an exhibition at
the Ismet Güney Art Centre
By Heidi Trautmann
The symbols – such as an old Cypriot door, its
beautiful wrought iron segments, locks and ornaments; the architectural
characteristics of generations gone by, archways, projecting alcoves, are
present in paintings, colour and pencil sketches of the ten students of Mustafa
Hastürk art class at the university. Students – under the term one usually
understands very young people on the threshold to adulthood, but in this case I
met with several middle aged students on the threshold to their graduation and
future mastership. “You see,” teacher Mustafa Hastürk told me with a smile
across his face, “Never say Never, it’s never too late!” My respect, especially
to their style of working, fresh and young!
The exhibition was opened by Mustafa Hastürk, the
teacher who expressed the interesting aspect of having students of different
age groups and different views and techniques. Present were also the Dean of
the Fine Arts Faculty, Prof. Dr. Uğurçan Akyüz and Assis. Prof. Erdal Aygenç and
the Vice Rector, Prof. Dr. Şenol Bektaş.
People make a city. In their paintings the art
students have connected human presence with Lefkosa’s symbolic features, as
part of the characteristics of a city, a biker through an old city lane, masses
of people moving between rows of houses, passing through the darkness of an
archway, or simply by the presence of washing on a line in front of the house.
Various techniques were used, mostly multimedia,
collages, acrylic, water colours, often in a very sketchy way for an immediate
impression, hasty with paint running down the canvas which seems to be the
style of the season to emphasise the fleeting moment. With the collages I find,
however, that the sharp edges of the photos or newspaper pieces should be
better concealed and worked over so they don’t come off or are too obvious,
they should become part of the painting. An artist standing next to me was
suggesting to have the images copied onto the canvas, an idea to be considered.
In general, the results of this lovely project were
very good. I enjoyed every single piece. I found it very useful to find the
many small sketchbook notes and drawings as well so I could follow up their
ideas on the way to the final paintings.
The exhibition is still open until June 7, the Ismet Güney
Art Centre is near the Küçük Kaymaklı Post Office as information for those who
don’t know the place. Viewing times are government office hours.