Kütahya tiles promoted by China

KÜTAHYA - Anatolia News Agency

Tile program has been produced in the atelier of a tile artist in Kütahya.

A team of documentary-makers has made a film looking at tile production in the Aegean province of Kütahya, Turkey’s capital of tile, ceramic and porcelain art, to be broadcast on Chinese state television (CCTV).

The team, made up of producer Mesut Coşkun, presenter Feing Yao Yang and cameraman Hakan Erol, made the program in the workshop of famous tile artist İsmail Yiğit.

Coşkun said tile production had been going on for 4,000 years in China, a country which – like Turkey – was globally recognized for its tile production. He said the documentary would provide information about all the stages of tile production.

“With the opening of the Silk Road, tiles reached countries such as Japan, Kenya, the Philippines, Egypt, Thailand, Iran and Iraq. Chinese tiles have many different designs. Miracles, battles and other historical or legendary events are depicted on tiles. There are original tiles which were produced by ancient civilizations. The pieces which date back to 2000 B.C. find buyers for very high prices in auctions. A tile artifact from the Chinese dynasty was auctioned for $37,000 in London seven years ago,” he said.

Yiğit, who has given his works as gifts to team members, said Turkish tiles had attracted a lot of interest in international fairs in European, Arab and African countries, as well as the United States. “Having this responsibility, I did my best to inform about the Turkish art of tiles.”

CCTV, the network airing the program, also broadcasts to many other parts of the world via satellite.