By Heidi Trautmann

A tall man with soft eyes and a mocking smile…I thought when I had first met him in 2010 for an interview, with the doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology, caricaturist,  musician and composer of many songs, the poet and active member of social activities and finally member of parliament for a couple of years now.

I spent a delightful morning at his house in Yeni Boğazıcı in his very inspiring studio under the roof and for lunch at the big dining table with his wife and daughter Umut. What a creative and active family. Umut,  the well-known singer, just recently made her doctor degree in music at the University in Izmir.

We had plunged into a long conversation about his far reaching interests and artistic activities, he, Dr. Arif Ali Albayrak, primarily a doctor, a gynaecologist, who has brought to life hundreds of Cypriot babies and knows all about women and their problems, but I would say he also knows all about human traits, especially weaknesses, otherwise he would not have become a caricaturist.

But we hardly spoke about his painting activities, and now at the age of 60 years he said, it is about time that I show my art work to the public….and I must say we were all surprised when he opened – or rather Dr. Sibel Siber opened - his first painting exhibition at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in October 2015. That proves again to me that when you have learnt to use your senses properly you are able to be creative in many fields. Dr. Arif A. Albayrak was a student of Famagusta based famous artist Ali Atakan, the teacher of so many today active artists. I love Ali Atakan’s work and the methods of teaching he applied; I had the chance to meet him for a long talk shortly before he died.

(Both interviews are included in my books ‘Art and Creativity in North Cyprus, Volume I and II’ respectively and are available at all bookstores).

I can recognize Ali Atakan’s influence of precise use of tools and composition but also the interest AAA shows in different art schools and movements; over the years he has chosen for himself his own style. In the more recent ones he centres his colour compositions, a sort of focusing and if he chooses to include a human form, it is the female form he embeds in the graphic structure of colour spaces. His brush and knife work is well executed. In his catalogue AAA has also included very early paintings, still lives and landscapes, which were the main exercises in Ali Atakan’s teaching programme.

My congratulations.