Sculpture Education at Inas Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi and Sculptors Who Studied There: Saime Rezan Ramiz Oker, Sabiha Bengutas & Nermin Faruki

Abstract

The article discusses the evolving process in late Ottoman society where women made some important achievements, especially in education, with Inas Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi's establishment in 1914 being a consequence of this. The article does not include this institution's process of merging with Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi Alisi (Academy of Fine Arts) or the developments that followed. After talking about the content regarding sculpture education in the school, the article discusses the artistic activities of Saime Rezan Ramiz Oker, Sabiha Bengutas, and Nermin Faruki in detail. This institution was established to allow women to receive art education and to train art teachers for secondary schools and mainly focused on painting. Part of the education at the school also involved a sculpture workshop led by Ihsan Ozsoy. This article attempts to determine the content of sculpture education in this school. Another objective of the article is to identify those active in sculpture who'd received education at the school. This article focuses on three of those who were more prominent in artistic production and activity. As a result of researching the archives, periodicals and resources, sculpture education is understood to have not been given separately in Inas Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi but to have taken place as a workshop. This workshop determined the names who would be active in the field of sculpture. The article aims to establish the roles and statuses in the art history literature of the artists whose activities were more prominent there.