Woman spreads message of ‘nonviolence’ through wall art

İZMİR

The 60-year-old Nuran Erden, residing in İzmir’s Germiyan village, has been drawing pictures on the village walls to spread the message of “nonviolence” throughout the country.

After tourists visiting the village noticed Erden’s drawings and took pictures in front of them, the village gained interest as her drawings became famous.

Cafes started to open in the village, and now it has become a touristic center thanks to Erden’s drawings.

Erden dropped out of high school and studied carpet making at Trakya University years later. However, her dream was to introduce her village to everyone. Erden realized this dream by drawing her imagination on walls.

She said that she started drawing images on the walls in 2014 and that villagers found her strange at the time.

The aim of Erden’s paintings is to draw attention to domestic violence.

Elaborating on one of her paintings showing a father with no mouth and arms, she said, “I did not draw his mouth and arms so he could not yell and hit.”

Describing herself as an “illustrator” rather than an artist, Erden continues to paint her imagination on walls to spread awareness about domestic violence.