Painting on Water

Hikmet Barutcugil may not walk on water, but he knows how to paint on it. Doha Alzohairy meets an artist who finds meaning in the swirls of ancient Ebru paper art.

Page 32
Q-News, Issue 358
December 2004

The Turk is hoping to revive the 15th century technique of ebru or paper marbling, a traditional Turkish and Islamic art, often described as painting on water.

The art form first came to Iran via the ancient “silk road” passing through Tashkent, Uzbekistan (historians believe it might have originated in China during the Tang dynasty in the 10th century) where it was initially called ebri, meaning “cloud”. Around the end of 16th century travelers coming to Turkey took this art to Europe where the final product was called “Turkish paper”.

Barutcugil, 52, discovered what is now called ebru, while he was still a student at the Industrial Art Department of the State Academy of Art in Istanbul in 1973. He had been encouraged by Calligraphy Professor Emin Barin, to take up marbling and became a self taught ebru artist. “When my teacher, the late Dr. Emin Barin first awakened in me the desire for marbling I thought that I would have to find a master to teach me but there were very few people who knew this mysterious art and even fewer who wished to share it. I became keener to learn it and decided to learn the art of marbling by trial and error”.

Thirty-one years after “falling in love with this secret beauty”, Barutcugil is considered one of the world’s leading ebru artists.

Since its introduction in Europe, ebru was used primarily for endpapers of books, within calligraphic panel, and as background or decorative fillers for the blank spaces left in the four corners of book pages. When the art form was adopted by Muslims, marbling became an important niche discipline in Islamic Art. Turkish artists attempted to express the Beauty of the Divine through the sinuous, graceful patterns of ebru paper.

“The principal materials used in marbling,” explains Barutcugil, “are: water which we make sticky by treating it with a natural gum called tragacath, natural dyes, gall bark, combs and other tools. We first plow the color on the surface with a paint brush or by adding drops of different colors then manipulating these drops by either swirling them together or cutting through them. After the design is finished and all the colors are sprinkled we lay a paper on the water and as soon as the paper touches the surface, the painting is finished then we can simply slid it off and leave it to dry.”

But Barutcugil has taken the art form further bringing it into the 20th century by applying new formats and colours and even using computer technology to pinpoint symmetry in odd shapes. “I applied the original technique of ebru to textile design and made long curtains - 8000 metres of cloth altogether - which were eventually sold to luxury hotels. I have also used calligraphy to add the holy names of Allah and the Basmallah on drawings,” he explains.

Barutcugil’s efforts are winning accolades around the world and are helping pave the way for a resurgence of the ancient art. “I believe that these art techniques are witnessing their renaissance; a lot of exhibitions  and conferences were held in different places in Europe, North America, India and the Muslim World and many people were really interested”, he says enthusiastically.

Is ebru a form of spiritual art? Listening to Barutcugil describe the art’s relevance to Islam, one would certainly think so. He believes the aim of Islamic art is to find the beauty of God. When he added several types of flower designs to his paintings, he seeks to relay sacred meanings: “Tulips signify God, roses signify the Prophet Muhammad because he used to love the smell of roses, and carnations represent spiritual purity.” 

The Turkish poet Nacip Fazil wrote that, “Art means to search for the Eternal Being, God. That’s the talent, the rest is nothing”. Hikmet Barutcugil plies his talent on the surface of water, searching for the Divine in the swirling colours of marble paper.