The 5th International Turkish – African Congress to be held in Istanbul will also host an exlibris exhibition designed by artist Reyhan Çezik for 54 African countries within the organisation of TASAM. The 5th International Turkish-African Congress that will be participatedby many statesmen, executives of think tank and civil society organizations, academicians, authors, artists, businessmen, experts and diplomatic representatives from Turkey and Africa will encounter a sweet suprise there.
Following the opening statements of the congress organized by Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies (TASAM) the exhibition of “Exlibris; African Countries 2009“ consisting of the artist Reyhan ÇEZİK’s exlibris pieces for 54 African countries, the creator of which is the adviser of the Chairman of TASAM Yalın ALPAY, will be opened with a ceremony. In the exhibition, the 54 exlibris pieces of the sculptor-designer ÇEZİK will be displayed.
The exhibition of “Exlibris; African Countries 2009“ will be open between the dates of 19 – 21 November 2009 in Cevahir Congress Center, Istanbul.
In her statement Reyhan ÇEZİK, Board Member of Istanbul Exlibris Academy Society, described exlibris works as small sized graphic works involving scripts and pictures, pressed by traditional printing technique which are sticked to the inner covers of books and which has the names of the book owners and some different sized pictures in themselves and indicate belongings.
ÇEZİK states that “Ex libris“ means “its…“ , “among its books“ or “from the bookshelf of…“ in Latin and it has become center of attraction by artists and collectors since the first time it was used in the 15th century in Germany, and the works taking place in the “Exlibris; African Countries 2009“ exhibition have a themed and meaningful coherence in itself.
Chairman of TASAM Süleyman ŞENSOY declares that “The fact that the 5th International Turkish-African Congress will involve a unique exhibition like this will both honour our guests coming from Africa and contribute to the cultural dimension of the relations between Turkey and Africa. I would like to thank dear Reyhan ÇEZİK and Yalın ALPAY for all their efforts in the process“.
TASAM Başkanı Süleyman ŞENSOY ise yaptığı açıklamada “5. Uluslararası Türk-Afrika Kongresi kapsamında bu özgün serginin de açılacak olması Afrika’dan gelen konuklarımızı onurlandırırken, Türkiye Afrika ilişkilerinin kültürel boyutuna da
The creator of the exhibition Yalın ALPAY described his connection with the exlibris and mentioned abot the story of the exhibition as: “Most of my years were spent in libraries. I had always had a passion for history even though I had my master on economy. My passion starting with modern history books took met o the chronics of Ottomans and Europe of the 15th century. I would get lost in the facsimiles of original texts, I would feel myself in such a different world. I had a love for the appereances of theese books as much as I loved their contents. The designs that mostly attracted my attention in these books, which were all pieces of art with all of their pages being prepared meticulously, were the exlibrises on the covers of the books that showed to whom those books belonged to. In those small pictures, I would try to find the book owners whose eyes would look at those old chronics and who would align them in their bookshelves, dreaming about these books on long walks, I would establish a bond with those book owners and those exlibrises. Apart from the history mentioned in the book, I would find the history of the relation between the owner of the book and the book in those pictures that indicated belongings. This process that could be named as a kind of micro histiography or micro fictionism would make me wonder about ex-librises, I would be delighted by looking at them However, when I carried my passion for history to an academic environment and started to study in the Boğaziçi University I focused on the 19th century history of Ottomans and I forgot about those ex-librises for a temporary period.
I met with Reyhan Çezik in 1995 by a common friend. She was a promising, very skilled and a young sculptor. We immediately felt sincere towards each other and became friends. When she served as the creator of two International Ex-libris Contest Exhibitions in 2001 and 2002, I remembered my old love for ex-librises. With Reyhan’s gaining huge successes in two different ex-libris exhibitions in Soncino and Castello di Roddi Alba in 2008, I got an idea that we could work together with my old friend. I had been working as the coordinator of African Studies in the Turkish Exporters Assembly since 2006 and visited the “Black Continent“ for many times. Together with many articles that I had written on Africa, I also published a book about Africa. But I still had various projects on my mind that could be actuated regarding the African continent. And that’s how the idea of this exhibition was born when I mentioned about one of the projects in my mind to Reyhan: We would design ex-libris works for each of the 54 countries of the Black Continent.
I presented different materials for each of the 54 African countries to Reyhan. She read many articles, books, she thought about the project for a long time, conveyed her ideas with me for many times and finally, when she felt ready, she created such an impressive work. Therefore the opportunity given by TASAM to us to open this exhibition in the 5th International Turkish-African Congress highlighted the international dimension of this exhibition. So I would like to thank the Chairman of TASAM, Süleyman Şensoy for this opportunity.“
The exhibition of “Exlibris; African Countries 2009“ will be open between the dates of 19 – 21 November 2009 in Cevahir Congress Center, Istanbul.
Çağla KURNAZ – 0212 635 61 51 / bilgi@tasam.org
Who is Reyhan Çezik?
