76 of Şinasi Tekman’s 220 art pieces in the Eastern Mediterranean University’s Art Collection have been displayed in EMU Özay Oral Library placed in locked illuminated display units. The sculptures that were positively received by students and library users, will be on display in the library until work for a museum gets underway.
As it can be remembered Tekman (1933-2005) started making sculptures with scrap objects he collected from nature in 1958. Collecting objects from their natural environment, Tekman presented them to the audience with a new perspective and meaning according to what he thought the material evoked. Showing importance to its structure, Tekman used the material without eliminating its character bringing to the forefront its properties and natures true potential also underlining the difference between looking and seeing.
The EMU Rector’s Office that values art and the artwork of especially Turkish Cypriot artists is continuing work to strengthen the universities’ ties with art by finding temporary exhibition locations to make the 378 pieces of art in the collection and the contributing artists more visible. The project run by the EMU Center for Cyprus Studies (EMU-CCS) finds exhibition areas for the pieces of art considering factors such as light, heat, damp and security.
It was noted that the EMU Rector’s Office is preparing to sign a protocol with new artists that donated to the collection, in February and also considering the Rauf Raif Denktaş Culture and Congress Hall as a new temporary exhibition location, starting to carry out the necessary preparations.
