Northern Cyprus · Çatalköy

The
Vounous
Symposium

International Terra-Cotta · Est. 2017

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2025
Annual September
Çatalköy Necropolis Northern Cyprus

History
& Mission

A Bronze Age site reawakened through the hands of artists, ceramicists, and scholars from across the world.

Vounous is an Early and Middle Bronze Age rock-cut cemetery in the Kyrenia region of Northern Cyprus. Excavated between 1925 and 1962, its tombs yielded hundreds of extraordinary ceramics — objects now scattered across the Cyprus Museum, the Louvre, the British Museum, and collections around the world.

The International Terra-Cotta Symposium was founded in 2017 by Rauf Ersenal and organised by the Çatalköy Municipality to bring this heritage back to the land where it was born. Each September, artists, archaeologists, and researchers gather at the necropolis to recreate ancient ceramic forms using locally dug clays, traditional firing techniques, and the same earth the Bronze Age craftspeople once worked.

The symposium's long-term vision is to establish an open-air museum on the original site — a living record of a civilisation that flourished here over four thousand years ago.

60+
Artists & Researchers Annually
2500
BC — Site Origins
2017
Symposium Founded

A brief chronology of Vounous

2500 BC

Early Bronze Age settlement and necropolis established on the Kyrenia hillside.

1931

Archaeologist Dikaios conducts rescue excavations after reports of unlicensed digging; 48 tombs uncovered.

1962

Decades of international excavation conclude. Relics enter collections worldwide.

2017

Rauf Ersenal founds the International Terra-Cotta Symposium; the site is brought back to life.

Today

Annual September gatherings draw artists from Europe, America, and beyond to recreate the ancient craft.

Meet the
Organizer

The person behind the symposium

Rauf Ersenal

Founder & Project Head

Historian and ceramist who has spent over 24 years researching ancient Cypriot clays, pigments, and experimental ceramic production. In 2017 he founded the International Terra-Cotta Symposium, assembling 80 artists for the inaugural edition. His collection of 150 replica pieces — created using original techniques and local soil — has been exhibited at the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts, where he received the Silver Key Honor Award.

Levantine Ceramics Project Facebook
"What's aimed here is to resurrect and protect the Vounous ancient city that had remained inactive for many years — and hand it down to next generations."
— Rauf Ersenal, Symposium Founder