Members of Bursa Advanced Technical School for Girls use art to revive historical and iconic architectural works of the northwestern province of Bursa, a former capital city of the Ottoman Empire, on leaves from plane trees.
The institute launched a project to paint Bursa’s architectural structures on plane tree leaves to keep the city’s cultural values alive. After being carefully collected and selected by five master trainers and teachers at the institute in October, plane leaves are left to dry between pages of books for months. After the leaves have adequately dried, the institute members turn them into works of art depicting the cultural heritage of the former Ottoman capital with watercolors. They then offer their mesmerizing artworks for sale.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), design Chief Ebru Önder said that the plane tree represents "life." Önder said: "It is a tree that represents Bursa, and it is also a symbol of the Ottoman Empire. We wanted to bring together the plane tree leaves with the cultural values of Bursa. Then, we collected the leaves of the plane tree and started to depict Bursa figures on them."
According to Önder, they first experimented on the leaves by drawing patterns and then focused on depicting architectural works. Among their artworks are depictions of Bursa’s many historical landmarks that have survived to date, including the Grand Mosque, Yeşil Cami (Green Mosque), the Muradiye Complex, the Tophane Clock Tower, Irgandı Bridge and the Yıldırım Bayezid Complex.
Nilüfer Karakoç, the director of the institute, also stated that Bursa is one of the centuries-old witnesses of a rich cultural heritage. Explaining that there is a different cultural richness in every corner of Bursa, Karakoç said: "We are working on transferring our culture and tradition to future generations. While doing these works, we must carry out works that will appeal to all tastes and age groups to reach wider audiences. There is an incredible amount of interest in our artworks on the leaves. They have received the attention they deserve. People buy products for themselves as well as to give them as gifts to visitors to Bursa."