Born in Istanbul in 1975 she got a degree in serigraphy from Yıldız University of Technology and a bachelors (with Hon.) in sculpture from Marmara University School of Fine Arts. She has studied extensively with M. Sadık Altınok on engraving and serigraphy; assisting him in his outdoor and indoor applied arts work. In 2001 she has started working on industrial and artistic design made with hand blown glass at Cam Muhendislik Co. Currently with her colleague Oktay Güner she is making product design, indoor and outdoor artistic design with glass and also lighting projects. She has started her exlibris work professionally in 1999. She is a board member and creator of Istanbul Exlibris Academy Foundation.
EXHIBITIONS PARTICIPATED
2001 “Exlibris Istanbul 2000“ I. International Exlibris Competition
Archeology Museum, Istanbul 2002
“Exlibris Nazim Hikmet 1902-2002“ II. International Exlibris Competition
Archeology Museum, Istanbul 2002
Exhibition of 63. State Painting and Sculpture Competition,
Printmaking Category, Ministry of Culture, Ankara 2004
“A Piece from Turkish Masters of Printmaking“
Bursa State Gallery of Fine Arts, Bursa 2004
“A Piece from Turkish Masters of Printmaking“
Uludağ University, School of Fine Arts Gallery, Bursa
2004 A Piece from Turkish Masters of Printmaking“
Uludağ University, School of Fine Arts Gallery, Bursa 2005
“Painting and Sculpture Exhibition“
Bursa State Gallery of Fine Arts, Bursa 2005
“Artistic Reflections on Glass, Venetian Masters and Turkish Artists“
Glasshouse of Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul 2005
“Turkish Printmaking Artists Exhibition“ Kaynak Gallery, Bodrum 2007
“Passion of the Glass“, “Contemporary Turkish Glass Artists“, Anadolu University, Eskişehir 2007
“Exhibition of Contemporary Glass Artists“, Museum of Contemporary Glass Art, Eskişehir 2008
“Exhibition of Contemporary Glass Artists“, Konak Municipality, Güzelyalı Culture Centre Art Gallery, İzmir 2008
“Exlibris İstanbul 2000“, Exhibition of International Exlibris Competition, Soncino Media Museum, Soncino- Italy 2008
Exhibition of Istanbul Exlibris Academy Members “ print making exhibition’’ Castello di Roddi Alba,Torino- Italy 2009
Contemporary Glass Artists Exhibition – Mediterranean University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Antalya 2009
“Contemporary Spirits in Glass Exhibition .Gallery 5,Istanbul 2009 II. Galata Art Design Festival, Istanbul 2009
ıv. Contemporary Istanbul, Istanbul
ARCHITECTURAL APPLICATIONS
2006 "Saray Drops" : indoors decoration and lighting of Saray Muhallebicisi Restaurant at Kanyon Mall, Istanbul.
2006 "Saray Drops" : indoors decoration and lighting of Saray Muhallebicisi restaurant Bagdat Ave. Istanbul
2007 "Saray Drops" : indoors decoration and lighting of Saray Muhallebicisi, Feneryolu, Istanbul.
2007 "Saray Drops" : indoors decoration of Saray Muhallebicisi, Istinyepark Mall, Istanbul.
2007 "Saray Drops" : indoors decoration of Saray Muhallebicisi, Capacity Mall, Istanbul.
2008 "Scream" : wall-art panels; "Flow" : indoors lighting of Exclusive Özsüt, Nişantaşı City’s, Istanbul.
2008 “Saray Drops“ : indoors lighting of Manhattan Saray Muhallebicisi, Bakırköy, Istanbul
2008 "Saray Drops" : indoors decoration of Saray Muhallebicisi, Palladium Mall, Istanbul.
2009 "Renovation of Historic Outdoors and Indoors Window Glass Panels" : Süleymaniye Mosque Restoration Project, Güryapı Group
2009 "Darüşşafaka Library" : indoors decoration of Darüşşafaka subway station, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Subway Project, Alarko-Makyol
2009 "Darüşşafaka" : sculpture of Darüşşafaka subway station,Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Subway Project, Alarko-Makyol
WORKS DISPLAYED IN VARIOUS PLACES
Contemporary Glass Art Musesum, Eskişehir
Who is Yalın Alpay?
Born in 1980 Yalın Alpay could read when he was 2,5 years old. He was tested and confirmed to be genius by Prof. Dr. Haluk Yavuzer, and Prof. Dr. Ümit Davaslıgil, also by the Ministry of Education and Youth and Sports when he was 4 and 6 years old respectively. Exempted from form 1 and 2, he started schooling straight from form 3. He was often publicized as the "Wonder Kid" in the media between 1982–1991. He did his bachelors degree at Istanbul University and completed his postgraduate studies at Boğaziçi University. In 2001, he worked as consultant at TRT for the documentary, The Establishment of Ottoman Empire which has earned the best documentary award same year. He has published many articles both in English and Turkish in various national and international books and magazines. He has been giving public lectures at universities and international NGOs since the age of 23. For years he has worked in economy magazines as columnist and in the consulting team. He is the African Studies coordinator of Consul of Turkish Exporters (TIM). He is consultant to the chairman of Turkish Center of Asian Strategic Studies (TASAM). He is also the CEO of Mayka Architecture Building and Construction Ltd. Co. He has authored many articles and two books namely Economy History of Turkey (2008) and Africa: Prosperity Project of Turkey(2008).
