“atlas”, a design project centering on Harran, was exhibited during the “25 Hours Design” event of Stockholm Design Week, which was held in February. In the scope of atlas, a design collection translating the culture and aesthetics of Mesopotamia into present day, women living in Harran created products that were previously developed by designers. The multi-layered civilizations along the axis of Harran and Mesopotamian culture, which date back 8,000 years, are tackled as the main references of the project. Throughout the history, these civilizations have been renowned for the social interactions created by their daily rituals, along with their contributions to architecture, astronomy, mathematics, geometry and belief systems. In the frame of atlas, designers have developed a collection that translates these references into present day. Comprising home and wall textile, desktop and accessory products, atlas brings together a product family that carries Mesopotamian teachings to our time and supports local production. atlas aims to integrate the developments in the global design scene with social awareness and sustainable design economy. Launched in 2017 under the leadership of Harran District Governor Ömer Faruk Çelik and realized with the initiatives of Family Support Center (ADEM) of the District Governorship of Harran, the project supports social transformation and developments by ensuring the social inclusion of women. atlas is grounded on a model that supports both women from Harran and Syrian refugee women, in order for them to gain economic freedom by actively taking part in the production center of wood, felt, ceramics and weaving studios found in the body of Family Support Center of the District Governorship of Harran. In the scope of the project, the designs developed by designers from Turkey, including Aslı Smith, Barış Gün, Begüm Cana Özgür, DAY Studio, INCOMPLIT and Şule Koç, have culminated in a product collection, which was curated by Bilgen Coşkun and Dilek Öztürk, the founders of IN-BETWEEN Design Platform. It was prioritized for all the products featured in the collection to have the adequate quality and austerity that would allow for studio productions and to respond to current consumber habits, in order to introduce a sustainable workflow to the initiative of women living in Harran generating revenue from sales. The atlas design collection is based on a democratic approach that brings together professionals from different fields so as to create the project’s framework in a collective manner. Therefore, in order to actively contribute to the project process, the collection called for organizing a committee consisting of academicians, experts from the field of archaeology and entrepreneurs working in creative fields. This committee includes Ömer Faruk Çelik, the District Governor of Harran, Asst. Prof. Veli Şafak Uysal, the Associate Dean of Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Architecture, Prof. Mehmet Önal (PhD), Archaeologist and Coordinator of Harran Excavation Site, and Cevahir Asuman Yazmacı, the Founder and Chair of Şanlıurfa Entreprising Businesswomen Association.
