Oyas: Women Who Knit Life by Basak Yirmibesoglu
This photo-journalism project aims to observe women’s non-verbal communication and personal history through the Turkish needle lace ‘oya’.
Oya reveals itself as an emotional expression, embodying the silent screams of women oppressed by the patriarchal society, voiced by Ayla Kutlu who is a writer and oya collector.
It is a feminist dedication to all the women who persistently knit their lives together, even when the entire world seems to be against them. It honors their unwavering strength, resilience, and determination in the face of adversity.
OYA
"Not only a fine lace art made using needle but a beauty item that is used in the daily life of women,
a social activity and,
emotional expression,
even when we say emotion
the most important things in life;
love,
separation,
hate,
having a child,
witnessing the good days. "
Ayla Kutlu
Nallıhan, 2023
Maggot Oya
“I don’t remember how old I was. This thing called time wasn’t that important for us. My grandkid would always ask which day I was born, but I lived without knowing my birthday. My mother would say you came when it was time for reaping. What I remember though, is that in time of harvest, they didn’t allow me to be with my beloved. When there was a feeling of impossibility in my heart, it would feel like maggots were chewing on its strings. What I could say, I would say it with making the oya, it would ease the pain of my heart.”
Sümbül, 84, Nallıhan
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Müşküle, 2023
“Before my grandmother died of Alzheimer, the only thing she remembered was the oyas she made and the things they made her feel. She collected it all for my dowry. As she left her oyas, she also left me her suffering, her grief, and her hopes as an inheritance. This legacy was my biggest dowry.”
Burcu, 36, Ankara, 2023
“When I was little, they said girls could only do handicrafts. My father only allowed me to make oyas. We used to sit down and make flowers, silencing the voice of our hearts and our dreams with oyas.”
Hatice, 45, Tavşanlı
Hatice and her daughter Didar, Tavşanlı, 2023
Tavşanlı, 2023
The Eggplant Flower Oya
“A woman would use eggplant flower oya only in three most important stages in her life: henna night, wedding, and the sunnah. But if it’s worn on other days, people would say it’s shameful. They would see it as it is too much if she wears the oya more than three times, which she made in the dowry with so much effort. But you see, I’m older now so I would say I’m not going to care what other people would think, I would wear it, I don’t care about anyone else.”
Neriman, 72, Müşküle
Neriman wears the eggplant flower oya, Müşküle, 2023
the eggplant flower oya
“I sold many oyas for so many years, knowing that all of it was the labor and the life of the women. In Nallıhan, in the old days before the bazaar was established, in order to buy supplies women would come and sell the things they made. As their oyas were sold, their appetites grew, they fed their families with this income.”
“My grandmother didn’t just leave me her flowery oyas, but also her lifetime struggles in a patriarchal society. When I’m carrying this oya, I always remember that I lean on the power I get from her, and I try to blossom like flowers. “
Bilge, 25, Ankara
