I am very happy to see that art exhibitions and activities are moving over from Nicosia to Kyrenia, since the Kyrenia mountain range seems to be an obstacle for many to enjoy art exhibitions.

This is what I published in March when the same exhibition was on at the Ismet V.Güney Art Centre in Nicosia, just to give you an idea:

“HOW MUCH” – A Contemporary Art Exhibition at the Ismet V. Güney Art Centre

Supported by the Minstry of Tourism, Environment and Culture and Cyprus International University, Nail ÖZLÜSOYLU, its instructor at the Faculty of Fine Arts, and curator of the exhibition, has brought together renowned artists, art groups and art students for the very modern exhibition HOW MUCH.

The participating artists from various art disciplines are, in alphabetical order:

AFET ÇELİKER, AHMED EL-SHAER, AHMET KASIMOĞLU, ALİ HAYDAR YEŞİLYURT, AŞIK MENE, ATEŞ KOZAL, ATIL ALTAŞ, AYHATUN ATEŞİN, BEDİA KALE, BUKET ÖZATAY, CHARLES RICHARDS, CHAKER KALAII, ÇAĞRI SARAY, ECEHAN TOPRAK, ERDAL KINACI, ERDEMİR AKYOL, ERDOĞAN UZUNAHMET, ERSİN DÜNDAR, HAKAN AYDOĞAN, HANDAN GÜLTEKİN, HASAN SAYDAM, İBRAHİM BEYAZOĞLU,İNCİ KANSU, İSMET TATAR, LOTHAR ZULL, MUSTAFA HACALAKİ, MEHMET KIZILAY, MATHIAS PARDO, NİLGÜN GÜNEY, NURTEN ERDOĞAN, ONUR ÖZYURT, ÖZDEMİR TOKEL, ÖZGE YÜCESOY, REYHAN ABACIOĞLU, SERAP DOĞAN, TAF GRUBU (ALİCAN METİN. CANAN BEYKAL. CEM KARA. ZAFER LEHİMLER), TİJEN ÖZERDAĞ, TÜLAY ÇELİKEL, T.MELİH GÖRGÜN, UĞUR ÇALIŞKAN, UMAY UMAY, VISUAL CONTAINER SANATÇILARI ( BY GIORGIO FEDELI - ELENA ARZUFFI, MARIA KORPORAL, PIETRO MELE, PATRIZIA MONZANI, U.S.O. + SELFISH ), VEFA EFENDİZADE, YAĞMUR KIZILOK, ZEREF BİRSEL.

This project HOW MUCH questions the change of humans in the process of modernization, and its impact on their thinking and souls. “How Much?” is a question raised any moment of the day in a world where values and feelings have gone lost and where living areas are restricted. This time, the question “How much?” with all the answers it shelters has been asked deliberately. The artists, with their art works, are in search of new answers for many questions like the concept of time, knowledge, freedom, change, risk, tolerance.

This is how the curator describes the art project. We went there on the evening of the opening and were stopped short in the ante room of the art centre by a photographic art work by Tijen Özerdag who had recently won two prizes in a row at competitions in North Cyprus. She displays the situation of women who sell their body for money. Morals go down while monetary values go up.

Photographic art was predominating in the exhibition, one more proof that photography has to be reckoned with as a new arts discipline. There were some very good sculptures but also some where the idea was splendid but the execution lacked a little in perfection. Outstanding were the new works done by Inci Kansu and Ismet Tatar with their paper art, and Ayhatun Atesin’s old shoe display very skillfully packed in a new frame. The trend of contemporary art goes towards conceptional art and installations. Whatever, arts start in the brain and not at our fingertips.

There is one important point which I do have to mention as a critic, the lighting was insufficient and badly done. In some corners of the halls art works did not get any light at all. The video performance did not have a white background or sheet to show the conceptional idea and was swallowed up by the stone wall.

We should have more of such exhibitions especially for young people to find out where arts are heading.