HRAC ARSLANYAN

He was born in 1965 in Istanbul. In 1975 he was introduced with traditional jewellery art at the workshop in Zincirlihan with his uncle Hagop Arslanyan.
Until he completed his high school education, he continued his training in jewellery in the workshop of Hagop Arslanyan.

In 1985 he participated in educations at Vienna, Cologne, Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris on jewellery techniques. After he returned to Turkey, he opened his own workshop. In his workshop in Cağaloğlu, he started to produce tailor made ornaments by blending the Eastern and Western cultures.

He brought together the centuries old ceramics/porcelain tradition with the art of “murassa” (bejewelled) peculiar to Ottomans by being inspired from the artworks at the Topkapı Palace. He became one of the leading “murassa” masters in the craft.

In 2008, in order to sustain jewellery art and to convey the Grand Bazaar jewellery tradition to the young generations and to build bridges among generations, he established Mahrec Sanatevi (Mahrec Art House) together with the Istanbul Chamber of Jewellery. Up to today Mahrec Sanatevi hosting hundreds of domestic and foreign students who are candidates of design and jewellery art, has become a training centre acknowledged at national and international scale.