Opening
of the ARKIN University of Creative Arts and Design
By
Heidi Trautmann
It
was to a big crowd of several hundred guests that ARUCAD, the new ‘University of Creative Art and
Design’ was introduced on 20 October 2017, in a beautiful setting that reminded
me of receptions that I attended in colonial times in countries such as Angola
in the 1960s. It was due to the beauty of the inner courtyard surrounded by the
freshly renovated buildings with two giant impressive sculptures by Maurice
Blik placed in a monumental water basin in which water lilies were floating. I
will give my impression on the private Erbil Arkin art collections in a
separate report.
Sinan
Arkin, one of the directors, gave the first speech with very meaningful words
on the necessity of art education that correspond with the ideas of artists and
art lovers in the country. Robert Bowman from Bowman Sculpture, advisor in art
collections and friend to Erbil Arkin spoke about the breathtaking sculptures that
were given by Erbil Arkin from his private collection to celebrate the opening
of the university. We heard words of greetings from Prof. Dr. Bruno Cora, Rector of
ARUCAD sent from Italy and shown on screen, followed by words of criticism of
the past and vision for the future, the Assistant Rector Prof. Dr.Ümit Inatçı has for
the university. Dr. Sibel Siber, Speaker of the Parliament, spoke of her
involvement in the arts and her longtime wish for a Museum for contemporary
art; we had often talked about it.
Officially
opened it finally was by Erbil Arkin himself who with very humble words spoke
of his art education and he confessed that he bitterly regretted not to have
taken the diploma and that for this reason he had wanted to create the opportunity of excellent art education for
the young people of his country of birth.
Here
some paragraphs of the speeches which give a clear image of the vision the team
of the new university have in mind.
Above all,
ARUCAD is an institution of higher education and, as such, it aims to endow
upon its students two fundamental qualities and skills. One of these is the
critical, revolutionary and creative world view that naturally comes with an
art education. The second, which is at least as important as the first, is
craftsmanship.
It will be the
only institution in the region and one of the few in the world where such a
wide range of design and production facilities reside in the same place. I
would like to emphasize that these facilities will not only be open to the use
of the students and lecturers of the university, but also to the wider public.
Through its
certificate programmes open to the public, its museums, the design and
production services it will provide to private companies and government
institutions and the organization of art events. ARUCAD will be culturally and
economically tightly integrated with the society. The emphasis we give to our
physical facilities is surpassed by the importance we place on the selection of
our academic staff.
…when we look at
our social, cultural and educational experiences of art, we can see that this
knowledge or notion is not recognized as much as it should be. Our weaknesses
in institutionalization of art, and our spiritual insensitivity in a
capitalistic world, have caused a depreciation in the value and also in the
status of the art and the artist….ARUCAD will take its place not only in higher
education but also in social life as an institution of high culture the will be
a remedy to these concerns and questions.
To
visually show and prove the high quality Erbil Arkin has in mind for the
university, he has brought his collection of sculptures on display in the
premises of the university, famous and beautiful sculptures by master Auguste
Rodin, his lover Camille Claudel and friends Carrier-Belleuse and Jean-Baptiste
Carpeaux. An other part of his collection
are works by Maurice Blik, powerful demonstration of victory over oneself.
Erbil
Arkin and the new team showed the audience which came to the opening and to the
visitors that will come in the future that aesthetics in our life, our
environment, our behavior is the basic requirement for a fruitful education in
general and in the arts. We could all witness and feel it, when he said….
...Art
& Civilization are ONE, this is the slogan the new university….
The
public is invited to visit the exhibition during one month daily from 09:00 –
21:00 hrs.
For
further information
Tel.
0090 (392) 444 5152
0090
(533) 821 2424
info@arucad.edu.tr
and
for information on the university
http://arucad.edu.tr/en/management/board_of_trustees-1-u
PS: The architect of ARUCAD is Ertuğ Ertuğrul