Since its publication in 2022, From Myth to Art: Anatolian Kilims has garnered significant attention from leading voices in the fields of textile history, archaeology, and art.
Featured in renowned publications such as Hali, Jozan, Kelim-Connection, Oxford Asian Textile Group (OATG), Pusula Swiss, TMASC, The New England Rug Society (NERS), and RugRabbit, the book is widely recognized for its groundbreaking perspectives, the use of radiocarbon analysis and its reimagining of Anatolian flatweaves. Below, discover what scholars and critics around the world are saying about this unique contribution to cultural heritage. as well as reports from some lectures.
Full review in British Oriental rug and Textile Society Journal by Mrs. Roberta Marin.
The second part of the book is dedicated to the catalogue of the most significant kilims in the author’s collection. The section is beautifully illustrated with photographs of the kilims and there is a brief description and technical analysis for each of them.
Joining Hans Belting’s “Anthropology of Images” to Ernst Cassirer’s philosophy of cultures, in this book he revisit the current paradigms of the Anatolian kilim studies and develop a fresh art historical vision for understanding these flatweaves, exposed by a detailed essay and 85 illustrated examples.
Beyond their utilitarian function as decorated weavings, Anatolian kilims represent actually the medium for a unique iconographic tradition carried over several millennia by Anatolia’s nomadic cultures.
Zu den 85 großformatig abgebildeten und beschriebenen Kelims gehört auch ein anatolischer Zili aus dem 15. Jahrhundert, der älteste, der bisher mit Radiokohlenstoff datiert wurde und hier zum ersten Mal veröffentlicht wird.
Anatolian kilims impress at first sight by their colors and the abstract expressivity of their designs, but they also imply more to the mind than what is seen by the eye. What makes a “kilim design” immediately recognizable among other designs? What mental processes create that “style” of motifs?
When impressed by a newly released book, one should be careful if tempted to refer to it in such language as “the defining new textbook”. But Ali Riza Tuna’s English-language book Anatolian Kilims truly is of that stature as a work that illuminates Anatolian carpets from every angle, and therefore is heartily recommended reading for all carpet lovers.
In many of their masterpieces, Renaissance painters depicted some of the most beautiful Anatolian carpets that have not survived to our time. Through research and art historical comparisons, Ali Tuna, along with his rug-weaving colleagues, has reconstructed, in original knotting technique, the designs of three carpets depicted in famous renaissance paintings by Vittorio Ghirlandaio, Piero della Francesca and Lorenzo Lotto.
A New Perspective on Anatolian Kilims, presented by Ali Riza Tuna and hosted by TMA SC on January 14, 2023 at 1pm ET with NERS as a co-sponsor.
Ali Riza Tuna’s extensive, long-term research on Anatolian kilims highlights the significance of these creations in cultural sociology across various cultures. By examining the Anatolian kilims through the lens of an art work beyond an everyday object, Tuna opens up entirely new perspectives on the history and techniques of Anatolian kilims.
Ali Riza Tuna, an engineer-based researcher living in Geneva, has been reinterpreting Anatolia’s ancient weaving culture from an art history perspective for more than forty years. Read more…
