/ 2017 / Fine Art / People_FA

The Artisans of Hakart

  • Photographer
    John Eaton, United States

HAKART

HAKART is an old-established family firm, in Istanbul,
Turkey. Originally founded in the early 1920’s in Nevsehir,
Cappadocia, by Dervis Ali Doyran, the grandfather of the
current managers, the business was moved to Istanbul by
his son, Mustafa Doyran, in 1965.

Hakart produces a wide range of new copper and brass
decorative items: housewares, garden furniture, table-
ware, and copper kitchen-ware. All its products are
handcrafted from solid copper and brass discs and plates
by specialized artisans using traditional processes, such as
hand-hammering and tin-plating.

Around 90 people are employed in the company, including
the highly-skilled coppersmiths, who started as apprentices
many years ago and now, with years of training and
experience, are today’s master craftsmen. Many of these
craftsmen are following in the footsteps of their fathers
(and their father’s fathers) – the future of Harkart depends
upon finding new apprentices who can become the artisans
of tomorrow.