By Heidi Trautmann

Sevcan Çerkez, the creatress of the life size clay figures, so realistic and full of life, you want to approach them and shake hands, you want to sit next to them and ask them how they are and what their story is. The clay family around Sevcan gets bigger and bigger with new sculptures, now even with an alter ego, another Sevcan with big swimming eyes. There are six new sculptures she is working on and which are destined for a small museum together with a restaurant in a place downtown Nicosia that will open soon under the management of her son Cağrı.

From time to time I must go and see her, what she is working at, also because there is a song that will not leave my head, so sweet and so positive. “Çünkü Adıdır Aşk” / Love is the name, you can listen to it on youtube.  I have spoken to the composer Aytunç Akdoğu who has also written the lyrics and he gave me a translation of some lines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Z1a2jNonI

Çünkü Adıdır Aşk / Because its name is love

A fairy tale

Written are

Pages and pages long songs and prayers

For all to understand what love is

You laugh and you cry

You get tied up in knots,

you can’t recognize yourself

You disregard yourself

Because its name is love….

Aytunç has composed 15 songs for Sevcan, tailored-made sort of; he had discovered her voice and had encouraged her to sing. He sat together with her asking her about her life, her dreams, images of her childhood, and thus he composed very sensitively the tunes and the words and, believe me, he very much succeeded in bringing out Sevcan’s character as a woman, as the fine artist she is. There is another song they have done together recently, a childhood image, an image of peace and security, something she will go back to when she is in pain of the heart, that is ‘The Land of Ants’:

Once upon a time,

in a land that is not so far away,

my ear was on the ground,

my eyes were on the anthill

They would come and go

in two parallel lines

But suddenly the lines would break

because of a kiss…..

These songs Aytunç is making and Sevcan is singing, are poetic songs, with all the ingredients that make a chanson.  I see the necessity to meet Aytunç and talk to him about his life, his dreams and his work; many will know him from the music band ‘Gommalar’, also his sister Simge, who is a great musician and singer herself, and there are so many other songs and music that they make. They are now considering making an album.

Sevcan is of a fine woven material and so are her and her son’s friends the musicians, and I hope and wish that they will go far with the love of art and professionalism they show.