Turkish artist Ahmet Çoktan demonstrated the beauty of his country's traditional ebru art in a talk at TNUA organized by the Center for Traditional Arts and the School of Culture Resources in November.
His audience was amazed by the unique colorful patterns he created by transferring paints floating on the surface of water onto paper or fabric.
To show TNUA's gratitude to the speaker, Prof. Chen Wanlee, chief director of the Center for Traditional Arts, presented Mr. Çoktan with a book published by the School of Culture Resources on the Turkish culture. Prof. Chen also thanked the Anatolia Formosa Institute for helping arrange the talk.
Ebru is the Turkish term for paper marbling, a method of aqueous surface design with which patterns similar to smooth marble or other stone can be created.
The method, which was introduced into Turkey in the 14th century, has been applied to calligraphy and the making of book covers, such as those for the Quran.
Mr. Çoktan has been practicing and promoting ebru for years. He has been commissioned by the royal families of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to create works of ebru art.
He is also a Book of Guinness Record holder for having created the world's largest piece of ebru art.
Apart from Mr. Çoktan's demonstration, members of the audience were also given a chance to create their own pieces of ebru art under the guidance of the artist.