OCT/20 Coffee Morning, ONSITE - ONLINE - Germany

Huge thanks to Sheila Stanton, for having hosted our October gathering on the German Embassy grounds. We all enjoyed very much her generous hospitality and the cultural event.

Due to the capricious weather the planning of the Coffee Morning has been quite an adventure, but her team managed it beautifully and our deepest appreciation goes to them.

1. WELCOME

We opened the onsite event by enjoying delicious home made "Kaffee und Kuchen" (Coffee and cakes) and catching up with the attendees. It felt really good to be able to spend time with each other, while keeping the physical distancing.

After Sheila welcomed all participants to her Coffee Morning, Kees launched the official part with our online members joining on Zoom.

2. ADMINISTRATIVE POINTS

• The membership fee (200 TL) can be paid to the Treasurers (directly during a Coffee Morning or other SHOM events) or to your regional coordinator. You can also send it by courier to the following address. Don't forget to put your name and country/ international organisations you represent on the envelop: Mrs Larysa RYBAK, Embassy of Belarus, Abidin Daver sok., 17, Çankaya

• Coffee Morning Hosts/Hostesses. We are looking for members willing to host a Coffee Morning (onsite/online) during this year. Please, contact SHOM Ankara if you are interested to do it. The number of participants onsite will be limited to ensure the physical distancing in your premises.

3. MEMBERS NEWS

This month, we said goodbye to Ajie through ZOOM. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

We had the pleasure to welcome three new members into our SHOM Ankara community. It was also a premiere for Karin from Sweden who couldn't join us last month.

4. SHOM PROGRAMS and GROUP ACTIVITIES

Alicia SANTANA (UNDP) is the new SHOM Cooking Club coordinator. She is taking the role over from Tanya SYBIHA (Ukraine).

SHOM Ankara would like to sincerely thank Tanya for her dedication and ideas. She brought together food lovers by organising great cooking events during those past years.

The SHOM Bookclub would like to announce a very special event opened to everyone. Kenize Mourad, the famous french novelist and journalist of Turkish-Indian origin, great grand-daughter of the ottoman Sultan Mourad V, has kindly accepted to talk about her work, creation process and life experience.

This event will take place onsite and live online on Wednesday 4 November.

The SHOM Yoga Group had its first online lesson with Claudia. It did so good! Have a try and join us every Tuesday morning at 10h30. Click here to get the link for the ZOOM meeting.

5. HOSTESS PROGRAM

All the participants then moved to the "meadow" of the German Embassy compound where the art exhibits are displayed.

We met there the German Ambassador, Jürgen SCHULZ and the curator, Attila GÜLLÜ.

The latter gave us an entertaining and informative commented tour of the works.

A small garden dream...

The enforcements, constraints, and social insulations in the past seven months meant the shrinking of our living spaces. This severe contraction seems to be in effect, particularly in the metropolitan areas. We learned that open-air, outdoors, and social distancing, nature in short, provides the safest living sphere.

Five young artists and our friends from the Culture Department of the Embassy of Germany in Ankara had a dream inspired by this patch of nature, and we are so lucky that our dream came true today. Hopefully, this garden, which has been healing our bodies and souls, nicely embraces the artworks we carefully placed around.

The artworks of young artists attract the attention of the viewers and offer a unique aesthetic experience. This aesthetic transaction winds together with the feeling of affection and appreciation caused by the natural beauty surrounding us. We hope they both enrich each other and the visitors simultaneously, bring freshness and inspiration to our minds and hearts. We all hope our dream that became real in this garden will bear new dream seeds. So we can witness human creativity and advancement leading to a nourishing and flourishing relationship with nature in the future.

Küratör

Attila Güllü

Here are the artists who contributed to this exposition.

Ramazan Can

Born in Manisa, in 1988. He graduated from Gazi University, Faculty of Fine Arts , Department of Fine Arts Education in 2011. He completed his Master`s Degree in 2015 from Gazi University Graduate School of Painting. Still continues with his Doctorate and works as a Research Assistant at the Painting Department at Gazi University. The artist works and lives in Ankara.

Solo exhibitions :

2019 Art Dubai, Anna Laudel Gallery, Dubai, UAE

2018 Evvel Zaman Isi/Once Upon a Time... Anna Laudel Contemporary, Istanbul

2016 Samanlarin Erk Hayvanlari/Shamans` Animals of Power, Houston Hotel, Ankara

2016 Samancil Metamorfoz/Shamanic Metamorphosis, Tilki Gallery, Ankara

2015 Samanlar ve Demonlar/Shamans & Demons, Gallery Foyart, Ankara

www.canramazan.com

Can has three works in the exhibition : "Cosmogony" where he uses shamanistic representation where whatever exists has a soul and several unseen meanings. "Demon II" is another work cues several strong forces of nature, surrounding us and maybe within ourselves. "Woods" is an installation where Can has been working for ten years and exhibited here for the first time.

