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For Nükhet, art is more a way to er was born. They were not so religious. My father was Alevi warriors and dragons. What impresses me the most in Asia
My grandparents came from France before my moth-
is tea rituals. I feel it down to my bones. I have a Geisha
turn the pain she felt in the coffee and he died before I was born. My mother is a Christian. tattoo on my back, I find wisdom in dragon eyes, I have a
According to what my mother said, my mother was ostra- wave tattoo on my left arm and a cloud pattern. They are all
industry into a strength. cized from family society because of world view when she inspired by Asia. “Hope” is written on my throat. I could not
married my father. imagine this anywhere else on my body. With every sip,
This situation has not changed much the last 20 years, every time I look in the mirror with the thought that people
not from a political point of view. Diversity is not truly will see me for the first time and have an opinion about me
tolerated, for example, in some regions, women that don’t without talking about me. Tattoos on visible places of my
wear a hijab are exposed to harassment verbally and even body became the fastest way to give a clue about me.
physically. The community I lived in always complain about Even if the initial purpose was different, now it is
the church my mother works at and they shout and scream the greatest way to present myself. This is like how you
at them as a group. want to show yourself when buying a navy blue t-shirt.
I, on the other hand, was one of those who were I am doing it to remember important feelings, times and
rejected by society because I had a different worldview cultural figures that make me feel strong. It is only a
Nükhet Çubukçular is a Turkish artist who started to
from my community. I was judged in my childhood. I temporary representation of yourself when you wear a
make a name in the coffee industry in recent years. She
started by doing tattoos to places which look like childish t-shirt or listen to some music. Tattoos can also remind
designed a Mountains tee for Orea, a London-based coffee
efforts to show how different I am, how rough I am. As a me who I was. I do not use accessories. I wear very sim-
brewers and equipment brand, a t-shirt conveying black
young girl, growing up in the street, that saved me from ple clothes. We can say it’s my accessory, my own per-
voices for Cxffeeblack, a coffee brand that aims to reclaim
so many risks sometimes. sonal way of expressing myself.
the black history of coffee and reimagine its black future
It was a short process. My mother always set me free I really like tattoos, but I don’t want to become a
and a wristband for I’M NOT A BARISTA, a nonprofit or-
to search for my real self and be a good person. This helped tattoo artist. It’s nice to leave a mark on people’s lives, but
ganization aims to empower baristas and coffee people
me search for religious histories. As I saw magazines and I am very afraid of creating bad karma... Maybe it’s nice
worldwide, among other projects.
realized that every symbol has a meaning, I started cultural to do a few small simple things (I just did line drawing for
She looks undeniably cool on social media, but went
studies. I was very excited when I saw the Asian figures like my mother) but it’s hard to do this as a profession.
through a tough time when she was young. Because of the
conflict between her family and local religious beliefs, plus
the conflict between family members’ religious beliefs, she
feels no love in a home full of rules. Always bullied when
she went out, she had to rely on tattoos to protect herself.
Later she skated, did graffiti and worked at an extreme
sports clothing store. All these seemingly cool things are
her way of protecting herself. No matter where she was, design. It hasn’t come true yet, but she’s on the right track...
she always felt like a “bad sheep”. While growing up, her pain shifted from family back-
At 28, there was change: a cafe gave her a job op- ground to tattoos to stepping outside of herself when she
portunity. She started as a waitress, and later became a empathized with the pain of others. She recognizes that
barista and assistant roaster. Then she realized she has a between feelings of sadness, fear, love, despair and com-
spiritual connection to coffee: throughout history people passion, one should not categorize fear as bad and compas-
have banned and studied coffee, they even tried to read sion as good. She fully believes in balance.
their fortunes in coffee grounds. It is a known but prac- Although sometimes she still thinks she is the “bad
tically unknown fruit, just like her. Today, the specialty sheep”, now she also knows being the “good sheep” is not
coffee community is her safe space where she can fully good for her. The good sheep followed the rules, and she
express herself. wanted to do more to challenge the traditional things.
However, while working in the coffee industry, she Here’s her story through her own words.
also became aware of its issues. It was painful for her to see
that many people just saw coffee as a business. When Boundaries
COVID-19 started spreading, she had to return to her home-
town of Izmir to turn to art to make a living. For Nükhet, I live in Izmir, Turkey. When I was 5 years old, my
art is more a way to turn the pain she felt in the coffee in- grandfather gave me coffee without telling my mother. It
dustry into a strength. was my first time tasting coffee.
Creating art helps her make a living. And even though My grandfather was born in 1920. A cup of coffee a
she misses her working days in cafes, her dream is to inspire day was a ritual for him. He always hid Turkish coffee in
the young generation through her passion for coffee and the cabinet which he did not tell my mother.

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