By Heidi Trautmann

It is with great pleasure that we could visit again the once in a lifetime occasion of such a precious exhibition in Kyrenia, thanks to Erbil Arkin. We did take our time to see the sculptures one by one and to enjoy them, sculptures, art and philosophy of another century.

As a young man Erbil Arkin developed his passion for Auguste Rodin, it was the time when he studied the arts himself, he said. And he is very happy to show his collection to the people of his country on the occasion of the opening of ARUCAD in Girne. I reported on the opening

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Some days later I went again together with my husband and we had ample time and space to enjoy the exhibition. The exhibition is in the main building and the one on the side on both floors.  I highly recommend that you don’t miss the chance to see Rodin and some of his colleagues and friends. We also had the possibility to see the library at the main entrance which contains books on Cyprus and on its arts. I spoke to the lady responsible and she said that the library is open for everyone.

The many class and study rooms have a very friendly atmosphere and are laid out for smaller groups of students. The character of the old house is maintained all over the place. The architecture has done the renovations very sensitively.

There is a kitchen in the inner court yard and people can sit there next to the water basin over which the two giant Maurice Blik sculptures are positioned. Very impressive and inviting to be creative yourself.

There are 19 works by Rodin, two of them done together with Carrier-Belleuse, one by Camille Claudel, his lover and other works by his friends. 

Having admired Rodin’s great statue of Balsac at the MoMa in New York I had studied his life and his work and I am now extremely pleased to see some more of his work.

The slogan of ARUCAD is ART AND CIVILIZATION ARE ONE and it is nailed to one of the surrounding walls so nobody may ever forget it.