R. Tan Buğra Özer

He was born in Istanbul in 1987. He completed his primary and secondary education in Erzurum, Kayseri and Ankara, respectively, due to his father's duties. After completing the first two years of high school education at İzmir Maltepe Military High School, he completed the last two years in Ankara Bahçelievler Deneme High School. In 2005, he started his undergraduate education in Eskişehir Anadolu University Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Ceramics and graduated in 2010. He completed his master's degree in Hacettepe University Faculty of Fine Arts Ceramics Department in June 2014, where he was accepted in 2011. In the same year, he started the Proficiency in Art Program in Hacettepe University Fine Arts Institute and worked as a Research Assistant in the ceramics department until 2018, when he graduated during his education. Özer, who has two personal exhibitions and participated in many exhibitions, workshops and symposiums in Turkey and abroad and also continues his academic career as an academic member at Çankırı Karatekin University.

Instagram #bugraozerceramics

Ozer has three works in the garden : 'Apocalypse'' alludes to our imprisonment in what we have created - an apocalypse- with the innocent. "False God" may refer to the notion that the flawed ones destroy where the flawless one said live. ''Mutation'' may be "Nature is finished with what you created, now it`s your turn".

The artist loves the saying by Enzo Maiorca "The human being can never realise his/her actual role in the world until he/she learns how to respect nature and masters to talk with the animals.'' Enzo Maiorca

Erdal Duman

Erdal Duman borrows the shapes of the objects that represent violent and tragic realities, and he rebuilds them. These false ammunitions conceal their true existence while reflecting the false reality of the other. In fact, in contradiction to their defective reality, they manifest a more complete reality by showing their existence in their absence.

Erdal Duman’s sculptures are as permeable as the images of war. Looks pass through them without touching anything, as if they were camouflaged by space. Space appears to be another component of these sculptures, where the meaning is hidden. Space refers to the identical yet unseen and undisclosed part of reality. His works mimic large weapons, all glamorous and bright with neon colors to catch our attention. Because they are alienated from reality and their meanings are camouflaged.

Born in 1976 in Germany, Erdal Duman obtained his BFA in Sculpture in 2002 in Hacettepe University in Ankara, and completed his MFA from the same institution in 2007. In 2011 he opened his first solo show, "Ammunition" at artSümer. He currently lives and works in Ankara.

Instagram #erdaldumannnn

Duman has two works here: "The World upside-down" and "Big Bang". They play with the visibility again by contouring large monuments, one with the chair, the other with probably the first weapon. (A homage to Stanley Kubrick`s A Space Odyssey 2001)

Seval Sener

Born inTokat, in 1977. Assistan Professor in Sculpture Department of Hacettepe University. She has a solid background in contemporary & interdisciplinary art forms. Experienced with various studio techniques like design, printmaking, drawing/painting, sculpture and ceramics. Interested in combining traditional ways of making art with contemporary concepts & technology.

Seval Şener opened her first personal exhibition at Gallery AMA, one of the well-established galleries in Finland / Helsinki in 2011; in 2012 she was invited to Finland Mantaa Contemporary Art Festival. In 2015, she was hosted as a guest artist in Arnhem, Netherlands and held an exhibition here. She was awarded the Hacettepe University Art Incentive Award in 2018. Her works also took place in the exhibition "The Share of Angels" held at Depo in October 2017, in the "Still Life with Curtains" opened at Galerist/Istanbul in May 2018, and at the "Golden Age" exhibition organized by Galeri Nev Ankara on December 30, 2019. Her most recent solo exhibition `Eros & Psyche` also took place in Galeri Nev Ankara,in March 2020.

www.sevalsener.net

Seval Şener has two works in the garden : "18+" is `grounded` and both works - `Lit up until morning` play around the interactions of the man-made boundaries/ascriptions and nature.

Serkan Demir

The artist generally seeks to create a cultural map of impressions based o the political realities of the geography he lives. He relates Eastern myths and narratives through irony, to various geographical strategies, intervention mechanisms and social practices in this map.

The limits of faith and its transformative role in daily life are the two main issues in his works in recent years. Opting for diverse exhibition practices such as installations, mobile constructions and small sculptures, the artist describes his work as texts of `visual ivestigation`.

Serkan Demir was born in Kahramanmaras in 1975. He graduated from Gazi University, Department of Arts & Crafts Instruction in 1999 and had his graduate degree from Hacettepe University Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Sculpture in 2003. The artist completed the Program of Competency in Art in 2009 from Hacettepe University . He currently works as teaching fellow in Abant Izzet Baysal University, Faculty of Fine Arts. He is also co-founder of Yaygara Contemporary Art Initiative.

Instagram #serkande_mir

Demir presents two works here : Oak Tree & A Room where he recycled saw blades. The house is a metaphor for the unrealized dreams of the refugees all over the world. The other work is a homage to great artist Joseph Beuys `7000 Eichen` in Kassel, Germany in 1980s.