By Heidi Trautmann

World Peace Day and Art goes hand in hand, art is the basis for peace, art supports understanding and communication, art helps to solve problems, art develops our senses…. I could continue on this line endlessly, however, art must be made available to ALL: Old and young, schools, people in the street, in public places.

The Art Project ART FOR ALL does just that. Read the text from EMAA’s website on the launch of the project:

The launch event of the Art for All Project, funded by the European Union under the Cypriot Civil Society at Work VI Grant Program and run by the Mediterranean European Art Association (EMAA), was held on Tuesday, 21 May. The opening event of the project, which was initiated with the aim of increasing cultural diversity, democratic values, critical ideas and the relationship between art and society through art, was held at EMAA Başkent Art Center in Nicosia.

Art Project for All

The Art for All project is a project initiated by asking questions about the general perception of art in society, why art is necessary at the individual and social level, and why art should be a part of our lives. The project aims to increase democratic values, pluralistic views, diversity and intercultural tolerance and awareness on these issues through art. Thus, it aims to make art a form of expression by increasing the quality of life in the Turkish Cypriot community.

Project Goals

The most important goal of the project is to reach various segments of society and to make art a part of the daily lives of individuals, accessible to all segments. In this context, Art for All project aims to increase the harmony of individuals with their environment by making expansions in the field of public art and to remove the social, economic and cultural barriers between them and art by reaching people from socio-economic and educational levels in all regions.

In order to strengthen participation and communication, it is of great importance for art to move out of a singular position and to reorganize the relationship between art and society. New media art practices, and especially public art, aim to re-establish and develop the relationship between art and society. For this reason, it plans to develop and promote the concept of public art within the community.

About EMAA

Mediterranean European Art Association (EMAA), which was formed by a group of artists and art lovers in 2002, to revive the art environment in the northern part of Cyprus, to increase the awareness of art in the society, to bring art lovers together and to bring art to an international environment, while bringing international developments to the island. It is an art organization that aims to bring

Yesterday, on the World Peace Day, on 01 September 2021, we celebrated another step of the project, a presentation of work done, among others sculptures and art installations, permanent and time-limited, the public presentation of a series of art books which were distributed free, music and for children of all ages, workshops led by art educators. The event took place in the open space of the Dr. Fazil Kücük Park in the Marmara area of Nicosia. See the programme attached. It is a lovely big green park where I have seen people doing sportive exercises, families with their kids play and relax, just the place we should have everywhere in the cities.

On our stroll through the park, we could see how well the art installations were accepted by the visitors. The workshops for children were fully attended and I am sure that the one or other child might have discovered a new way of exciting hobby instead of playing games on the phone. While we were strolling, we were entertained in the late afternoon by a Trio of the Lefkosa Belediye Orchestra.

Zehra Şonya, the current president of EMAA, European Mediterranean Art Association, opened the event calling us all together from all corners of the park to come close to the stage to learn more about the reason o celebrate. Please read the programme for the names of the speakers. We learnt about the efforts to span a tight net of communication, collaboration and education in the field of arts across the Northern part of the island using their new art bus, we learnt about art workshops for all ages, and also the efforts to bring the arts directly to the public by means of information by written and spoken words. Finally, she thanked all those who have made the project possible, there was the Municipality of Nicosia for their close cooperation to be thanked, and the Girne American University and the Kibris Amerikan Universitesi to be thanked for their support and there were many other hands in that. There is more to learn on EMAA on their website www.emaa-cyp.org

With a group photo of all the supporters and co-workers taken, EMAA could relax and the stage was made free for the well-known musicians Ersen Sururi and Zeliş with their unmistakable lovely style of music.