In remembrance of Ayhan Menteş – Meaningful Coincidences….
By Heidi Trautmann……
EMAA (European Mediterranean Art Association) under new leadership has decided to show more often their appreciation of the local artists on such occasions, show and bring to the foreground their life work, bring it to the attention of the younger generations so they will not be forgotten.
Thank you for this thought, it is an important step since after so many years we still don’t have a museum. The exhibition opened on 14 April 2023 was a great success, despite the fact that right during the opening ceremony we were plunged into darkness but we were able to continue with humour and a generator. The curator Esra Plümer Bardak and the coordinator Zehra Sonya did a marvellous job realizing this exhibition. 110 works of the artist are on display in a most respectful and beautiful way. My respect.
Quite a big crowd of old and young art lovers and artists came to celebrate the International World Art Day. During the opening ceremony Ayhan Menteş’s daughter was invited to come forward and say some words about her father’s life and work, she did. and was obviously very moved in speaking about her memories. Also, his son Asim Mentes had come to the exhibition and I was happy to see him again.
I remember quite vividly my encounters with Ayhan Menteş, the last one was eight years ago for another World Art Day at EMAA’s and I wrote this text….
http://www.heiditrautmann.com/category.aspx…
During my earlier interview with him in 2006 and my later visits to his studio, I learned a lot about Cyprus and its history and legends and his visual and poetic interpretations on canvas and on paper. Read all about it under the above link. I strongly recommend that school classes visit this exhibition as part of their class routine.
The exhibition will be open until 06 May, viewing hours are Tuesday-Friday 16.00-19.00, Saturday 10.00-13.00 It will be closed through Eid, 20-23 April, and the 1st of May. You can find the location on the internet and it is behind the Nicosia Deniz Plaza building.
To see more pictures please go to my Facebook page
