Ark of Crafts is your online destination to discover the magnificent art and crafts from the culturally rich Anatolian region (Turkey),

home to many civilizations for thousands of years.

We are representing the selective works of highly regarded artists and craftsmen with the motivation to open them to new

markets. We are traveling all around Anatolia to connect the artisans preserving the ancient crafts, the talented young

artists blending traditional and contemporary, and works of women NGO’s.

Our reason for being is to bring you these special people, their unique and high quality  

products designed and produced by hand with ultimate care and the authentic stories.

For you it will be an exotic journey, an authentic meeting with the artisan who created

the beautiful piece with love and the feeling of supporting the artisans in Turkey.

We work with fair trade principles. We purchase the products directly from the artists

and craftsmen or NGO’s at their asking price. The final retail price covers the cost of

transfer, warehousing, packaging, marketing, customer service,

sales and shipping. We reinvest the profit to develop new artisans network,

sourcing new products and to build new markets and partnerships all around the world.

Since our launch we have been featured in the most upscale periodicals for foreigners; The Guide İstanbul,

Cornucopia Magazine, Time Out İstanbul.

Partners:

We are supporting Anatolian Artisans, a non-profit organization based in Washington DC working to provide

sustainable economic benefits for low-income artisans of Turkey.  We are serving as their on-line shop. www.anatolianartisans.org

We build the Turkey region at www.globein.com

A selection of our collection is presented at www.cornucopia.net

You can also find us at:

Adahan Istanbul Otel-Şişhane, Beyoğlu Istanbul (www.adahanistanbul.com)

Asmalı Mescit Mah. General Yazgan st. No:14 Beyoğlu / Istanbul

Tel: +90 212 243 85 81

WE ARE

• 

• Nilüfer Şener, Founder

  Nilüfer admires Anatolia, the arts and crafts rooted from the rich culture, and the artisanal designers keeping these arts alive with love. 

  More than 20 years of managerial position in banking, insurance, internet sector, the founding partner of Urban Bug the pioneer of entertainment sector in the early 2000s in Istanbul, a volunteer of Doctors Without Borders and lately the general coordinator of one of the biggest NGO of Turkey, CYDD and the general manager of shopigo.com. Now she gives all her energy to arkofcrafts.com with love. Nilufer holds a B.A. in Economics from the Bosphorus University, Istanbul.

• 

• Çiğdem Toraman, Founder

  Ark of Crafts founder Çiğdem is one of the top experts on technology, internet, digital media, finance and commerce in Turkey. She has consistently played leading roles in her career of 25 years, which include building the electronic trading system for Borsa Istanbul in early 1990s, managing all of the research and development activities of Karma International in the second half of 1990s, a 10 year period in Doğan Holding, with positions including Group Director responsible for Media Sales, Marketing and Technology in Doğan Gazetecilik and later the General Manager of a private shopping site. After managing the country-wide operations of the a global personalization technology company in 2012-2013, she started her own business in digital media and e-commerce. Today, Europe's largest accelerator Startupbootcamp Istanbul Managing Partner Çiğdem, also supports many initiatives as an investor, consultant and mentor.