I had seen beautiful examples of the art of paper cutting in a museum in the Netherlands but I did not know that Ottomans were also fascinated with paper cutting similar to the aristocrats of western empires. This art form which had originated in ancient China lured Ottoman elites for centuries.
İstanbul Arts and Crafts Center in Sultanahmet that was established by Çelik Gülersoy
I came across examples of the art of paper cutting which Ottomans called kat’ı when I visited the İstanbul Arts and Crafts Center in İstanbul which unfortunately closed down in 2024.
Fisun Onomay
That is where I met the kat’ı artist Fisun Onomay and I simply fell in love with the pieces of kat’ı art she created. I want you to look at the wonderful pieces of kat’ı Onomay has created.
Onomay is an architecture by training and she has been creating kat’ı art pieces for a very long time. She is an artist that improvises with traditional examples of kat’ı that we have inherited from Ottoman artists. She also creates pieces based solely on her own imagination. She draws her inspiration from nature, history and folk culture and plays beautifully with colours and adds in intricate details to her kat’ı pieces to make them richer and more vibrant.
You should definitely see her pieces up close. Then you will be amazed by the layers of details that make one piece. Here is a brief video that shows you the journey of kat’ı making by the artist.
Here is a selection of her work taken from her website https://onomayart.com/
Fisun Onomay has been awarded for her creativity throughout the years and is actively producing in her atelier located on the top floor of Bilgin’s in Sultanahmet (https://bilgins.com.tr/).
Also make sure to visit her instagram page https://www.instagram.com/fisunonomay/ and visit her in her atelier!
