by Heidi Trautmann

Hardly ever have I seen such a crowd gathering at an art exhibition as the one opening on December 16 for four days at the Ismet Güney Art Centre. Thirteen students, 12 ladies and one man from Nicosia society and public life, were excitedly and proudly showing what they have learnt at Aşık Mene’s Studio.  Families had come and friends and they admired their progress, and members of Parliament had come, and some caricaturists, friends of Aşık Mene.  A social event, I would say.

Gediz Inan, Ülgen Muratoğulları,  Işın Yılmaz, Fatma Akçaba, Cemaliye Karamanoğlu, Çiçek Refik Bozkurt, Mehmet Ali Serak, Güvenç Aşçioğulları, Tuncay Ebgü, Fatma Alçıcoğlu, Tomris Mahirel, Sevil Demirsöz, Sevilay Özyay.

Aşik Mene is a wonderful artist and an art teacher through and through. For many years now he is the principal of the Anadolou Art School in Nicosia and many talented young artists, now graduated, have gone through his hands. He teaches his students freedom of mind, a proper use of the art medium and in first place good composition.

Apart from school Aşık Mene has one of the most beautiful art studios in the old city of Nicosia, actually a meeting place for artists, art seekers and lovers, ample place to work in different studios and ample place to sit together and discuss. In his own studio he had canvasses on several easels, paintings he was working on, more or less simultaneously, when I visited him one day; and next to each easel he had a complete set of paints and brushes, so when an idea struck him to the one or other theme, he just picked up the brush and continued where he had left it the other day.  It is a very inspiring atmosphere.

Here, his students meet, he said every Saturday, and they learn about art, for this exhibition obviously they have had a model to sit for them. Anatomy is a hard subject to learn and it shows how little we watch ourselves and know about our body, movements, function of limbs, their size in relation to the body, our moods and expressions.

A good idea: In order to understand our neighbours and fellow citizens we need to know ourselves first.