Hanefi Kirgız, Istanbul

A ney maker in Sultanahmet - 2007

In one of those very noisy streets of the old city, Hanefi Kırgız, artist with 1001 talents, works in his atelier distributed in three floors. One of them is dedicated to the making of the reed flute ney (and the lute rebab). Another, filled with carpets and portraits, welcomes his numerous disciples, members of the same sufi brotherhood, the well-knowned whirling dervishes of Istanbul (Mevlevi).

The ney is the symbol of the soul which is separated from the celestial world and wanders to unite itself to God. Image of the Perfect Being, the instrument embodies what the mystic wishes to become: "a transparent bark animated by the divine breath".