The Bursa Metropolitan Municipality has reinstated the manufacturing of the Historical Bursa silk, thanks to the hand looms installed by the Municipality special fabric and carpets are being woven. The awesome gloss of Bursa silk woven at special plants by many handicraft women is ready to be showcased to the world.
Bursa has been for centuries the most significant fabric center as it is located en route of the Silk Road that runs across from China to Europe and now with its silk worm, cocoon and hand woven manufacturing Bursa shall be once again showcased worldwide. The Bursa Metropolitan Municipality has instigated the establishment of special mulberry groves destined to feed insects in the mountainous region as well as hand looms for weaving, thereby 250 people have been employed in this regard in order to manufacture once again the one of a kind Bursa fabric which is known as silk fabric. Thanks to the endeavors of the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, the Bursa silk fabric shall once again be in the limelight worldwide. With the historical Bursa silk having once again sprung to life, the carpet woven by women in the villages are awe inspiring. In scope of the project initiated in terms of bringing back to life of Bursa silk, various weaving training centers have been opened in Büyükorhan, Harmancık, Keles, Büyükorhan, İnegöl and Mustafakemalpaşa quarters whereby carpets are being w oven u nder t he brand name ‘Hüdavendigar’, under this brand the woven carpets have made their way into the retails stores. Approximately 600 years ago the outfits of kings used to be manufactured with Bursa silk, Bursa was known as todays Milano in terms of being the center of luxurious garment industry. Whereas outfits and carpets used to be exported all over the world free of customs taxes, due to the fact that the industry could not keep up with industrialization in 1976 this industry began to fade away. The Bursa Metropolitan Municipality has brought back to life the matchless Bursa silk following the establishment of special mulberry gro ves destined to feed insects in the mountainous region as well as hand looms for weaving. Around 250 people have been employed in this industry, following which silk fabric and hand woven carpets have once again attracted worldwide attention. The Bursa Metropolitan Municipality has launched two plants that previously belonged to Ete Family, namely, Umurbey İpek Üretim ve Tasarım Merkezi (Production and Design Center) located at Yıldırım district and Muradiye İpek Fabrikası (Muradiye Silk Plant), and now it is counting the days until the day Bursa silk has established its name in golden letters. According to the Mayor of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mr. Recep Altepe, the world shall once again appreciate with envy the products manufactured from silk of Bursa and added that Bursa is a city born from the accumulation of culture and civilizations. Altepe continued, “Bursa apart from being an accumulation in this sense, it is also a city of manufacturing. We are endeavoring to bring out these features of Bursa. On the one hand substantial works are being regenerated and on the other hand we are trying to bring back to life once again our earlier production industry. As is true for all other subjects, Bursa is leading the way in this regard too. Now Bursa is on its way towards becoming a world brand in every field. One of these brands shall be the most talked about Bursa silk” he concluded.
According to Altepe, the Bursa silk to be born again from its cocoon is matchless, no identical silk exists anywhere in the world and he continued, “At the start we thought that silk was similar all over the world. However, as we delved deeper in the matter we discovered that Bursa silk is worlds apart from its counterparts in the world. Just as the peaches of Bursa are distinct so is t he silk of Bursa. When we bring side to side Bursa silk and the others, the distinction can be made by comparing especially the color and the gloss of our silk to that of the others. This is the reason why for centuries people talked about Bursa silk. Garments made from Bursa silk were worn in European palaces. For hundreds of years they were willing to pay customs taxes just so that they could obtain Bursa silk” he said.. Mayor Aktepe stated that Bursa silk has faced difficult times due the production of artificial silk particularly in the Far East, he said, “Earning money has become a difficult thing. S ericulture almost came to near extinction. And we therefore wished to enliven again this industry. We thereby provided the required support for those once again interested in growing cocoons here and in the villages. We brought back to life production in every field. Around 6 tons of cocoons are being transformed into silk at the spinning plant located at Muradiye Demirkapı region. Afterwards we purchased the silk design center which had been left dilapidated and now silk is being processed here. The said center established in the year 1800, is once again functioning in such a short period of time after having purchased it.” he said. Recep Altepe underlined the importance of having established cocoon and silk weaving looms in various regions and village of Bursa. “Both carpets and outfits are being designed in this center. For the time being very special souvenir products are being manufactured destined for visitors of Bursa. Later on, the other plants situated in the city center and left idle and neglected due to lack of care shall be revived and machine park shall be installed in these plants, the aforementioned support work shall be speeded up in this regard which will enable us to offer Bursa silk to the world once again” he concluded.
