Niyazi Sayın Remembered at AKM as a Museum Is Planned

Turkey has remembered the ney master Niyazi Sayın one year after his death. On the evening of 8 October, a commemoration at Istanbul’s Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) combined music, memories and an exhibition. Organisers also spoke about a planned museum in his honour.

Sayın was born in Üsküdar on 12 February 1927 and died in Istanbul at the age of 98. He is widely known as a leading figure of the ney, the end-blown reed flute central to Turkish classical and Sufi music. A player of the instrument is called a neyzen.

What happened at the Niyazi Sayın commemoration

According to SonDakika, the evening took place in the AKM Theatre Hall. It opened with a short film about his life. The Istanbul Meydan Meşkleri Ensemble of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism then performed five of his compositions with soloist Ahmet Şahin. Yüce Gümüş served as artistic director.

Between the pieces, a panel moderated by Ali Bektaş gave his students and friends a chance to speak. Prof. Dr. Erol Deran, Prof. Dr. Mutlu Torun, Sadreddin Özçimi, Salih Bilgin and Dr. Serhat Onur shared memories. After each recollection, the hall heard one of his melodies.

The foyer showed 59 ebru works. Ebru is the Turkish art of paper marbling, in which colours float on water and are transferred to paper. Sayın learned it from his teacher Mustafa Düzgünman, whom he met in 1947.

Plans for a Niyazi Sayın museum in Üsküdar

Sayın spent his last years at the Sandıkçılar Tekkesi in Üsküdar. A tekke is a Sufi lodge, and this one served as a meeting place where he worked with students. After his death, a team began cataloguing his works and personal belongings there. Gümüş, described as his student and spiritual son, led the project.

Hatice Akıncı Yılmaz, chair of the TÜRGEV board, said the foundation hopes to establish a museum. In her words, it would protect and display his legacy and pass it to future generations. The reports describe this as a plan only. No opening date has been given.

The evening also introduced a memorial book, published by İnsan Yayınları and edited by Gümüş and Onur. It gathers recollections of Sayın’s life, art and character.

Why his legacy matters to Turkish culture

Sayın received the Presidential Grand Award for Culture and Arts in 2014. At that ceremony, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called him the “pole of neyzens” (neyzenlerin kutbu). Sayın also had a lasting interest in photography, prayer beads and other traditional crafts, according to the source.

His story shows how Turkey’s living musical heritage passes from teacher to student. The planned museum could let younger visitors meet his work even if they never heard him play.

Source: SonDakika
Featured image: Habertürk