I was born in a small village in Anatolia, about sixty kilometers from Adana. My father worked in the city, and my mother stayed home to take care of the children, the house, and the surrounding olive and orange fields. We also had a cow and goats for milk, and a few sheep that provided us with wool to spin.

My mother learned to spin wool and make kilims at a very young age, although she never made it her profession. As a child, I watched her wield the spindle to transform the animals' generous fleece into a silky woolen thread that would serve as the weft for the kilims.

The art of kilim weaving has been a part of my life since I was a child. It was while living away from home for a few years that I grasped the beauty and meaning of this age-old craft.

Kilims express 10,000 years of human history through threads that intersect and recross. The designs that slowly take shape on the loom draw their origins from the most ancient memories of the civilizations of the Near and Middle East.

My goal is to pay tribute to this know-how, so that the art of kilim, in its ancient or contemporary form, can continue to be appreciated throughout the world.