By Heidi Trautmann

Balance has been Mustafa Hastürk’s driving force in all things; his voice and gestures are measured and he observes from all sides before acting. This is what I concluded and what he told me himself when I visited him in his studio. But fairness and justice is another morale value he has adapted as his own rule of life and he can and did fight for these values which he proved when he joined the Teachers’ Union and became member of the executive board. For some years he was appointed Director of the Cultural Department of the Ministry of Education and Culture during which he initiated and changed many things for the better.  During that time he had to put his own interests aside, that was pursuing and researching ideas of his own. When his governmental duty came to an end, he went back to university to work for his Master degree and at the same time teach at the Fine Arts Faculty. His Master thesis was to find out in what way music influences art and the artist. On the basis of research results throughout the history of art he established an image to the project in question and also undertook studies on himself by producing several paintings under the influence of classical music.

Now, that he is working for his doctorate, he has chosen as concept for his thesis “Sanat iyileştirir" which means that Art heals. Healing in many ways.

We talked about it at some length. Art is known as a psychiatric measure to help disabled and disorientated people; we have seen surprising exhibitions worldwide. It is a recognized means for children to learn cooperative behaviour, we have more and more art therapists employed in schools and see them opening their own therapy centres. Art is the best way to overcome loneliness and problems in life; it is the best intermediary between people of different social background and gender.

Art is promoting the sense of creativity in people and the awareness to recognize problems of environment; many artists and art teachers use this phenomenon to create and to have created art from waste to perhaps one day make concerned industrial sectors think twice before they throw non-biodegradable products on to the market.

By art is not meant painting or sculpting as such, it is about catching fire, awakening the spirit, this involves all creative people such as musicians, dancers, writers, craftsmen, giving one’s best ability to create something of value, of beauty, to hand it on and set an example.

Mustafa Hastürk has researched this effect of art and produced a series of art works including a video to support his thesis. He has for the first time shown part of it at an exhibition at the Atatürk Cultural Centre organised by the Teachers Union. There he explained the process to me: He went through Nicosia and the countryside and took photographs of houses and objects in decay; he copied that on film; he then put layers of film with other scenes on top of each other and created thus an effect of change.

It is not only to embellish things it is to become aware of things of value which are covered by the dust layers of time and have for a long time been neglected.

This process represents the essence of life, the recognition of times past, it gives us hope to continue and to make things better.