Press Release
Zilli Rug by Begum Karadag Receives the Bronze A' Design Award in Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design
The international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Begum Karadag of Buruz Design for cultural heritage and culture industry design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design category for Zilli Rug by Begum Karadag of Buruz Design. The recognition forms part of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About Zilli Rug
Zilli is a blend of traditional weaving with postmodern lines. The rug is hand-woven using Turkey's geographical indication weaving technique. The motifs were embroidered during weaving with the Cicim technique. It is not post processing. This is the most special detail that distinguishes weaving from others. The motifs also have geographical indications. We used five of these motifs in producing the Zilli rug. The names and journeys of these motifs are; horseshoe (union of lovers), dog paw (happiness, abundance), scorpion (protection from evil), clover (luck), cocklebur (abundance).
About Begum Karadag
Begum Karadag, the founder of Buruz, is an interior designer. The city where her father was born is home to a geographically indicated hand-woven art in Turkey. However, this unique weaving art was on the verge of extinction. Aiming to revive this art that had been forgotten in the depths of chests, Begüm Karadağ founded the brand Buruz, which means "to bring to light" in Old Turkish. Buruz Design brings a centuries-old art to the forefront while using sustainable materials. The wool yarns used in its products are dyed entirely with plants such as acorns and walnuts. The looms are made of oak and are not electric.
About Buruz Design
Founded and designed by Begum Karadag, Buruz's core activity is producing and marketing contemporary kilims, expertly blending traditional Turkish weaving techniques (especially Tekirdag Karacakilavuz Weaving) with modern designs.
Award Record
Begum Karadag of Buruz Design is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards were granted in the 2024 - 2025 edition of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design Award
The A' Cultural Heritage Design Award is an international design competition recognizing good designs that preserve, protect, and promote cultural heritage. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to cultural heritage designers, culture industry professionals, cultural heritage specialists and museum designers from all countries. Typical entries include cultural heritage projects, cultural conversation, preservation and restoration and protection projects. The awarded cultural heritage designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/cultural-heritage
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/165390
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/165390
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!165390
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/359965
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://buruz.com.tr/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Zilli Rug
- Function
- Rug
- Category
- Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Arts and Social Impact
- Colors
- Light Gray, Silver, Dark Gray, Dim Gray and Gray
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Begum Karadag
- Country
- Turkiye
- Brand
- Buruz Design
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #165390
Credits
- Image Credits
- The photos in pdf format were taken by Begum Karadag. The other photos were taken by Tekirdag Municipality press officers.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Zilli is a blend of traditional weaving with postmodern lines. The rug is hand-woven using Turkey's geographically marked Karacakilavuz Weaving Technique. It has geographically marked motifs with five different meanings. The motifs were embroidered during weaving with the Cicim Technique, which is not considered as a post processing. This is the most important aspect that distinguishes this weaving technique from others.
- Inspiration
- This weaving technique dates back centuries. Its name is Karacakilavuz Weaving Technique and it is unique to Tekirdag/Turkey and geographically marked. However, not all Karacakilavuz Weavings have survived to the present day. Zilli aims to revive this lost weaving technique from its ashes. With this design, a completely different interpretation has been brought by using exactly the same weaving technique and motifs. The motifs on it describe fertility and the bitter and sweet aspects of life.
- Research
- We learned from the locals about the history of the weaving technique with geographical indication mark. We took old weavings that were used hundreds of years ago in the village and could not be preserved in good conditions from the houses. In this way, we also closely examined how the weaving technique was used in the past. We have measured dimensions of yarn's arrangement and placements of the threads at each pedal stages. Then we have recreated the weaving based on our measurements.
- Challenge
- This design is far from the usual traditional lines while bringing this first innovation with preserving the traditional technique and motifs. In traditional, the motifs had an intricate structure and all motifs were evaluated separately. Their stories are individual but they whisper a story in general. At the same time, its production required precision. It made difficult for our team who had never worked with milimeters before. However it gave people pleasure with its colors and patterns, it began to be known in the workshop as '' Zilli '', a somewhat a joyful name, this gave the rug.
- Realization and Technology
- The production was made with the Karacakilavuz Weaving technique and produced in Tekirdag province of Turkey. Weaving is done on four-pedal and four texsolv heddles oak looms. The ground of the weave is twill weaving, motifs are processed with the Cicim Technique during the weaving. The wool is colored entirely with vegetable dyes and natural undyed cotton warp thread was used in its warp. Three weaving pieces are produced separately and hand-embroidered using the crochet stitches. Back side cleaning process is done with a crochet hook and scissors. Three wings are joined together asymmetrically with a knitted wool chain.
- Operation and Interaction
- The product is designed as a floor rug. It is produced in Buruz's workshop in approximately one month, using completely environmentally sustainable materials. The sale and promotion of the product is made on Buruz's website or other sales points. Since it is a custom made product, it can only be produced as a limited edition. Due to its production feature, it is not a mass production item. The rugs production can be organized upon the order.
- Project Duration and Location
- Karacakilavuz Weaving Technique, which is the core technique of weaving the product, belongs to the Tekirdag province of Turkey. It is only allowed to be produced only in Tekirdag. For this reason, the production of the rug was made in Buruz's own workshop in Tekirdag province of Turkey. Buruz's workshop is the first production workshop opened in Turkey, providing sustainable women employment for Karacakilavuz Weaving. The production period takes approximately one month (the stage of dyeing the ropes with plants is not taken into account).
- Specifications
- Width 240 cm x Depth 280 cm x Height 1 cm. Since the product is handmade, these dimensions may change each time a production is completed. It is also possible to produce in different sizes. Package size is 80cmx40cmx60cm.
- Keywords
- artisan, craft, rug, design, anatolian, woman, natural dye, sustainable
