The three-dimensional felt artwork left from the business that was destroyed in the earthquake connected to life.

Çiğdem Fakı, an arts and crafts instructor living in Hatay, which was struck by the earthquake, is teaching women affected by the disaster how to create three-dimensional felt paintings through her ‘Decorative Home Accessories’ course. The painting that Fakı managed to save from the great disaster has become an example for her students.

Approximately 25,000 people died in Hatay, where destruction was most severe due to the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes, and thousands of buildings were destroyed. Çiğdem Fakı, a 42-year-old who was caught in the earthquake in the İsmet İnönü neighborhood of İskenderun, suffered severe damage to her home and crafts workshop. She began teaching ‘Three-Dimensional Felt Painting’ to disaster-affected women at a course opened in the İsmet İnönü neighborhood of İskenderun. In a short time, the course became a center of interest, and Fakı is training 12 women affected by the earthquake. Having provided arts and crafts training for 12 years, Fakı connects disaster-affected women with art, enabling them to feel better and socialize. The felt in the hands of these women transforms into art. The damaged painting left from Fakı’s workshop, which was destroyed in the earthquake, serves as an example for her students.

Fakı stated that she did not repair the felt painting that was damaged in the earthquake, saying, “The only product I could save from my workshop, which was severely damaged in the February 6 earthquake, was my felt painting. I did not repair my felt painting because, even though it is a painful memory of that day, it was the only product left from my workshop. Therefore, I am exhibiting my felt painting without repairing it, alongside me in my new workplace. Our course is called Decorative Home Accessories, where we make paintings from felt. Felt has an important place in the nomadic culture, used in lodging and shelter, and was traditionally made by cooking in baths, but nowadays it is produced in factories using machines. We create the entire felt by hand into three-dimensional paintings. I made a tortoise trainer. I worked on the tortoise trainer in three dimensions, and everything is handmade. I also worked on a girl playing a saz; it was already in my workshop, which was severely damaged in the earthquake, and it is the only piece I could save. I am the first and only person making felt paintings in İskenderun; this is the third one being made here—one by me, one by a student, and one that I made as a gift for my former director of public education. Of course, it is a work that requires a lot of effort and patience; it is entirely handcrafted. Think of it like a tailor dressing clothes; we embellish them with fiber and then frame them, turning them into a magnificent heirloom art piece. I have 12 active students who come regularly, and they all enjoy doing this work, which also contributes to the household economy financially. We can take special orders and work externally, creating custom paintings, and my students enjoy participating in my courses.”