Ibrahim & Turkish mosaic lamp workshop

Ibrahim always wears a smile on his face while helping students make their Turkish lamps. He is always friendly and loves talking to people. This helps him realise the importance of the workshop - a place for cultural exchange. 

 

In 2010, Ibrahim’s father, who was doing business in Turkey, suggested Ibrahim study in Hong Kong. He considered Hong Kong a financial center and a gate to the Far East. With help from a friend, he studied engineering at PolyU. After he graduated, Ibrahim went back to Turkey and promoted Turkey tourism to other countries and he found business opportunities in Hong Kong. In 2016, Ibrahim started a business selling Turkish dried fruits to Hong Kong, however, the result was not satisfactory. Ibrahim and his partners wished  to promote Turkish culture and to celebrate various Near Eastern cultures, so they started the Mosaic Art Studio. They started Mosaic Art Studio, and conducted the first Turkish lamp workshop in 2019, Ibrahim and his partners started the first Turkish lamp workshop in Hong Kong, and they began selling Turkish Delight and charity bracelets made by Turkish women. This created a space for understanding Turkey in Hong Kong. 

 

Due to Covid, the workshop’s revenue decreased 95%, but Ibrahim said Turkish people are good at handling crises. They proved this with their actions: they came up with plans like DIY Turkish lamp sets, video lessons, minimizing the class size to fit government policy and hosting alternativet workshops such as Turkish coffee workshops, Ebru painting workshops to attract local customers... 

 

“People are afraid of everything they don’t know,” said Ibrahim. This is why he created his workshop, and held Kurdish and Azerbajiani cultural nights: to let Hong Kong people understand more about Turkey and Near Eastern cultures. Ibrahim and his friends also expanded the workshop to places like Taiwan, Holland, and Canada, in an effort to spread Turkish culture all over the world.