Islamabad - Renowned Turkish archaeologist Alper Yurdemi delivered a lecture on Ottoman embroideries and culture here at Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology (Heritage Museum) on Monday.
The lecture titled “Ottoman Embroideries: Meeting Point of Ottoman Palace and Popular Culture” was organised by the embassy of the Republic of Turkey.
Archaeologist Alper Yurdemi presented to the audience via projector a variety of embroidered textiles collected from Greece, Asia Minor, Armenia, Algeria, and other regions of the former Ottoman Empire. He presented to the audience rarely seen textiles and other objects that displayed many of the ornamental motifs that are typical of Ottoman decorative art.
While delivering lecture Alper Yurdemi said that the Ottoman Empire was home to diverse ethnic and religious communities.
He said that despite their cultural differences, these communities shared a sophisticated language of ornament that each cultural group modified and adapted to its own individual needs and values. The lecture was organised in connection with Turkey-Pakistan cultural year 2014.
The audience was left spellbound when they came to know that he has been collecting Turkish handicrafts since the age of 8. At present, he has around 9,000 items in 17 separate collections, including 1300 items of Ottoman Embroideries which is the largest collection in Ankara.
Alper in his lecture shared his studies regarding embroidery techniques and materials as well as the meanings attributed to the patterns in the embroideries. The samples introduced during the lecture belong to the period between 17th and 19th centuries. Fifty of them are Ottoman palace embroideries.
Archaeology students of different varsities, people from different walks of life, diplomats and officials of Heritage Museum attended the lecture.