Tire rope master Raife Baysal keeps ancestral profession alive
66-year-old Raife Baysal, living in Tire, Izmir, carries the traditional rope-making craft she learned in her childhood into the future with bags and decorative products.
66-year-old Raife Baysal, one of the last representatives of traditional rope-making which is facing extinction in Izmir's Tire district, is passing down her ancestral profession, which she has maintained since the age of 13, into the future through modern designs and various decorative products.
A craft started in childhood
66-year-old Raife Baysal, living in Izmir's Tire district, is among the last representatives keeping traditional rope-making alive as it faces being forgotten.
Stepping up to the wheel when she was just 13 years old, Baysal has continued to keep this ancestral profession alive for years, having taken it over from her grandmother, uncles, and father.
Laborious production process
Rope production, which begins with natural fibers obtained from plant barks being beaten with sticks and passed through special combs, is turned into rope at the wheel.
Stating that this production done through traditional methods is quite laborious, the master emphasizes that the craft is a cultural heritage stretching from the past to the present.
Historical and strategic importance
She states that the ropes produced in Tire were used in the conquest of Istanbul in 1453 and that ships were hauled from land to sea using these ropes.
It is known that the ropes used during the War of Independence were also utilized in airplane fuselages, wings, textile, and paper production.
Continuing with modern designs
Although the usage area of traditional rope has narrowed with the spread of factory-made and imported products, Baysal changed her production approach.
Now preparing bags, hats, and decorative products, the master tries to make her craft a part of daily life.
Transmission to future generations
Stating that young people find it difficult to choose the profession because the craft is laborious, Raife Baysal also taught rope-making to her son.
Introducing the profession to students who visit her workshop, Baysal points out the importance of young people learning traditional production methods.