Les Arts Turcs.
‘’Experience Turkish art and culture”
Les Arts Turcs offers a unique and satisfying entre into the world of Turkish arts and culture. If you are looking to check off items on your "1001 things to do before you die" list, by all means rush off to see the tourist attractions. But if you are interesting in stepping off the beaten path a bit and want a more intimate experience of Turkish arts and culture than you can get by visiting tourist sites, Les Arts Turcs is worth a second (or third) look.

Conveniently located within close walking distance of Haghia Sophia, Les Arts Turcs offers workshops where you can try your hand at a variety of Turkish arts and cultural experiences. I first visited in January of 2011, as a teacher scouting out opportunities for a class of college students from the United States who would be spending a month in Turkey during the summer. I had one student with me, and the two of us took a marbling class from Betul here. We were both captivated by the experience. The hospitality kindness shown to us by all the staff and the magic of watching painted patterns appear on water convinced us that this was definitely a unique opportunity for the students. We were also impressed by the range of classes offered. We could learn marbling, calligraphy, tile painting, henna, painted miniatures, cooking, dance, Turkish language, music, textile design, and pretty much anything else we could dream up.

In August and September I brought the students back with me. All of them took a marbling class, and they each were able to choose several other classes they liked. A few of the students even made special requests to the team about whether they could learn specific skills they had observed in Turkish culture, and the staff was able to arrange these for them. Among them, at least four people took every class listed above except dance and textile design, and their reviews were overwhelmingly positive. The marbling class was a highlight for many of them. Splattering color onto liquid and then pushing the water into patterns evoked a sense of wonder, and they were impressed with how easily they were able to create something they could be proud of. The cooking classes were also a hit, and the students liked the food they had created so much that we ended up having a reunion a month later and cooking the same things.

Les Arts Turcs also arranges for visitors to attend a sema (whirling dervish ceremony) at one of two Sufi monasteries in Istanbul. We did this, and several of us went back a second time so we could go to the monastery we hadn't visited previously. We had an opportunity to go to a "folklore show" with whirling dervishes later in the trip, and found it interesting to compare between the services at the monasteries and the tourist shows.

In addition to the cultural and artistic experiences, I think one of the things the students and I appreciated the most about Les Arts Turcs was the kindness of the staff and the opportunity to sit and talk with them about life in Turkey and their experiences. I found that several of the students were dropping by the gallery periodically over the month we were in Istanbul during their free time to chat and have tea with the artists, simply because they enjoyed these conversations and the opportunity to get to know people in a context where they weren't being pressured to buy anything.

Overall, this is a fantastic experience, and well worth the time. The consensus of our group was that taking the Turkish marbling (ebru) class was the best way to get started, and would be the recommended activity for someone who only had a few hours available to explore Turkish arts. Classes are arranged for either groups or individuals, and the schedule is flexible.