Turkish paper marbling art on UNESCO cultural list

The Turkish art of paper marbling, known as Ebru, has been added to the United Nations’ world cultural heritage list.

Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik said Turkey applied to UNESCO for the art to be included in the cultural heritage list in March last year. “With the addition of Ebru art, Turkey is now represented on the list 12 times,” Çelik said. 

Turkey’s application file was among the first five submitted among a total of 46. 

Ebru is the art of creating colorful patterns by sprinkling and brushing color pigments onto a pan of oily water and then transferring the patterns to paper or fabric.

Lavash, a flatbread submitted by Armenia, has also been inscribed on UNESCO’s cultural heritage list.

Çelik criticized Armenia for aiming to make lavash known across the world as a specifically Armenian cultural specialty, although it is eaten in countries such as Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

He said lavash is a “shared culture of the region” and Armenia was not the only owner of this type of bread.

Last year, “Turkish Coffee Culture and Tradition” was added to the 10 other Turkish cultural specialties on the heritage list.