A show reel demonstrating the intricate art of Kaat’i (cut-out miniature relief) and painstaking process of paper marbling by Nurten Sisman set the ball rolling at the Marriott Hotel’s Turkish Cultural and Food Festival in Karachi, followed by a live demonstration of both the crafts.

According to the Turkish Cultural Foundation online: “Kaat’i is the art of stenciling intricate designs into leather or paper. For the last 700 years, Ottomans have used it to decorate the bindings of religious and philosophical texts. A nevregen, or a small, sharp knife is used to carve into the paper and the leather. The process of pasting is done with a mixture called cirisli muhallebi. This is a mixture of milk, rice flour and book binder’s paste. The surfaces on which the cut-outs are pasted are called male. Those surfaces on which the cut-outs are directly carved are called female.”

Afterwards, a nine-member music ensemble complimented the various moods of the vocalist who sang in his heavy, masculine voice with sweet-sounding lyrics and beautiful dramatic undertones.

Next up were the whirling dervishes performing to soft-sounding single-instrument music with soft vocals. They started pirouetting in an anti-clockwise direction after ceremoniously taking off their black cloaks. Wearing fez caps and gradually raising their arms above the head in a dedicational gesture, their long, voluminous tunics fell in graceful folds, held fast at the waist by a black sash. With religious undertones and at one with harmony, nature and the world around them, they seemed like drifting clouds as they silently twirled in divine, hushed ecstasy. The fingers of the right hand were lifted upwards as if in prayer while the left hand was kept palm down. They bowed in gratitude towards the end of performance before putting their cloaks back on as they left the stage in calculated moves.

The all-male dance troupe with hand-held wooden spoons, traditional garbs with colourful, woven broad sash with white silk shirts worn under black, short vests and high black leather boots with a head gear were highly reflective of their country’s young generation. Stubble and bearded young men with a brash attitude performed what seemed like a camp fire dance after enjoying a win in battle.

In various formations and in groups of two, the performers spelled out culture and tradition with their dance movements and actions. Familiar shades of western barn dance and Irish and Scottish influences seemed apparent here. All the while, the group held hands, emitting loudly audible sounds and exclamations. Finally they held up the flags of Pakistan and Turkey at the very end of the performance.