Assoc. Prof. Aslıhan ERKMEN BİRKANDAN gave a talk entitled: “Depictions of Crafts, Craftsmen, and Tools in Turkish-Islamic Manuscripts” at the University of North Texas.
On 15th of November, 2025, Assoc. Prof. Aslıhan ERKMEN BİRKANDAN gave a talk at the University of North Texas.
The talk gave a brief overview of the manuscript production in the Islamic World. Then the crafts and craftsmen represented in the illustrated manuscripts were explored under four segments:
1.The emergence of crafts in theology and history
2. Crafts and craftsmen in construction
3. Scientists and scientific instruments
4. Planets that represent crafts
A unique genre for the representation of the guilds in the Ottoman realm, The Surnama was in the center of the lecture where myriad guilds, their members, and the products were depicted presenting the variety of the 16th century Ottoman realm.
The talk was open to the students, craftspeople, and the faculty of the College of Visual Arts & Design, Department of Studio Art.
