Zeynep Begtas

Zeynep Begtas, Kurdish furniture designer, painter, and children’s book author

Zeynep grew up in Amed, where as a teenager she played saz and even created these traditional stringed instruments from wood.  She came to New York in June 2015, now living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She took classes in woodworking at Pratt and makes designer furniture, from design to execution.  This multitalented Kurdish woman is also a painter, and having spent time teaching in a Montessori school, she enjoys writing and illustrating stories for children, on themes around formation of the universe, space and time.  

Zeynep Begtas was interviewed by Giada Mangiameli for the NYKCC’s Kurdish Heritage Month in 2022.

Length: 25 minutes | Language: English