The İmren Erşen Oya Museum holds the distinction of being the first museum in Turkey and in the world dedicated solely to the art of oya (lace/needlework). The museum was opened to visitors on June 3, 2022, in the historical Odunpazarı region of Eskişehir. Its founding purpose is to pass on the traditional handicraft of Anatolian women, oya, to future generations by preserving its cultural, aesthetic, and symbolic values.
Oyalı Yazmalar (Printed Scarves with Oya) (Eskişehir Büyükşehir Belediyesi)
Founder: İmren Erşen
Born in Berlin in 1939, İmren Erşen graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, in 1962. She worked at the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı) between 1963 and 1995; she continued her painting studies, which she began in 1967, with Eşref Üren, one of the important names in Turkish painting. Throughout her artistic life, she traveled Anatolia taking notes, conducted research in museums in different countries, and collected oya samples. This accumulation, spanning many years, formed the basis of the museum's collection.
Museum Building
The museum operates in a registered building known as the Sivrioğulları Konağı (Sivrioğulları Mansion). Although its construction date is not known precisely, it carries the characteristics of traditional Anatolian residential architecture from the late Ottoman period. The building has an adobe (kerpiç) infill and a wooden carcass (ahşap karkas) load-bearing system. It was restored in 2006 and 2011, and in 2016, it was organized as a museum by the decision of the Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Council.
On the entrance floor of the museum, there is a ticket office, cloakroom, conservation-restoration room, and gift shop. In its courtyard, there is an oak tree over a hundred years old and an old well. Due to the lack of wheelchair access, a touchscreen kiosk offering visitors a 360-Degree Virtual Tour facility is located on this floor.
Museum 1st Floor (İmren Erşen Oya Müzesi)
Collection and Exhibited Works
All of the oya exhibited in the museum consist of samples that İmren Erşen collected from different regions of Anatolia over approximately sixty years. There are nearly 8,500 works in the collection. More than 5,000 of these are needle lace (iğne oyaları) and beaded lace (boncuk oyaları), and the remainder consists of various ethnographic objects and handicraft products.
The exhibited works are considered not only as decorative items but also as cultural symbols reflecting the emotions, traditional lifestyle, sorrows, and joys of Anatolian women. Oya, as part of the Turkish dowry (çeyiz) tradition, has played an important role at turning points in social life such as birth, marriage, and death.
Paintings (Photo: Melahat Pamuk)
Exhibition Areas
The exhibition sections are located on the second and third floors of the museum. On each floor, there is a "central area" (orta alan) and three exhibition halls opening into this area. The oya are presented together with ethnographic materials to provide periodic integrity.
- Second Floor: Examples of reverse glass painting (cam altı) folk art are exhibited on the walls; in the showcases, there are needle-laced üfürük scarves (yazmalar), beaded lace, ceramic, and glass works.
- Third Floor: There are special thematic rooms reflecting Turkish family life. The "Bride's Room" (“Gelin Odası”) and "Circumcision Room" (“Sünnet Odası”) attract attention with their traditional domestic arrangements. In the "Room of the Three Graces" (“Üç Güzeller Odası”), examples of wedding dresses, local Eskişehir attire, and a bride's dowry (gelin çeyizi) are exhibited.
Meaning and Mission
The İmren Erşen Oya Museum aims to keep alive Anatolia's long and rich handicraft tradition, to document oya samples that are on the verge of being forgotten, and to present this artistic accumulation with a contemporary understanding. The museum continues to offer the richness expressed by the saying "Oya on Earth, Oya in the Sky" (“Yer, Gök Oya”) to the people of Eskişehir and all visitors.
