By Heidi Trautmann
The best links between
countries are established through art, artists are therefore often called ambassadors
of culture. They should be sent out more often.
I had the pleasure to meet a
group of artists who work together under the roof of the Kuwait Art
Association. In cooperation with the Kuwait Embassy and the Cyprus Ministry of
Education and Culture they came here for an exhibition at the Famagusta Gate in
Nicosia. The opening was on Monday, 11 January 2016. Actually, the President HE
Nicos Anastasiadis was expected for the opening but he was obviously tied up
with other business. However, the Ambassadors of the State of Kuwait, of the
Sultanate of Oman, of the United Arab Emirates and of the State of Qatar were present
and for our eyes it was a splendid view.
The president of the Kuwait
Art Association and of the Union of Arab Arts, Abdul Rasoul Salman has
accompanied the 28 artists, 19 female and 9 male artists, to Nicosia and it was
a pleasure to speak to him. He said that the exhibition is part of the
festivities within the framework of the Islamic Culture 2016 festivities. The development of the arts have undergone a
great development internationally and it is the intention of the Association to
bring their culture to other countries and on the other hand invite
international artists to their countries to learn from each other. Some of the
artists I have met before, they had even come to my house to take part in our
Thursday Art Group; I was very pleased to see them again.
There were about 70 art
works in the halls of the Famagusta Gate Cultural Centre, it is a pity that
there were not put together in a catalogue. I have taken photos of most of them.
The artists stood near their work so I had the opportunity to talk to them.
Beautiful young people full of enthusiasm.
The countries taking part in
this event had made an effort to show also their touristic attractions in
brochures laid out, they made us listen to their kind of music and made us taste
little delicious niceties with our fingers. Some Cypriot artists had come to
pay their respect but I would have expected much more. Exchange of culture is
meant to broaden our knowledge, our angles of view and our understanding of
each other. Unfortunately, I must add here, that the event was not very much made
public via media, it is only by personal contact that I learnt about it.
In the meantime the artists
will have returned home. Thank you for coming and showing us your art. May your
roads always be easy and peaceful.