and Exhibition 'Under the Sky we are all the Same'

By Heidi Trautmann

The Association of Cyprus Paper Artists had held a very interesting and inspiring art workshop at the beginning of 2020, that was the making of artistic pencils of paper, of recycled, handmade paper or any other paper, using pencil leads of different sizes, a green idea of avoiding wood on the one hand and using discarded paper or handmade paper on the other. It was fun to see the results, not all were made for daily use but rather for decoration and reminding us to protect our nature.

Furthermore, the idea was to organize an auction and sell the pencils for charity and to donate the money to people in need. Now, finally, end of June, Ali Rüstem of Rüstem Bookstore in Nicosia who is known for his creative and innovative ideas, undertook to conduct the auction in cooperation with KKSD which now took place on June 20 in Rüstem’s garden with a professional auctioneer. The Mayor of Nicosia, Mehmet Harmancı, was guest at the auction; he will manage the money that came in through the auction and channel it into the right direction. There were 56 lots given in for auction and most of them were sold; the income was TL 3.850 and this amount will be given to people in need due to Corona Pandemic, people of which the Mayor keeps a list.

After the auction, we could see the art works showcased in the beautiful art gallery rooms of Rüstem Bookstore, works of a project (Cooperation of EMAA, KKSD and KUIR Kibris) which had been planned and was ready to go on display months ago, when the Corona Pandemic restrictions were announced. The exhibition was then held online, an impressive virtual exhibition, but thanks to Ali Rüstem’s offer, the works could now be presented in a real show.  Here a big thank you to the organisers.

The exhibition will be open for another two to three weeks during normal office hours of the bookstore, i.e. 19:00 hrs. There is a lot to do at Rüstem’s Bookstore besides looking for current or rare books, it is a place where you can meet people who come here to satisfy their intellectual hunger and you can also find good food for thoughts and body and exchange ideas with others.