MAY EXHIBITIONS

The first of EMAA’s May Exhibitions had taken place in 2005, during May 9th – 18th with 8 exhibitions and a concert. Under the sponsorship of Kuzey Kıbrıs Turkcell (invitations and posters), this year’s exhibitions embodied 2 mixed and 8 solo exhibitions involving concept-oriented installations and video shows. The event, to which more than 20 artists participated, has taken a leap forward to become an international event with the involvement of artists from South Cyprus and Turkey.

Aspired to be organized on a regular basis, the aim of the event was to join our forces of visual arts, encourage artists to create, shape up the public opinion, and facilitate the meeting of society with art in the Old Town of Nicosia. While trying to foreground the existing values by providing the required means to the artists, on the other hand, the event sought to ensure a safe ground for the growth of avant-garde / experimental works, especially for the group exhibitions which were designed through a concept-oriented perspective, trying to grasp and reflect the contemporary understandings of art. Chosen deliberately, we attempted to attract attention to the history, as well as the current                  socio-political structure of the Old Town of Nicosia. Moreover, the event was a call to rediscover, to sustain and to attend to the region with the help of artworks.

It has been quite difficult for us to find alternative venues and to temporarily transform unused or differently used places into exhibition halls for such a zero-budget project. At this point, we deem it necessary to express our gratitude to our artists for their compassion and thoughtfulness, as well as to the State Theatre for their technical assistance. Furthermore, we thank to the Board of Directors of HASDER for granting us permission to use their headquarters as an exhibition venue, and to Osman Keten alike, who welcomed us to his workshop. Contrarily, we must state the fact that the cancellation of the permit of the Board of Foundations to use the old Armenian Church for the “Dalgada Bulut” exhibition after the invitations were printed and distributed has put us into a very difficult position.
The works of the experimental exhibition, where the projects that fitted in with the exhibition theme were developed according to the venue, suffered from being devalued since the venue was changed at the last minute. Some works got cancelled, while the others lost their dramatic effect as they were reshaped.

 

The EMAA May Exhibitions, which we attempt to organize and traditionalize out of no budget, financial hardships, technical shortcomings, and the lack of the vital support of the respective bodies of the State, unfortunately haven’t reached the desired level and again it was maintained by the considerate efforts of the artists. The event was thoroughly discussed at EMAA’s Saturday Chats, where its shortcomings were elaborated. In this context, the decisions have been reached that the exhibitions will be organized forth yearly; the budget will be procured through the sponsorships of the State and private institutions with the aim of reaching an international status; the transformation of content and method will be considered; and that the association will coordinate with other civil society organizations, institutions and associations. Lastly, we would like to thank to the Culture Department of the Ministry of National Education and Culture, as well as to the Board of Support to Organizations of Fine Arts.

Cumhur Deliceırmak :  “Brinding Birds”

Ateş Kozal, Ayşen Dağlı, Losif Habjikyriakos, Nilgün Güney, Sevcan Çerkez, Sinem Ertaner, Şifa Alkapon, Vedia Okutan, Zehra Şonya : “ Punch-Drunk”

Feridun Işıman: “Differences”

Halil Ayermolalı: “Experiments”

Güneş  Acar: “Acquaintance”

Nicolas Panayi, Mustafa Hastürk: “Two Halves”

İsmet Tatar: “And Earth”

Kadir Kaba, Nilgün Güney, Özgül Ezgin, Sinem Ertaner, Türegün Tunç, Zehra Şonya: “Square Root”

Osman Keten: “Tides”

Özden Selenge: “Story”