Nazarköy, the Village of the Eye
2008
Directed by Marie-Dominique Nenna
Collection From Africa to India
For several generations in Kürüdere/Nazarköy, the Village of the Eye, some 30 km south-east of Izmir, many of the inhabitants have been specialists in the manufacture of beads bearing the image of the protective eye. In the six workshops scattered throughout the village the beadmakers sit around a communal furnace, melt down raw and recycled glass, add the necessary colours, and produce between 700 and 800 beads every day. The beads then make their way to the bazaars of Izmir and Istanbul, and are sold as far afield as Greece and Israel, where nowadays they unfortunately face competition from plastic beads.