Eid rush in Darende district

Malatya’s Darende district, which is flooded by local tourists during the Feast of Sacrifice, attracts great attention with the art house created by retired teacher Fikri Çalışkan, which contains miniatures depicting old times made from the combination of waste materials found in nature.

Darende district of Malatya, an important route for nature and faith tourism, was also flooded by visitors during the Feast of Sacrifice. Visitors who visit places like Somuncu Baba Tomb and Gürpınar Waterfall do not leave the district without seeing retired teacher Fikri Çalışkan’s art house.

Retired teacher Fikri Çalışkan has been collecting waste materials such as plastic, wire, sand, and stones found in nature as a hobby for 13 years and turning them into miniatures depicting old times. Çalışkan, who has nearly 80 works, started exhibiting his works at home as the number of miniatures he made increased. The art house, open to visitors and attracting attention, takes visitors on a journey to the past.

Visitor Nurcan Aykiş, who came to Darende on a tour, stated that they came from Fethiye, Muğla and said, “We visited the art house. As a person who loves art, I am very happy. I am also a retired teacher’s daughter, and it is very nice that Mr. Fikri is a teacher. It is very nice that he deals with these works, he has reflected the past to us. I am very happy, I recommend everyone to see it.”

Visitor Hamidiye Karpuz expressed that everything in the art house was very beautiful and said, “We felt like we experienced the past, well done.”

Ismail Terinoğlu also expressed that he found Darende district very beautiful and said, “Before coming here, we were visiting Somuncu Baba Tomb, they recommended here and we decided to see. We saw expressions depicting life from the past to the present, we liked the works very much. There are handcrafted works. I thank Darende very much for providing such a place.”