On the Artist Farm

Türkiye’ye hoşgeldiniz

The first problem we have to face after crossing the border: the gas bottles here are different. And the ones we bought in Morocco don't work at all. Not exactly ideal... We drive south via the Gelibolu peninsula and park our van at a restaurant. It is called Boomerang - for many travellers it is apparently the first and last stop through Turkey.

There Luca takes on the challenge to fill our gas - successfully! Instead of 2kg, we now have an 11kg bottle installed, with some dizzy seals. But it holds and we can cook without worrying for the next few months. He is also having torn clothes repaired by a seamstress and our Omnia stove - which we ran over a few days ago - straightened by a blacksmith. While we are still enthusiastically admiring the metal, an old man in a sailor's cap approaches us. He speaks German - even Swiss German - and finds the greatest pleasure in our number plate, because he worked in Altstätten from the 70s until the 90s. Today he is back in Turkey, runs three hotels and invites us for a beer.

Because we have such good memories of our workaway experiences in Morocco, we decided to get to know Turkey that way too. We wrote to various hosts and got an answer from Mustafa very quickly. Our next destination for the next few days will be his home near Ezine.

Sarpdere Atölye

On 10th of May 2022, exactly 6 months after starting our journey, we arrive (after only one unplanned detour!) at Mustafa and Filiz's home. Shahrzad - an Iranian workawayer who has lived in Istanbul for a few years - is also here. Through her, we get our first glimpse of Iran... and why she never wants to return. It feels strange planning to travel to a country others are fleeing from.

It is not the first time we are facing this thought. Even in Morocco this awareness showed itself again and again, our own privileges became obvious and very clear. How easy it is for us to cross national borders, to move freely, how self-evident it all seems, how we almost consider it impertinent when we have to apply for a visa - which we will most likely be granted without any problems. Simply because we were born on the side of a red line that makes it possible. It always makes us think a lot about the reality we live in.

Back to our stay. Our hosts are both over 60 and met 40 years ago at university in Istanbul. At that time they had studied architecture and spent many years in offices. At 50, they decided to change their lives. They bought a piece of land in the mountains. They built their house from scratch. Piece by piece it grew and consists, among other things, of two kitchens and a whole, lovingly ordered and labelled library. However, we spend most of our time outside on the terrace, overlooking the garden. Besides the frogs in the pond, you can hear the chickens clucking further back and the crickets chirping in the tall grass. There is also an other building, which Mustafa uses as a workshop work with wood and to give space to his artistic existence.

Kunst, Küche und Kultur

The first tasks are the same as always: cutting grass, weeding, removing caterpillars... just general gardening. We work in the morning and in the evening. The sun doesn't allow other working hours. With Filiz we really learn to use everything. If it's possible, she makes everything herself, whether tea, bread, jams, or all kinds of spreads. She even makes cheese and yoghurt from the neighbours' sheep's milk. When Luca wants to bake a "Swiss Sunday plait", we can visit them and he can milk the milk he needs from the cows. It is a small farm with only a few cows, but here, too, the industry behind animal products cannot be overlooked.

I am not making a vegan post now. Everyone can inform themselves. I just want to mention that rural romance is simply not true, even in remote areas...

Mustafa is an artist and a philosopher, always has been, actually. This is visible in every room. His paintings hang next to the incredibly full library, which also contains his own volumes of poetry. We find wooden artworks everywhere - be they spoons and bowls in the kitchen, or vases, sculptures and the picture frames of his artworks. Filiz is an artist of the kitchen, empathy and glass. Over the last few years, she has learned to create works of art with glass and is happy to show us how it is done.

our turkish home

Working with the two of them feels much more like being welcomed into another family. We help each other, prepare all meals together and drink a lot of tea. Despite language barriers, we understand each other and manage to discuss even more complicated topics. This is also how we learn that Mustafa is planning to make an "Artists in Residence" out of his home. Of course we want to support this.

But how? Can you guess it? Of course - by making a video . After 3 days of filming, editing and interview discussions, the final video is ready.

In total, we spend almost 2 weeks with them. We get to know the whole neighbourhood (ok, there are only 3 other families in the whole village). They take us on excursions: to Canakkale to explore the city, to the sea, to a bazaar. In the wood workshop we also carve our own wooden spoons, in the kitchen we learn how to make our own cheese and from the garden we get fresh salad every evening. At night we learn a little Turkish, especially words that describe food... and numbers.

As we set off again, we feel ready for the rest of Turkey. We are still in the West, which is very European. We are curious to see how diverse this country really is, as we have been told so much and learned so much in the last few days that it is time to have our own experiences.