Proposed front brick factory / turn into a tourist center
Kitam is an ambitious project that aims at transforming traditional Anatolian arts and handicrafts by educating talented individuals of the population to produce products inspired by tradition and designed by its people and artists. The Products will be designed as practical and attractive pieces of Turkish traditional art and handicrafts. Fostering international cooperations with similar projects, exchanging traditions, styles and experiences and cooperating with powerful international investors, the project will be an outstanding example of rural development with the capacity of spreading the concept of Kitam Centers Turkeywide and even further.
The project will be conducted by the Endless Gratitude Association.
The project will be conducted by the Endless Gratitude Association.
The Rural Design Studios and Art Fair Centers, briefly KITAM, consists of three phases. The first one is education. Talented local people from rural Anatolia will be chosen and taught how to produce handicrafts and especially in the framework of the project designed pieces of fine art. They will be guided by experienced and professional design artists of the Village of Endless Gratitude and will accomplish their education within a period of two months. The education will be free of charge. Especially talented individuals will be additionally able to work in the studio´s of their teachers and proceed their career as master students on a higher level. Masters Students will be also able to participate in national and international exhibitions, conferences and fairs.
The second phase is production. The design artists and lecturers of the Village of Endless Gratitude Association will assist them in questions of production and guide them in questions of their interests and skills. The aim is to achieve a high motivation of the participants to continue and further their production after finalizing their courses and education. Furthering business after the completion of the course may include the opening of an own studio and unit of business or the participation in a common project and sales tactic of the Association of Endless Gratitude.
In this way students will not be let loose, they will be able to develop and grow as a part of a bigger organization. When regarded as neccessary and helpful, they will be able and assisted to establish their own studios and working places within the production phase in order to ensure sustainability.
The third phase is the creation of markets. Firstly, a Market Education Center will be established. In the permanent exhibition rooms of the Center, the products will be both exhibited and sold by their producers. The Center itself will be a Market. Starting from here, the products will be distributed all around the country to gift shops, to the DÖSIM design shops of the Ministry of Culture and to national distributors and labels like Pasabahce. Cooperations shall be developed with international organizations, foundations, handicraft and art centers in important cities like Venice, the Toscana, Milano and furthermore.
The second phase is production. The design artists and lecturers of the Village of Endless Gratitude Association will assist them in questions of production and guide them in questions of their interests and skills. The aim is to achieve a high motivation of the participants to continue and further their production after finalizing their courses and education. Furthering business after the completion of the course may include the opening of an own studio and unit of business or the participation in a common project and sales tactic of the Association of Endless Gratitude.
In this way students will not be let loose, they will be able to develop and grow as a part of a bigger organization. When regarded as neccessary and helpful, they will be able and assisted to establish their own studios and working places within the production phase in order to ensure sustainability.
The third phase is the creation of markets. Firstly, a Market Education Center will be established. In the permanent exhibition rooms of the Center, the products will be both exhibited and sold by their producers. The Center itself will be a Market. Starting from here, the products will be distributed all around the country to gift shops, to the DÖSIM design shops of the Ministry of Culture and to national distributors and labels like Pasabahce. Cooperations shall be developed with international organizations, foundations, handicraft and art centers in important cities like Venice, the Toscana, Milano and furthermore.
The Design studios aim at educating important parts of the rural population, teach talented people a profession and develop new job areas and ideas for them. The current conditions and streams of art and tradition will be taken into account as important measures. By giving importance to accountable and professional work we aim at producing unique and creative high quality products. In every corner of Turkey and our globalized world, products of the the gift and souvenir industry unfortunately are getting cheaper and more primitive. They loose every connection and spirit of art and creation. Touristic products and souvenirs produced in the region of Konya are alike. Starting with design, the production phase of the KITAM Project give great importance to the combination of universal and different types of art. The design will be new but reflecting history and tradition. It will be creative and individual and of a high-quality. These are the claims of the KITAM design studios. Both the materials used as well as the historic and archeologic footprints of the region will establish a different and unique shape that has not been seen before. In this way, traditional Turkish handicraft will in a literal sense be combined with modern art and a modern artistic approach and will be revived and produced anew. In this way, the KITAM Project is opening a different field and perspective of profession and business. Exhibition and marketing and sales of the products will start in the region of Konya, expand to the whole of Turkey and desireably to related places and cooperation partners worldwide. As Endless Gratitude Association, we will fully support participants who have completed their education in opening their own production and design studios and marketing their products. Not only will a part of the educated rural population gain a profession and earn a living, but at the same time we will have achieved to save and preserve our own traditional handicraft and art and have them designed and interpreted according to our age. Turkish handicraft and modern Turkish art will experience important inspirations, transformations and developments. This is an important difference of the KITAM Project to other development and educational art projects.
