpets to tents, wall decorations to clothing. Felt, known as the first textile product, is one of the oldest materials used as fabric before weaving.”
Mrs. Çeliker, who emphasised that the rebirth project of felt was implemented under the auspices of the Presidency and under the leadership of First Lady Sibel Tatar, said: “With this project, felt is being reintroduced into our culture. Different designs were created in this course organised by our association. Flowers, accessories, hats and embroideries were produced with wet felt and printing techniques. I thank those who supported the project. This initiative is an indication of women's solidarity and efforts to keep cultural heritage alive.”