Hakan Çağan
Researcher, practitioner and educator in natural dyeing and traditional textile arts
Hakan Çağan is a researcher, practitioner and educator in natural dyeing and traditional textile arts. Born in 1981, he has focused the experience he gained in carpet, kilim and textile production on researching plant dyes, developing dye recipes and evaluating the resulting colours through fastness testing.
Since 2006 he has been trained in the natural dyeing tradition as the student and apprentice of Prof. Dr. Mustafa Genç. After an associate degree in carpet and kilim, he completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in Traditional Turkish Arts at Süleyman Demirel University; in his master's research he applied Mustafa Genç's recipes to silk fabrics and examined their colour fastness.
Managing wool scouring factories, textile design and carpet pattern design gave him first‑hand knowledge of every stage of production. Since 2022 his teaching and practical work at the İzmir Maturation Institute has brought traditional dyeing knowledge together with recorded recipes and laboratory measurements; 100 natural dye recipes have been developed in this work.
Author of peer‑reviewed articles on natural dye recipes for silk and on madder for cotton weaves, Çağan takes part in natural dyeing events in Türkiye and abroad and puts passing on the knowledge that leads from plant to colour at the heart of his work. In 2026 he was registered by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism as a Bearer of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Through Natural Dye he shares this experience in the form of carefully prepared natural dyestuffs for dyers and craft lovers.
Academic record (ORCID): 0000-0003-1431-5487
Education, Experience and Work
In chronological order, from 2006 to today.
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2006 · Associate degree
Afyon Kocatepe University · Dinar Vocational School
Carpet and Kilim programme.
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2006 · Master – apprentice
Student and apprentice of Prof. Dr. Mustafa Genç
Since 2006 he has been trained in the natural dyeing tradition alongside his teacher Prof. Dr. Mustafa Genç.
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2007 · Work
Factory Manager · Nazlım Kamer Wool Scouring Factory
Managing the scouring of wool and its preparation for dyeing.
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2009 · Work
Owner · Merinos Wool Scouring Factory
Founding and running his own wool scouring business.
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2011 · Work
Textile Design · Karaçetin Metal Plastik ve Tekstil San. Ltd. Şti.
Design work for textile products.
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2014 · Work
Carpet Pattern Designer · Atlantik İplik ve Halı San. Tic.
Designing carpet patterns and preparing them for production.
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2019 · Event · Qatar
Yunus Emre Institute Qatar — Katara Turkish Arts Showcase
Presentation and demonstration of natural dyeing.
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2020 · Bachelor's degree
Süleyman Demirel University · Faculty of Fine Arts
Department of Traditional Turkish Arts, Carpet, Kilim and Historic Fabric Patterns.
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2021 · Festival · Istanbul
22nd Istanbul Büyükçekmece Art Festival
Natural dyeing and eco‑print demonstrations.
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2022 · Master's degree
Süleyman Demirel University · Institute of Fine Arts
Traditional Turkish Arts. Thesis (supervisor İlker Öztürk): applying Mustafa Genç's recipes to silk fabrics and fastness testing; the recipes showed high wet and dry rubbing fastness.
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2022 · Article · with İlker Öztürk
Doğal Boyamada Mustafa Genç Ekolü ve Bazı Reçetelerinin İpekli Kumaşlarda Uygulanması ile Haslık Testlerinin Yapılması
(The Mustafa Genç school of natural dyeing: applying some of its recipes to silk fabrics and fastness testing.) International Journal of Social and Humanities Sciences Research (JSHSR), 9(86), 1653–1662. Read the article (DOI) ↗
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2022 – present · Instructor · İzmir
İzmir Maturation Institute
Applying and recording different recipes at the natural dye research and application centre. Durability, rubbing, water, heat and light fastness analyses in the Fastness Testing Laboratory.
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2024 · Article · with Şule Aydın
İzmir Olgunlaşma Enstitüsü’nde Dokunan Pamuklu Kumaşların Kökboya ile Boyanması ve Haslık Sonuçları
(Dyeing cotton fabrics woven at the İzmir Maturation Institute with madder, and fastness results.) Premium E‑Journal of Social Sciences (PEJOSS), 8(46), 1222–1228. Read the article (DOI) ↗
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2024 · Event
7th Turkic World Women and Fashion Week
Natural dyeing demonstrations.
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2025 · International symposium · Paper
“Anatolia’s Colours from Nature: The Dye of Roots” Symposium
Paper: an examination of the recipes applied under the theme “Anatolia’s Colours from Nature: The Dye of Roots”. He also exhibited his work at the symposium.
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2026 · Laboratory analysis
“Genç Black” — fastness and colour analyses
Rubbing‑fastness and colour evaluation of the samples for the study “A new method for obtaining black in madder dyeing: Genç Black”, at the Institute's Fastness Testing Laboratory.
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2026 · Scientific meeting
Edirne Red — Scientific Evaluation Meeting
Among the contributing experts.
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2026 · Cultural heritage
Bearer of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Registered as a Bearer of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Projects and Work
Projects to protect cultural heritage and to teach and spread natural dyeing.
- Project · Konya / Sarayönü
Madder – Lâdik Carpet Production and R&D Centre
A project to rebuild Lâdik carpet weaving and madder‑based natural dyeing knowledge with scientific methods: ethnobotanical identification of local dye plants, dyeing and documenting wool yarns with traditional recipes, and training new weavers through a master–apprentice model.
- Project · İzmir · Intangible cultural heritage
İzmir Maturation Institute — Teaching and Spreading Natural Dyeing
An inventory of natural dye sources in and around İzmir, a hands‑on training programme, setting up a dye workshop, sample product development, training materials, an exhibition and outreach.
- Project · İzmir · SOGEP
Weaving and Personal Development Training for Women
Under the Social Development Support Programme, 40 women completed flat‑weave and shuttle weaving courses and received certificates; a Physical Fabric Analysis Laboratory was established at the institute.
- Work · Istanbul
Dyeing the Carpet Yarns of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque
Dyeing the wool yarns used in the carpet of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) with madder and other natural dyestuffs.