eye beads - Özel Ege Lisesi

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EYE BEADS
Prepared by
Selma Yıldız Miray Eren
İdiL Arıkbay Barış Çeliker
Orçun Çetin Oğuz Yıldırım
Advisor: Emine Özgül
Bornova , 2005
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT----------- 1
INTRODUCTION--------------------- 2
WHERE EYE BEADS ARE USED-----3,4
HISTORY OF EYE BEADS-------- 5
KILN OF EYE BEADS-------------- 6
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CONTENTS
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PRODUCTION OF EYE BEADS- 7
GÖRECE ------------------------------ 8
BONCUK KOY----------------------- 9
INTERVIEWS-------------------------10
Rasim Altmışkara
Osman Sağlam
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AN INTERVIEW WITH GÖRECE’S ACTING MAYOR-------11, 12
CONCLUSION---------------------------------------------------------------13
REFERENCE----------------------------------------------------------------14
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank our teacher Emine Özgül for guiding us to prepare this project.
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We would also like to thank our school administration for providing a minibus for us to have a
trip to Görece, Boncuk Köy and Kurudere.
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INTRODUCTION
We have not noticed how valuable the Eye Bead is up to the time we started this project. The
Eye Bead is called by many names. For example: Magic Eye Bead, Blue Eye Bead, Eye of
Protection, Glass Eye Bead. The Eye Bead is an object which is belived to have magic
powers to protect you or bring you luck. It is a living tradition to believe that it gets in bad
energy which comes from evil eyes.
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We decided to prepare this project because the Eye Bead is one of the most common
elements of our culture. However, we have not been aware of it up to the time we focused on
it. Next, we would like to have a kind of document in our hands for our guests from different
cultures. Finally, we would like our friends to notice that there are two villages which really
deserve to be paid attention to by the local authories and the public.
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When you look around, you can see the Eye Bead everywhere: above the main doors of the
buildings, inside or outside the cars, in the doorways of the houses or apartments, on people,
even on animals. The Eye Beads look like smiling faces of friendly Anatolian people. They
seem to watch and protect us from the power of evil looks and wishes.
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WHERE EYE BEADS ARE USED
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Eye Beads, which mostly are blue and look like an eye, can be found in all shapes and sizes.
Eye beads are worn in the form of jewellery such as necklaces, earrings, pins, bracelets to
protect the wearer.They are attached to babies’ clothes for protection from people’s evil
eyes.They can be seen dangling from the bumpers of cars. They are put into the foundation
of new buildings. They are used in the form of decorative objects for guarding the doorways
of restaurants, shops, and houses. They are also used to protect as decorative objects inside
or outside the cars. They are even used to protect pets and cattles on the farms.They are
also used as key chains or hanging bulb. They are even used as lanyard hooks for
zippers, purses, cell phones and key chains. It is not suprising to see them hanging down
trees or on the garden walls of houses.
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HISTORY OF EYE BEADS
Once upon a time there was a rock by the sea. Even a hundred men or a lot of dynamite
couldn’t move or make a crack in it. There was a man also in a near by village. He was
known to carry the evil eye. People told him to see the rock. As soon as he had looked at it,
he shouted, “My goodness! What a big rock this is!.“ The instant he said it, there was a crack
and a loud noise. Instantly the huge rock was cracked into two.
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Throughout the human history, in every culture and religion, the eye figure has been
considered as a powerful talisman to send away evil forces. It is thought that glass beads
were manufactured wherever ore was melted and clay was baked. The early eye beads were
widely made and used all over the ancient world from Mesopotamia to Egypt, Iran, India to
many parts of Africa, China, Japan, Europe and the Mediterranean and to various parts of
the continent of America. The descendents of glass craftsmen migrated to Anatolia from the
eastern Mediterranean after it had been separated from the Turkish territory.
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It is believed that the earliest eye beads were built up on a core of baked clay. They were
rolled in a vitreous glaze and then fired on small stands until the glaze hardened like glass.
The appearence of these early beads was extremely varied. It is almost impossible to find
two eye beads that are alike. Eye beads have been produced in İzmir for a hundered and fifty
years. It first started with Selim Usta and his brothers, who settled in İzmir a hundred and fifty
years ago and started producing eye beads and glass bracelets in Araphan.
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KILN OF EYE BEADS
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A kiln of eye beads is made of bricks. It has a dome and it narrows from bottom to top. The
dome of the kiln is flat inside. The flat inner dome distributes the heat equally everywhere
inside the kiln. There are sections inside the kiln for each melted glass. Each eye bead
master has his own section. Every section contains 10 kilograms of glass. Each eye bead
master sits in front of 15-20 centimetres away from the section. He uses glass- working tools.
He also has a container to put his products in. Before he stops working, he counts them. He
earns his wages according to the number of the eye beads that he has produced that day.
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PRODUCTION OF EYE BEADS
Eye beads are made in the Aegean region and used all over the country. They are made in
different shapes. Different substances are used. For example, substances such as stone,
gold, silver, leather, shells, bones or even fabrics are used with eye beads. The most
common eye beads are made of glass. They are shaped like eyes because eyes are
supposed to send the evil look back to its owner. Evil eye beads are produced in the Görece
Village of Menderes and in the Kurudere Village of Kemalpaşa. Today, more eye beads are
produced in Kurudere than in Görece, where there are three production centres. Boncuk Köy
is also a popular centre where there is a modern kiln.
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GÖRECE
People from görece aren’t afraid of evil eyes.
