T. S. Eliot in his essay ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’ says that tradition cannot be inherited, and if you wish to follow it you must do so with great labour. Islamic arts such as calligraphy, ebru (paper marbling), tezhib (gilding) and miniature painting are all traditional arts which need ‘great labour’ and this knowledge must be taught face-to-face, at the feet of the teacher.
All the classical Ottoman arts, of which ebru is one, are not taught by writing or explanation, but rather by means of the master-apprentice system. Only artists who have devoted years of their lives to the subject can be true masters of ebru. Nonetheless, for many reasons this traditional Turkish art has lost its historic familiarity, and has only just managed to survive down to the present day. For this we need to thank Mustafa Düzgünman (1920-90), one of the most important artists in ebru history. He was the teacher of many contemporary ebru artists in Turkey today. To understand contemporary Turkish ebru it is necessary to describe the tradition to which Düzgünman belongs.
Read the full article in Matrix: A Review for Printers and Bibliophiles, No. 31, 2012.
Musa Igrek 