Project to promote Damal dolls

Ardahan’s Damal dolls with traditional dresses symbolize Anatolian women. AA photo

Works have started to promote the Damal dolls unique to the eastern Anatolian province of Ardahan to the wider masses.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Ardahan Mayor Mustafa Tekmen said that the Damal dolls were significant cultural symbols for the city but they had not yet enjoyed the publicity they deserved. The municipality has therefore initiated a project to promote the dolls.

“When I first went to Damal, I visited the atelier where these dolls are produced as these dolls are extremely significant to us. But, apparently, the dolls are now produced using plastic rather than wood,” Tekmen said. This needs to change, however, and “thanks to this new project” the dolls will soon be made using traditional materials once more.

Tekmen added the dolls would be produced with different costumes and in different sizes. “At the moment these dolls are produced in small, medium and large. We plan to create alternatives. We hope Damal dolls will achieve the profile they deserve thanks to this initiative,” he said.

 Damal Dolls symbolize the women of Anatolia. Wearing traditional colorful and beaded costumes, they are also said represent nature. Each one is made up of 37 individual pieces.