Women from Arnavutköy are turning their hobbies into economy

Arnavutköy Municipality Art Academy successfully completed the 2023-2024 period, providing many citizens with the opportunity to develop their talents and earn economic gains. Speaking at the End of Year Concert and Show program, Mayor Candaroğlu said, ‘We believe that art is a unifying force. We aim to be a leading art district among the districts in Istanbul.’ Arnavutköy Municipality Art Academy successfully completed the 2023-2024 period. Course participants who received education from the Art Academy had the opportunity to showcase what they learned during their education at a shopping center in Arnavutköy at the ‘end of year concert and show.’ With significant support from Mayor Mustafa Candaroğlu, approximately 5,000 people received education in 30 different courses during the 2023-2024 period. Particularly, female course participants contributed to the family economy by selling the products they produced after receiving education. Course participants exhibited the works they produced with the education they received at the Mixed Handicrafts Exhibition. At the exhibition held in a shopping center in Arnavutköy for two days, the handcrafted products received great interest from art enthusiasts. The courses offered by the Art Academy include topics such as calligraphy, wood burning, ceramic shaping, painting, and many more options. The organized courses allow citizens to discover their talents and turn these talents into economic gain.
End of Year Concert and Show Arnavutköy Art Academy provides education not only in handicrafts but also in stage and performing arts. Courses include folk dances, ney (reed flute), bağlama (stringed instrument), kanun (zither), singing, and more. Course participants who received education from the Art Academy had the opportunity to showcase what they learned at the end of year concert and show. Mayor Mustafa Candaroğlu of Arnavutköy and many citizens attended the end of year concert and show program with their children. This special event held at the Arnavutköy Culture and Art Center supported course participants in expressing themselves and promoting their talents. Among the more than 40 new courses planned to be opened soon are topics such as tile art, calligraphy, diction, kemence (string instrument), and radio programming. With the new courses, the aim is to help more women turn their hobbies into economic gains. Arnavutköy Municipality Art Academy continues to contribute to social and economic development by providing these opportunities to women.
‘We believe that art is a unifying force.’ Speaking about the program, Arnavutköy Mayor Mustafa Candaroğlu said, ‘Our Arnavutköy is a young district. We are a municipality that values both art and culture with our fellow townsmen. We hold exhibitions together with our course participants. We are having our art academy’s end of year show. Today, we are excited to bring our course participants together. Their enthusiasm, which started as a hobby, continues in a professional manner. It makes us proud to provide the necessary tools and equipment for our course participants to turn their education into a profession. Today, we are exhibiting thousands of works. These various works contribute to our course participants’ household economy. Today, we provide service at our academy to nearly 5,000 course participants. We will add 43 more branches in the new term to the existing 27 branches at our academy. We believe that art is a unifying force. We aim to be a leading art district among the districts in Istanbul.’