By Heidi Trautmann

Oya Silbery is a name that rings many bells in our ears, namely as the initiator of the Art Gallery ArtRooms in The House of the Erbil Arkin Group, opposite the Colony Hotel. I have reported on all her activities with regard to the exhibitions she organized, especially with young artists with new ideas. Finally one new art venue in Kyrenia besides the Bellapais Krypt which has become extremely expensive although it lacks proper lighting and hanging possibilities.

Oya had started her gallery activities with her own very interesting interpretation of a photobook of the famous English photographer John Thomson (1837 –1921 ). I had met her two years ago for an interview and she gave me a great insight in her life and understanding of art.

The title of my interview is ‘In the centre of spaces’ and this is what her art is about … Spaces of life, questions of life, black and white, contrasts…broken down, brought down from its pedestal, face to face with…Oya Silbery.

She brings herself into the centre of things, she establishes a relationship to the world around her. Her graphic work is a delight to see, not following the usual modern trend, it is her own way she goes. She loves experimenting, works with symbols and basic techniques such as printing, monoprints, collages and ink drawings, but in the whole she remains in the graphic genre, her language easy to understand.

The exhibition was opened on 18 March in the exhibition hall of the Atatürk Teaching Faculty by the Dean Prof.Dr. Hüseyin Uzunboylu,  then Oya’s superior, the director of the Türk Lycée Meryem Oksüzoğlu and Aşik Mene, a fine artist and the Head of the Anadolou Art College; the organization of the exhibition was done by the head of the teaching art department Fatoş Miralay, herself a recognized artist.

Many students and teachers have joined the guest viewers and have discussed the various techniques Oya has used in her works of various periods. I read in the students’ faces that they were a little unsure, they would have needed an introduction but perhaps they will do that later in class.

Oya Silbery was born in 1979 in Nicosia and went to the Hacettepe University at the age of 17 years. She works as an art teacher at the Türk Lycée and surely knows about what an art teacher should know, or as a matter of fact, all teachers of young people should know.

My interview with her will be part of Volume II of my book ‘Art and Creativity in North Cyprus’.

The exhibition is open for one week only until 21 March.