Why ? Now let’s listen to Görece’s story;
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Görece is very close to İzmir. Its nature and air has been preserved. Elderly people who live
in Görece aren’t afraid of evil eyes because worldwide eye beads are made in Görece. There
is an eye bead workshop, it has got four walls, a small window and a small door. In the
middle, there is a kiln and there are four craftsmen sitting by the kiln. They never talk. Their
eyes are always on the fire in the kiln and with an iron rod they take a piece from the fire and
shape it. The fire should keep on burning and it mustn’t get cool.
We use eye beads on the doors of our homes, on our baby’s bed, and round our domestic
anmials’ necks. When we say eye beads, what comes to your mind? Of course, Görece.
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There are various rumours about where Görece’s name came from. One of them is about
Gören nomads who settled there and named it Görece. The other one, which is much more
common than the others, is that Gören nomads came to Görece one night and the next
morning, the view was so beautiful that the head of the Gören nomads called to his wife to
show the view ‘’This is Görece!’’ One of the other rumours is that girls from Görece are very
beautiful and they have got lots of Görücüs – people who want girls from their parents for
their sons.
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There are only three kilns existing in Görece today. The young generation does not show
much interest in eye beads. Görece’s Mayor Mustafa Öztürk has a project to enliven the
production of eye beads. A festival of Eye Beads is held in Görece every June.
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BONCUK KÖY
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Boncukköy is a private estate on the way to Görece, in which there’s a kiln which is heated
with gas, not wood. The other difference from the traditional kilns is that the craftsmen use
materials imported from China. That’s why they look different from the ones made
traditionally.
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INTERVIEWS
Rasim Altmiskara, eye bead master (aged 60)
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The technique we use to make eye beads is primitive. It’s completely hand made. We use a
thin iron rod and a thick iron rod. We roll the base of the bead on the thick rod. This is the
base. We add the white and blue of the eyes with the thin rod. These two rods are the only
tools that we have. There is this yellow eye on our beads. We make the oxide of this yellow
by mixing zinc, metal and lead. I wonder if any chemist can create the same color. It’s one of
our secrets.
Osman Saglam, eye bead master
When I was at the age of primary school, my brothers used to practice this art. After school, I
used to help them. I used to feed the fire and fetch them whatever they needed. I worked as
an apprentice for two or three years. Then I started to make my own beads. And I still deal
with the same business. There were seven or eight kilns sixty-three years ago. Now, there
are only three in the whole village. The young generation doesn’t want to learn this job. I
don’t know what will happen to this art after we die. Nobody is learning it. I’m going to stop
working soon. I had operation on my eyes. How long will I be able to keep on working under
these conditions?
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Mehmet Erdal, who is one of the craftsmen, and Zekai Erdal, who started this job at the age
of eleven realised that making eye beads was a kind of glass art. They have always treated
eye bead production as artists. They personally spend a lot of effort to present eye beads to
the world and they help to contribute to the exportation of eye beads.
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AN INTERVIEW WITH GÖRECE’S ACTING MAYOR
When did this work start?
It started in 150 or 200 years ago in Saudi Arabia. It is part of the Arabic culture. The
craftsmen who came from Saudi Arabia had a market in Kemeraltı. Then they moved to
Görece and taught this craft to the people in Görece. It continued like that.
What do the craftsmen think about founding a cooperation?
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They are not hot for this idea. They only think about themselves and their own.
Have you got any contact with foreign countries?
Yes, we have sister cities in the other countries. We try to teach them to produce eye beads.
We want a permanent place in İzmir to show our eye beads to people. Then they can hear
Görece’s name.
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Are the craftsmen have any health problems?
No, but all day, they sit and there can be some problems with their circulatory system, or
their eyes can have problems because of working by the fire and their lungs may become
bad because of the smoke.
Which countries have most interest in eye beads?
We haven’t got any information about it because merchants do exportation.
When did the festival in Görece first start?
It started five years ago. This year there’ll be the fifth festival.
What are you doing in festivals?
Some folk dance groups come here from other countries. From time to time, in a year we
open music courses and the students in these courses, sing songs in festivals.
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Let’s leave the master of eye beads and the fire side by side. They are the ones who apply
the eye figure to the glass. They are the ones who end up with interesting results in the dim
light of the workshops. Let’s leave the master and the fire side by side. Let’s think of them
again but this time by putting a smile on our face:
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The fire will melt the glass. The master will shape the eye bead. It’ll go on like that. It has
passed on from generation to generation like that for centuries. Let’s hope it’ll continue like
that for ever.
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CONCLUSION
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It’s time eye beads took its real place in the gift sector. We believe that eye beads as gifts
will bring dynamism to this sector. Behind this sector, we see some people who provide row
materials. Some traders import these materials from China and sell to some craftsmen. They
make cheaper products and spoil the traditional production. We see that eye bead craftsmen
are divided into two groups: the ones sticking to the traditional production. However, they
need to be supported because of financial problems. The others who prefer modern kilns
working on natural gas. They also use the imported materials. They are in a better position.
We have noticed that they never think of having a cooperation to sell their own products.
They usually work for traders in Izmir.
The people who devote themselves to producing eye beads and the others who deal with
this business have a common wish: they want to make Anatolian eye beads known all over
the world. Besides, they want to pass this tradition on to the younger generation. So far, eye
beads and eye-figured gift objects have been exported to sixty countries. However, they want
to share the positive energy of the eye beads with the rest of the world. Besides, it
contributes to the Turkish economy as well, while giving the opportunity of employment to the
young generation in villages or towns.
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Yıldız.
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REFERENCES
Video recordings by Oğuz Yıldırım and Selma Yıldız.
Photographs taken by İdiL Arıkbay.
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GGöGGGörece’s Acting Mayor
www.boncukkoy.com.tr
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The Chief of Kurudere Village: Hasan Yıldırım.
İzmir Ethnography Museum
The owner of Boncuk Köy:Murat Kayan
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