By Heidi Trautmann

ATA’s invitation to enter the 2012 Art exhibition had a big response. 37 creative people participated with 94 works, paintings and photographs, with an astonishingly high percentage of Turkish Cypriots which pleased the board members of ATA, the highest since the initiation of the Anglo Turkish art and craft exhibition project.  A very praiseworthy undertaking.

I am very happy to see the ‘art gallery’ at the Public Library in Girne being used now. The three rooms on the first floor above the library are a perfect venue and as I heard there are two more bookings for art exhibitions in the months of May and June.

I went there one afternoon to see the exhibits of the ‘amateur painters’ …as the invitation by ATA was expressly restricting the participation to this status… and I am happy to say that there were some fine works among them and they don’t look in the least amateurish. It is encouraging to see how many adults are taking up this wonderful hobby.

The event was opened by the Chairman of ATA, Mr. Metin Ibrahimer and by Nurdan Namsoy, the new Director of the Cultural Department in the Ministry for Tourism, Environment and Culture, and as I heard the Cultural Department has even bought one piece of art for their art collection.

This event will take place every two years, next year it will be art and craft again. My compliments to ATA and the committee members who had helped to arrange this event.