With the “Artık Sanat” (Now Art) project, in which toys made from waste materials are transformed into three-dimensional interpretations of world-famous artworks, children have the opportunity to learn art by touching and experiencing it.
Bringing together toys and works of art, the project both draws attention to sustainability and contributes to children’s artistic development.
Tuğba Çelebi, a faculty member at Ankara Music and Fine Arts University’s Department of Visual Arts Education, turned the works she began by making toys for her children into an academic project over time.
Developed together with her students as part of the children and art education courses she teaches at the university, the project focuses on enabling children to learn art not only theoretically but also by touching, playing and experiencing it.
Through the project, which is carried out via artistic toys produced from waste materials, it is aimed to establish a museum where art and toys are brought together and where children can interact with the works.
Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, Çelebi said the project emerged around 15 years ago, adding, “When I couldn’t find the toys I wanted while playing with my children at home, I started making artistic toys from leftover boxes at home.”
She noted that she erased the faces of dolls with acetone and painted figures such as Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí and Charlie Chaplin on them, adding that the process gradually evolved into something different.
Çelebi stated that these works both ensured the reuse of waste materials and contributed to children’s artistic development, adding that she got in touch with Sunay Akın after sharing her work on social media.
After she began teaching children and art education courses at the university, she said she carried the project onto an academic platform and started thinking about how art should be conveyed to children.
Within this scope, she said they conducted different practices, explaining that one group of children was taught artworks only through paper, while another group produced works by interacting with toys. Emphasizing the impact of experiential learning, Çelebi said, “It was once waste, now it has become ‘now art.’”
Goal is Toys of Art museum
Çelebi said they would take the project further following discussions with Sunay Akın, adding, “It has turned into a museum project called ‘Toys of Art,’ where we will embrace not only the children we teach but also everyone coming to Türkiye from around the world, allowing them to touch artworks. We will soon take action on this. That’s why we call it ‘now art.’”
Stating that they designed the project as a final assignment within the “children and art” courses together with students of the Department of Visual Arts Education at Ankara Music and Fine Arts University, Çelebi said, “We paid particular attention to ensuring that the materials used were waste. We preferred discarded, unused materials. We want to show what objects that children see as trash can turn into with an artistic touch. Sustainability is very important to us and we aim to achieve this through the project. That is why the name of the project is ‘now art.’”
Çelebi said the project reached wider audiences within the scope of the 12th ArtAnkara Contemporary Art Fair, adding that the fair is an important platform in terms of reaching children. “In our observations over two days, we think we have made good progress. Hopefully, we will reach many children and instill a love of art. That is our intention,” she said.
Famous paintings reinterpreted
Çelebi stated that important works from both Turkish and world art were reinterpreted in the project, saying, “Mona Lisa comes first among them. Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ is included. Salvador Dalí is included. It was really very difficult to transfer Henri Matisse’s painting, which we call abstract and which has a single surface, onto a three-dimensional plane. In this sense, animating single-surface paintings has been very valuable.”
Çelebi added that works such as “The Death of Marat” were also included in the project, pointing to the importance of children encountering the realities of life through artistic production.
She also said that Jan van Eyck’s “Arnolfini Portrait” was reinterpreted, emphasizing that it is important for students to choose and recreate works they feel close to. Çelebi noted that the works students produce with enthusiasm are reflected in children as well, adding that this approach strengthens artistic interaction.
