Recep Keles

I come from a nomadic family who settled down in the city of Antalya after the second world war back in 1950s. My ancestors lived in this wonderful Mediterranean city until 1970s. That was the time my family moved to Istanbul. I am the first member of our family who wasn't born as a nomad but a member of a big city. My family raised me as modern as I could be but carved in my soul our past, our culture and our tradition as a nomad. They pushed me to study and become a modern citizen of a modern civilization but they made sure that I know where we come from and our culture. I grew up in my father's workshop and in school. No matter where I went, I always returned to our workshop where our tradition was kept alive in the form of rugs, kilims, carpets and runners.