As in previous years, the Turkish Ceramics Promotion Group carried out various activities to promote the Turkish ceramics sector during the International Exhibition of Ceramic Tiles and Bathroom Furnishings, Cersaie 2011. This year the event was held from 20-24 September and 19 Turkish ceramics companies also participated as exhibitors.

With the aim of raising awareness of the concert organised by Turkish Ceramics Promotion Group, a press conference was held on 21st September in Piazza Maggiore. In the press conference Bahadır Kayan, the Chairman of the Turkish Ceramics Promotion Group, the gave a presentation that featured a general overview of Turkish ceramics sector industry, the growth in Turkish ceramics exportation, the recent trends in the sector and as well as the recent events and projects of Turkishceramics.

On September 21st, Turkish Ceramics Promotion Group offered musical entertainment to the city of Bologna. Having presented “Hüsnü Şenlendirici Ensemble” last year at Cersaie, this year featured another show with the ‘Burhan Öçal and Trakya All Stars’ band. Burhan Öçal, recognized as a worldwide virtuosio percussionist, has made the bridging of musical cultures his central mission. After his first contact with Western music, he became interested in combining other genres and cultural traditions, such as jazz and Western classical music, with his own. Having performed several concerts across the globe, Burhan Öçal returned home for the “most personal” project of his life: Trakya All Stars. This is a highly special project where Öçal collaborates with master musicians from the Thrace region, paying tribute to the musical heritage of his birthplace, Kırklareli in Turkey. Öçal summarizes his responsibility: “The essential core of these traditions has been preserved over the centuries like precious stones. Now we have to take advantage of the limitless possibilities of digital technology to present their true spirit to today’s listeners so that they can continue for generations ahead.”

While Burhan Öçal is undertaking the responsibility of promoting this traditional Thrace music, Turkishceramics promotes Turkish ceramic traditions developed by different civilizations over 8000 years. By investing in new technologies, Turkish ceramic companies have achieved special projects all over the world, including Paris and Barcelona Subway renovations.

In addition to these global achievements, the statistics show that the Turkish ceramic industry continues to increase its exports and market share in 2010. When compared to 2009, tile exports of Turkey rose to 460 million US dollars in 2010. According to the 2010 statistics in value terms, Turkey’s exportation of sanitary ware products reached 160 million US dollars.

The following Turkishceramics companies also participated in Cersaie 2011:

AKGÜN Ceramics, BIEN Ceramics,KALE, Kalebodur, Kalevit, EGE Ceramics - Sanitaryware, GRANISER Ceramics, GÜRAL Sanitaryware, HİTİT Ceramics, KÜTAHYA Ceramics, SERAMİKSAN, SERANIT, SERAPOOL, SÖĞÜTSEN Ceramics, TERMAL Ceramics, UŞAK Ceramics, VITRA – VITRA Tiles