Back	Objects and Rituals The Turkish Hamam: Heat under the Light Dome Organized by the Museum as part of its Voyvoda Street Lectures, Objects and Rituals focuses on the involvement of art in everyday life and on the interaction of culture with perceived reality. Orhan Yılmazkaya, our guest speaker this month, will be joining us with a lecture on the Turkish hamam scheduled for Wednesday, October 26, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Author, Orhan Yılmazkaya discusses the centuries-old tradition of the Turkish hamam portrayed in his book, "Turkish Baths, a guide to the historic Turkish baths of Istanbul." In his lecture Yılmazkaya will recount how prohibited books were burnt in the furnace (külhan) of the hamams, the emergence of the roughnecks known as külhanbeyler (from külhancı, the man who tended the furnace of the hamam), why the water of the hamams did not drain outside, tales of the hamam, the bride's hamam, the groom's hamam, the practice of rinsing off forty times and much more... Discover with him, the hamam, as the oldest form of commercial enterprise in Turkey and as seen through the eyes of the orientalists. Orhan Yılmazkaya Born in 1970, Orhan Yılmazkaya graduated from the Kabataş High School for Boys in 1987, and then obtained his BA from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Istanbul University, in 1994. Yılmazkaya then started working as a journalist for the daily Sabah and has been broadcasting director for Radyo Umut and news director for several publications including the newspaper Demokrasi, and the magazine Tesisat ve Doğalgaz-Petrol-LPG, as well as editor for Çitlembik Publishing. His articles and essays on literature have been published in various magazines. In December 2003, his book, "Turkish Baths, a guide to the historic Turkish baths of Istanbul," was published in Turkish and in English by Çitlembik Publishing. He is currently production director at İçerikMarket Yayıncılık Bilişim Halka İlişkiler Ltd., and publishing director for the magazine Patent Dünyası.