Garip Ay Dance of Colors

The Dance of Colors is a performance centered on the work of visual artist Garip Ay, a master of the historical technique of ebru, a kind of painting on water otherwise known as marbling.

The art of ebru has a great tradition, with origins in Central Asia, and it flourished immensely during the Ottoman Empire. The word ebru is associated with the Persian word for “cloud.” As Garip Ay himself explains, “ebru is the process of applying natural pigments to the surface of water and then manipulating these pigments to form patterns or images which can then be transferred directly onto a piece of paper.”

One of his recent projects, which caused a sensation and became viral worldwide, was his reproduction of Van Gogh paintings using the ebru technique. At the Summer Nostos Festival, he will accompany his work with music, dancing, and screenings.