The Village of Endless Gratitude, which lays close to Çavuş Village in the region of Hüyük/Beyşehir/Konya, is founded as a art and culture village in which important national and international artists live, work and get inspired by an untouched nature and rich history. 4 great Empires left their footprints in the region of Beyşehir/Konya: Hittite, Ottoman, Roman and Seljukian. The silk road passes nearby. Everywhere, the footprints of our ancestors and their cultures tells us stories of humanity. Sonsuz Sükran Köyü is a Village of Art. Art has always been an engine of culture and society. We want to further art and culture by combining it with an educational, touristic and economic logic. The Design and Production Studios will be built inside the Village of Endless Gratitude. The Project realization site in the Village of Endless Gratitude includes an empty and unfinished brick factory building. The construction of the brick factory started 25 years ago by a cooperative and was never completed. The building has two storeys with the dimensions of 10 meters x 100 meters and lies on top of a hill. Here, the Village of Endless Gratitude and Çavus Village on the one hand, and the great Beysehir lake and Sultan Mountains on the other hand, provide a breathtaking panorama. On each outer face of the building there are beautiful and long galeries, once constructed with the aim of brick production.
Buildings like the old brick factory in Cavus can be found in the whole region, most or even all of them left to decay. The conversion of the old brick factory into a center af art, culture turizm and education, that includes artists studios, handicraft markets, stores and guest houses will be an inspiration and motivation for the wider region. If the legal proceedings concerning the renovation of the brick factory last longer than expected, the KITAM Project will be realized in 12 newly built adobe houses consisting of two storeys and a inner court. The first floors will be used as artists studios while the products will be exhibited and sold in the inner courts. The inner courts will be a kind of exhibition gallery. In a first phase the products will be sold by the producing students themselves. In a second phase, additional personal may be appointed. The upper storeys, or second floors, will be used as guest houses.
Students who whish will be able to stay without paying any fees. The guest house will be operated by the Endless Gratitude Association. Artists, Visitors and Tourists from Turkey and abroad will be able to stay here for reasonable prices. In this way the design studios and the Village of Endless Gratitude will benefit from each other.
At the same time, the Village will be turned in a touristic location and a destination of micro-turizm. The village of Endless Gratitude will become a touristic attraction, comparable to artist villages in Germany, Portugal and Italy. Seljukian, Hittite, Roman and Ottoman art and symbols, combined with modern Turkish and International art and design, will uniquely be presented to the world.
Assumed that the restoration and construction of the buildings will be planned and conducted subsequently, the adobe houses in the Village of Endless Gratitude may be used immediately and temporarily. In this way, the Village already posses the neccessary facilities and infrastructure to start the KITAM Project immediately.
At the same time, the Village will be turned in a touristic location and a destination of micro-turizm. The village of Endless Gratitude will become a touristic attraction, comparable to artist villages in Germany, Portugal and Italy. Seljukian, Hittite, Roman and Ottoman art and symbols, combined with modern Turkish and International art and design, will uniquely be presented to the world.
Assumed that the restoration and construction of the buildings will be planned and conducted subsequently, the adobe houses in the Village of Endless Gratitude may be used immediately and temporarily. In this way, the Village already posses the neccessary facilities and infrastructure to start the KITAM Project immediately.
Village of Endless Gratitude / Adobe houses
In the galeries on the first storey, the following basic studios will be opened:
1. Glass Studio with oven and breaking tools 2.Seramik Atölyesi Fırın ve malzeme hazırlama tesisleriyle 3.Ahşap Atölyesi Tam donanımlı 4.Ferforje atölyesi gerekli donanımıyla As Production Studios: 1.”Camaltı” Studio (Turkish under-Glass Pictures/especially “Şahmaran” motives) 2. Mirror Studio (Traditional bordured village mirrors) 3. Cut-glass objects studio 4. Wooden toys studio 5. Kadesh peace treaty Kil studio 6. Kibele Kil and glass studio 7. Mevlana objects studio 8. Bast objects studio 9. Textile studio: textile dolls-knickbockers-vest studio 10. Basic painting studio 11. Basic design knowledge studio 12. Exhibition Galleries 14. Village Cafe 15. Village Restaurant and Kitchen 13. Village Food and Products Galleries |
Just like in the design studios, controlled organic local food and food products will be produced and sold by local women after educating them in this context. Typically Turkish food products like Tarhana (a dried food stuff made chiefly of curds and flour (used for making soup)), Bulgur, Erişte (home made macaroni), dried beans and fruits, seasonal fruits and vegetables will be exhibited and sold.
