A PLEASANT VOICE…

Let your voice like David in this world,

What is left behind is a pleasant voice in this dome.

Even though more than 400 years have passed since the death of poet and statesman Baki, this couplet still creates a fresh breeze in our minds.

It is an immutable reality that no matter how long a person lives, death is the end. I think the chance of continuing to live in a way after death is possible with the beautiful works, beautiful works that one can leave for the future and a pleasant smile on the faces of those who know them when they talk about their memories.

In the years when I was new in the marble sector, even though I had experience and education in other sectors, I was in the position of being a “cadet” in the natural stone business. On the one hand, I was trying to learn the business, on the other hand, I was looking for resources in order to find the right information in a field that I was unfamiliar with, to find answers to my questions about what more could be done. There was a fundamental problem that I realized from those times. The sector had neither an archive, nor a school, nor a real culture of knowledge transfer.

Over the years, as I have listened to the experienced people of the sector, combined the knowledge I have passed through my own filter, and blended it with my own experiences, I think I have been able to reach a certain level of knowledge/experience in the sector in my own way. Unfortunately, this process takes years. Unfortunately, not every individual may have the chance to contact these beautiful people as much as I did. The lack of an archive and a school in the marble sector leads to the development not gaining the momentum it deserves in the transfer of development to the next generations.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a long enough life span to learn every possibility and every mistake by trying it ourselves. That’s why the lives and experiences of others are a blessing to use time efficiently.

I can easily say that when I listen to the reminiscences of the former members of the sector that I have not met before, I wish I could sit and chat with those people. Unfortunately, they are no longer alive and we no longer have that chance. There will undoubtedly be many people who will experience the same feeling over the years.

In our sector, where transmission is based on oral tradition, we set out with a new project to make progress and experience transfer permanent and widespread: Lives Written in Stone.

We acted with the idea of recording the stories and memories of our people who have held the tip of a stone somewhere and at some time on behalf of the sector, opened a horizon, pioneered in any market, at any business development point, and to transfer their experiences to the future, and we care about this project that can be permanently preserved on digital publishing platforms and can be a school for anyone who wants to access information. We took our first step with a conversation with İbrahim Alimoğlu, the president of the Aegean Exporters’ Association. Our first episode, which we made with an amateur spirit, was published on Youtube and we received very positive reactions. Our excitement increased to continue with new guests and new topics. Many people we told about our project brought different name suggestions to bring up in new episodes, thanks to them. The list is so long. I think we have a long way to go to tell the sector about the history of the sector.

Our greatest desire is that the publishing platform we have created will become the digital archive, school and undoubtedly the free pulpit where the problems of the sector are explained over time.

As Baki said:

Let your voice like David in this world,

What is left behind is a pleasant voice in this dome.