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Van, the 10th stop of the Türkiye Culture Route Festival, is hosting a diverse program of traditional handicrafts, interactive workshops, literary panels, and children's activities running through July 19.
The Traditional Handicrafts Exhibition, held for the second time at the Van Olgunlasma Institute, features historic works highlighting the region's enduring manufacturing heritage. The vocational institution operates directly under the Ministry of National Education’s Directorate General for Lifelong Learning.
The exhibition showcases a diverse array of traditional craftsmanship, ranging from Van silver embellished with savat—a classic black-inlay metalwork technique—to fabrics woven from Norduz wool, a material deeply rooted in the region's sheep-breeding heritage.
The exhibition also features authentic regional clothing, intricate embroidery, fine leatherwork, and traditional flat-woven textiles like carpets and kilims. Through this curation, the program aims to preserve Van's ancestral craftsmanship and pass these time-honored production methods down to future generations.
Workshops held during the festival provide an immersive opportunity for visitors to discover regional heritage by actively practicing time-honored artisanal techniques.
At the Van Olgunlasma Institute, a dedicated jewelry design workshop allowed participants to craft custom accessories using locally sourced natural stones. Simultaneously, the Van Museum hosted a felt workshop that explored the raw production, historical utility, and cultural significance of felt within Turkish society.
The educational session provided attendees with direct, hands-on experience under the guidance of master craftsmen, demonstrating traditional fabrication methods up close.
The festival also brought author Omer Aytac Aykac together with readers at the Ipekyolu District Public Library.
During the event titled "Literary Journalism," the discussion took up the relationship between literature and journalism, the development of the local press and the position of literary journalism today.
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At the Provincial Public Library, children joined the "Ada's World: The House with the Blue Door" event, which combined book reading with creative drama and painting workshops.
With a program stretching from exhibitions and discussions to traditional arts workshops and children's activities, the Van Culture Route Festival will continue to welcome visitors through July 19.
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