The necessary infrastructure to promote, sell and send these products to consumers Turkeywide will be set up. Customers will be able to buy and oder the products via the Endless Gratitude Association through channels like phone and internet. Local women will also be able to exhibit and sell their own handicraft products in the exhibition galleries free of charge. In an exhibition that we organized in 2011 under the umbrella of the Village of Endless Gratitude and the nursing home association of Cavus, products – handicraft and food - of local women was exhibited and sold for 15 days. Here, an income of 68.000 TL was achieved. From this point of view it can be said that an important experience has already been made and the project made a big step towards realization.
The same exhibition was conducted in December 2012 during Christmas and New Years Celebrations in the German Consulate General in Istanbul, where a huge number of orders was taken.
KITAM will be a center for culture and turizm. In the upper storeys of the building, a multi-functional hall will also be established. Apart from that, a guest house consisting of 25 rooms will be made in the upper storeys.
In this way, with the support, activities and media echo that the Village of Endless Gratitude will bring at the same time, the KITAM Center in Cavus / Village of Endless Gratitude will become a center for culture and turizm in a short time span.
The necessary infrastructure to promote, sell and send these products to consumers Turkeywide will be set up. Customers will be able to buy and oder the products via the Endless Gratitude Association through channels like phone and internet. Local women will also be able to exhibit and sell their own handicraft products in the exhibition galleries free of charge. In an exhibition that we organized in 2011 under the umbrella of the Village of Endless Gratitude and the nursing home association of Cavus, products – handicraft and food - of local women was exhibited and sold for 15 days. Here, an income of 68.000 TL was achieved. From this point of view it can be said that an important experience has already been made and the project made a big step towards realization.
The same exhibition was conducted in December 2012 during Christmas and New Years Celebrations in the German Consulate General in Istanbul, where a huge number of orders was taken.
KITAM will be a center for culture and turizm. In the upper storeys of the building, a multi-functional hall will also be established. Apart from that, a guest house consisting of 25 rooms will be made in the upper storeys.
In this way, with the support, activities and media echo that the Village of Endless Gratitude will bring at the same time, the KITAM Center in Cavus / Village of Endless Gratitude will become a center for culture and turizm in a short time span.
Design can be defined as creating something new, which has never been made before in the way designed, which is not similar in shape to anything else and is in this way brand new and unique. The approach of the design studios equates exactly with this definition. Our starting point are our traditional arts and handicrafts. Another important point is this. Considering the design of the products the customer needs, the attractivity of the product and the demand will have to be taken into account. Another point that has to be taken into account is that the educated rural population has to have the opportunities to easily access the materials of the products they will design. The students have to find the materials and effort reasonable. The design objects, material and studio types will be affordably and easily accessible. |
Design studios are planned as follows:
Basic Studios 1. Glass Studio with oven and breaking tools 2. Ceramics studio with ovenb and preparation facilities 3. Wood studio fully equipped 4. Art ironworks studio with neccessary equipment Production Studios 1.”Camaltı” Studio (Turkish under-Glass Pictures/especially “Şahmaran” motives) 2. Mirror Studio (Traditional bordured village mirrors) 3. Cut-glass objects studio 4. Wooden toys studio 5. Kadesh peace treaty Kil studio 6. Kibele Kil and glass studio 7. Mevlana objects studio 8. Bast objects studio 9. Textile doll studio 10. Basic painting studio 11. Basic design knowledge studio |
Cooperations will be developed with national and international organizations, universities, schools and enterprises for the phases of education as well as production and distribution. Famous Glass Designer Pasabahce as well as the DÖSIM Stores of the Ministry of Culture and Turizm in Turkey, from Venice to Murano and Torso, from France to Gale glass design can be developed in cooperations.
Ceramics may be developed with A.C.F. in the Toscana as well as in Sevres/France. With academies like the Domus Academy in Milano, design studios in Firenze, Sesto Fierentino, Napoli and Capidimonte, cooperations, exchange and education programs can be developed.
Inviting professionals of design academies worldwide, a unique pool of knowledge and design may be developed and fostered. Design products may also be produced for organizational and corporate customers like these. Taking part in Art and design fairs, conferences and summits like those in Milano and Bologna, fields of cooperation maybe identified and established.
Ceramics may be developed with A.C.F. in the Toscana as well as in Sevres/France. With academies like the Domus Academy in Milano, design studios in Firenze, Sesto Fierentino, Napoli and Capidimonte, cooperations, exchange and education programs can be developed.
Inviting professionals of design academies worldwide, a unique pool of knowledge and design may be developed and fostered. Design products may also be produced for organizational and corporate customers like these. Taking part in Art and design fairs, conferences and summits like those in Milano and Bologna, fields of cooperation maybe identified and established.