Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan has long been a champion of Africa’s artistic and cultural heritage, a commitment reflected in her initiative to curate a stunning exhibition at the recent Antalya Diplomacy Forum 2025 that brought the continent’s craftsmanship to the world stage.
The African Culture House and Handicrafts Market, founded in 2016 at the First Lady’s initiative, is a space dedicated to showcasing the creativity and resilience of African women, highlighting their work, helping transform it into economic opportunity, and fostering cultural exchange between Africa and Türkiye.
Zeliha Saglam, who heads the African Culture House, describes the interface as an idea that emerged from Emine Erdogan’s extensive travels across the continent.
“The First Lady noted during her many visits to Africa with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that women there were producing items of the highest quality but not getting the chance to sell them. She wanted to support them,” Saglam tells TRT Afrika.
Art meets enterprise
From striking tribal masks and handwoven textiles to modern artworks and emotive sculptures, Culture House’s curation team gets items made by African women to Türkiye and showcases them here. It’s a project designed to give these women the space they deserve.
Each piece on display at the African Culture House and Handicrafts Market tells a powerful story. The featured items come from across the continent – Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Kenya and Tanzania, to name a few.
The project's primary objective is to promote artsy, fashionable and traditional goods that capture the essence of Africa in a marketplace that is fair to those who produce them.
“We have items from 40 countries. Some of these were made by women living with disabilities,” says Saglam.
Expanding circle
Many prominent figures, particularly the first ladies of African nations, visit African Culture House annually to support the initiative and increase awareness through various events.
In 2024, Emine Erdogan hosted the First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu, at an event where they discussed how the Culture House project could build on the work that has already gone into providing a global platform for African handicrafts.
Oluremi Tinubu highlighted Nigeria’s cultural richness and diversity, represented by scores of ethnic groups and languages thriving in Africa’s most populous country. The First Lady told her host she would be pleased to promote this richness through the African Handicrafts and Culture House project.
Emine Erdogan hosts "Flavours of Africa: A Feast of Culture, Cuisine, and Friendship," to celebrate African cuisine and culture.
When Emine Erdogan told Oluremi Tinubu about her publications on Africa – My Travels to Africa, African Culinary Culture and African Proverbs in 38 Languages Anthology: 1 – the Nigerian First Lady declared that her Turkish counterpart was “an African at heart” even though she didn’t trace her roots to the continent.
Oluremi Tinubu also expressed satisfaction and gratitude to Emine Erdogan for her special interest in promoting African culture and handicrafts.
Cooperation opportunities were discussed at the meeting, including the possibility of more projects geared towards empowering women and the youth.
As the African House portal outlines on its homepage, “Türkiye will continue to share its historical experience and its social, political and cultural knowledge as well as its means and resources with African administrations and peoples”.
It’s a pledge that also finds mention in the First Lady’s message. “African Handicrafts Market and Culture House is a gift to the Türkiye-Africa fraternity. It is a venue where our hearts meet,” she says.
