By Heidi Trautmann

The increasing awareness of “paper art” has reached North Cyprus with representatives of the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA) celebrating the 25th anniversary on our island with a conference, workshops and exhibition at the Near East University. A great opportunity for our famous local paper artists – Inci Kansu, Ismet Tatar, Emel Samioglu and Simge Uygur – to organise this event starting with the arrival of the international guests on April 3 until April 12, with the kind support of the Visual Communication and Design Department of the Near East University.

The International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA) is the world’s leading organisation for paper artists. It was founded in 1986 in Düren, Germany, when paper as an art medium was far less well-known than it is today. While paper history and production are one facet of the Association’s activities, the central focus is paper’s role as art form and as a contemporary artistic medium.
For more information, please visit  IAPMA’s website www.iapma.info

In the course of the programme there are several events and workshops open to the public

05 April 2011 (Tuesday)

09:30-10:00     Welcoming Speeches (NEU, Communication Faculty, Orange Room)

                        Prof.Dr. Şenol Bektaş (Vice Rector of NEU)

                        İnci Kansu (Artist)

10:00-10:30     Mini Concert

10:30-10:40     “Paper Fashion Show”

10:40-12:40     Artists’ Presentations

12:30-13:30     Exhibition at Comm. Faculty Hall

14:00-15:30     Panel: “Paper Art”

Helene Tschacher (Artist, President of IAPMA) & Eva Maria Juras (Artist) 20min., Joachim Tschacher (Artist) 20min, Kathrin Biffi 20min.

06 April 2011 (Wednesday)

13:30-15:00     Three Workshops – Communication Faculty

(Room No: 14 and Communication Halls) Anne Lise Studer,

Joachim Tschacher, Ute Breitenberger-Johann Söhl

07 April 2011 (Thursday)

09:30-13:00     Three Workshops – Communication Faculty

                        (Room No: 14 and Communication Halls)

Jan Fairbairn Edwards, Hakan Pehlivan,

Helene Tschacher & Eva Maria Juras

14:00-18:00     Workshops  to be continued after lunch time

08 April 2011 (Friday)

09:30-13:00     Three Workshops – Communication Faculty

                        (Room No: 14 and Communication Halls) Anne Raissanen,

Bara Lehman Schuls, Aliza Thomas, Kathrin Biffi

The Organizing Commitee

 İnci Kansu (artist)

 İsmet Tatar (artist)

 Emel Samioğlu (artist)

Simge Uygur (artist)

The Management Commitee

Prof.Dr. Orhan Çiftçi

(Dean, Communication Faculty)

Assist.Prof.Dr. Gökçe Keçeci Şekeroğlu

(Head of the Visual Communication and Design Department)

Mine Okur (Lecturer)

Gamze Anıl Baykan (Lecturer)

Contacts: gokcesekeroglu@gmail.com, mokur@hotmail.com, gami_gugix@gmail.com