Artisans from China and Turkey present crafts in Istanbul

ISTANBUL－Turkish and Chinese inheritors of traditional culture gathered in Istanbul on Friday to exchange and display each other's intangible cultural heritage.

Zhou Qing, deputy head of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China's Sichuan provincial committee and head of the Sichuan press and publication bureau, says the intangible cultural heritage exchange was held to help cultural items overcome the barriers of language and cultural differences, and resonate with people in both China and Turkey.

Among Chinese items on display were Sichuan embroidery and silk brocade, Chengdu lacquer ware, woven bamboo items with porcelain inside, paper-cuts, Tibetan Buddhist thangka painting and Nanping pipa (traditional lutes).

Yang Longmei, an inheritor of bamboo-weaving from Sichuan's Daoming town, was busy making bamboo rings for female visitors.

Yin Liping, a master of Chengdu lacquer ware, says she did not expect the Turks to show "such love and curiosity" toward China's traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage. She says she felt very "excited "and knew she has been doing a worthwhile job.

Turkish artists presented the art of marbling, or ebru, wooden-relief carvings, filigrees, point-lace pieces and paper-cuts.

Filiz Li, who's of Chinese origin, is the only non-Turkish inheritor of ebru, an ancient art form usually described as "painting on water".She has been learning the art for the past 12 years since she moved to Istanbul. She did her apprenticeship in 2014, the year ebru was added to UNESCO's intangible culture list.

Turkish artist Hatice Adiyaman says wooden-relief carving is "now close to being extinct".

"I'm doing everything possible to ensure that this branch of art lives and is passed on to future generations," she says.

Yusuf Kochan, deputy chairman of the municipal council of Maltepe district, where the exchange was held, calls culture "the most important factor in the development of relations between two countries".

"The rapprochement of the peoples of two countries expands cooperation in many areas," he says.

"The women of the two countries gathered here today to further contribute to the good relations between Turkey and China."