Yilmaz, the owner of the Hi Jazz bar in Kaş, and Necat, the owner of Kaş Camping, have got together with a few other interested people to create an exciting project. In the village of Izne, up in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean coastline at Kaş they are renovating an old schoolhouse to create a centre with workshops and studios for artisans and artists to work and teach their skills.
Set amongst mature almond and fig trees this project will surely be one of a kind.
Izne village is very small and many people have moved away to work in tourist hot spots but some of the local men who stayed are working on the school and some remember being taught there forty or fifty years ago. They feel as though they are helping to bring the village back to life.
Yilmaz says “The aim is for it to be a centre where we can show the crafts and arts of Turkish village life. It will also be a place where visitors to Turkey will be able to get away from the tourist areas for a few hours to experience a real Turkish village and see beautiful and interesting arts and crafts. Visitors will be able to buy some of the things created here and local women will cook traditional dishes to feed everyone.”
It is an ambitious project but the partners have taken a lease on the school for twenty years and are determined to make it succeed. Accommodation will be available eventually.
Work is going on to make new floors, prepare for the installation of new windows and doors and repair the walls. Wherever possible existing features such as the cedar ceilings and sixty year old blackboard are being retained.
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