Minval at Akaretler Design & Antiques Show 2026

Built from marble, Minval’s primary material, and shaped through the union of seven axis robotic carving and hand craftsmanship, this installation traces the history of offerings made to fulfill a vow. Through symbols, inscriptions, and representational objects, it recalls how different cultures have made intention, belief, and the desire for healing visible.

Across many societies, votive offerings have long been part of daily life. Their materials vary across time and geography, yet they share a common ground: the human need to believe and to set an intention. From Shamanic traditions to Orthodox Christian practices, from ancient Egyptian temples to the Day of the Dead in South America, what popular culture recognizes as ex voto is known in Ancient Greek as Tamata. Small metal plates that survive this tradition can still be found in many places. A person with an injured knee might hang a knee shaped metal plate beside a saint’s icon. Another, outside of any religious framework, might make a wish for healing under a full moon. The rituals differ, but the underlying belief and desire for recovery remain the same.

The Muğla region, home to some of Turkey’s most important marble quarries, is also a land of unmatched ancient cities. The white marble from this geography formed the structure of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The emotion and belief carried by that structure reminds us that marble is not only a material, but also a carrier of memory.

The aim of Personal Altars is to approach the simplicity of Muğla white marble from a different perspective and to awaken an unexpected emotional response. While emphasizing the transformation of this material from past to present, the installation reveals the personal and local values that emerge when it meets the right technological resources. Rather than reading robotic sculpture production as a negative outcome after the invaluable sculptural heritage of the past, the project connects the new possibilities it offers to designers, artists, and architects with a timeless human feeling: belief and healing.

The focus is not on a world shaped by robots, but on technology as a tool that helps us express emotions and simplifies life. All materials used in the installation consist of upcycled marble remnants.

This approach reflects the origin of Minval itself. Small marble pieces left behind during large scale production are transformed through upcycling into luxury decorative objects combined with silver, glass, and leather. Making the most efficient use of what already exists and transforming it into an emotion, an element, an architectural component, or an object is at the core of Minval.

The hands, legs, ears, and eyes you see in the installation symbolize the parts of the body for which you may wish healing. Keys represent the home you aspire to have, while locks recall the obstacles you seek to overcome. The sun and birds remind us that abundance is only possible when nature allows it, and that humans are part of a greater whole shared with animals, plants, and the planet.

A piece of white marble that may appear almost emotionless can, through intention and technology, become a symbol that creates new associations in daily life.

The idea that a strong mind can only exist within a strong body is also recalled here. This is a symbolic journey from the whole to the individual, from matter to emotion.

At the center of the space, the votive area holds totems that function as sculptures of belief and emotion. They invite visitors to pause, reflect, and reconnect with their own intentions. The symbols discovered here can be chosen from the forms displayed and carried into homes or living spaces as personal markers.

Because in any form, belief and intention are both the condition and the starting point of achieving what we desire.