Conversion of the traditional Turkısh shadow play Karagöz to ceramic art forms by using in plastic applications

The shadow play is considered to be transferred to Anatolia, which was under the rule the Ottoman Empire then, from Egypt in the 16th century; it was reshaped with the Turkish cultural resources and named ?Karagöz? as known among the general public in the 17th century. Karagöz is an irreplaceable comedy type in the Turkish public theater tradition, and through its character variety it reflects the cosmopolite structure and so the tolerance of the Ottoman society.Turkish Republic has carried out studies to keep Karagöz, the traditional Turkish Shadow Play, alive and hand it down to the next generations. In this respect, the ?Karagöz? national file and ?Aşıklık Tradition?, presented by Turkey before the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in 2009, were inscribed as an element on the "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" in the same year.The objectives of this study are to draw attention to Karagöz, contribute to its introduction in international platforms and raise awareness for the value of Karagöz in Turkish culture beyond its traditional value. One other objective of this thesis is to try to convert the original visual structure of Karagöz to ceramic art forms by using the rich technique and color options of ceramics, which is a quite different art discipline from the shadow play, in plastic applications; hence, to create a new subject field in the ceramic-based art such as tile and miniature, by inserting Karagöz.