Dürdane Ünver

Dürdane Ünver was born in Eskişehir in 1948. She graduated from the Faculty of Communication at Istanbul University. In 1976, she started learning illumination art (Tezhip) from Prof. Dr. A. Süheyl Ünver, Azade Akar and Cahide Keskiner at the workshop of Topkapı Palace Museum. She obtained a professional license in illumination art from the master and her father-in-low Prof. Dr. Süheyl Ünver in 1985. Since 1978, she has had four solo exhibitions and has participated in more than 65 group exhibitions. Her works can be seen in various private collections in Turkey and abroad. Since 1990, Ünver has been awarded many prizes for her works. In 1991, she won an award of merit in a miniature painting competition, which was organized by the Turkish Culture Service Foundation. In the same year, she received second prize in the 1991 Yunus Emre Turkish Miniature Competition, which was organized by the Eskişehir Governorship.  Since 1999, Ünver has drawn miniatures using the techniques of paper cutting (Katı) and marbling (Ebru). Currently, she continues to work at the Süheyl Ünver Workshop within the Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine at Istanbul University. She also teaches in the Traditional Turkish Arts Education Center at the Department of TBMM National Palaces and the Classical Turkish Arts Foundation, and Tuğra Art Gallery.

Reference: klasikturksanatlarivakfi.com, turkislamsanatlari.com, istanbulunustalari.com, İstanbul’un Ustaları (Istanbul: İstanbul 2010 Avrupa Kültür Başkenti, 2010), p.112.