Cini is Turkish traditionally handmade, hand-glaze and ceramic tiles that feature motifs of animals, plants, and geometric patterns found commonly on the facades of buildings, and in homes all over Turkey.
Cini-making refers to the fabrication of traditional Turkish art known as çini since the 12th century. It has its own specific production and decoration techniques such as "minai", "luster", "polishing", and "under glazed".
Craftspeople have used the Cini underglaze technique since the 16th century in their products. According to the prescriptions, they prepare the glaze using their knowledge of nature and traditional production techniques. Clay is pulped in this process.
Cini, traditionally adorned with geometric shapes, plants, and animal figures that symbolize cosmic thoughts and beliefs, usually uses the primary colors red, cobalt blue, turquoise, or green against a white or navy blue background. A series of processes are involved in making çini. First, the clay is shaped, lined, dried, and fired in ovens designed to make çini. Traditionally, the outer contour of the patterns is hand-drawn.
The surface is then dyed with various colors, and then the work is glazed and fired. A cini-making workshop involves a craftsperson, a supervisor, and apprentices. They each perform a specific role - shaping, designing, dyeing, polishing, undercoating, or firing.
Cini making is considered to be an outlet for self-expression, development, and healing, as well as a means of preserving an aspect of Turkey's cultural identity, strengthening ties from the past to the present, and contributing to the continuity of the culture.
Cini making is not limited to a workshop space. It's practiced in the home, in public education centers, invocation schools, and in universities throughout the country, where ethnicity, age, or gender are not barriers to knowledge sharing, transmission, or skills development.
As çini has been used for healing for centuries, it has also been adorning public and religious buildings for thousands of years. It is used to enhance their public and religious facades. Not only is it an important part of the city identity of Kütahya, Iznik, and Canakkale, but it also gives personality to their symbolic buildings in Antalya, Konya, Kayseri, Sivas, and Istanbul.
These patterns have been creating a way to reflect world views, beliefs, lifestyles, perceptions, and feelings from past to present, using artistic and subliminal techniques. This is why çini-making plays a vital role in bringing the past and present together, and transmitting a sense of identity, continuity, and cultural continuity into the future.