THE amount and quality of art produced by a community is directly related to socio-economic and political factors affecting that community.
This is one of the findings of an ongoing exhibition cum research project on Turkish Cypriot art taking place at the newly-opened and highly-ambitious Sidestreets: A Centre for Educational and Cultural Initiatives in north Nicosia.
“We are now in a relative cultural desert,” Rana Zincir-Celal, co-ordinator of the project, says. She adds, however: “It wasn’t always like this, so we wanted to know why.”
The 18-month project, which culminates in a visually-charged exhibition of its findings, beginning tomorrow, Wednesday January 30, has led to the archiving of vast amounts of art exhibition memorabilia going back over the last 25 years. And this has allowed Zincir-Celal, and Sidestreets’ joint head and artist Anber Onar, to compile a timeline recording factors that have influenced the community’s art over the period.
“We looked through newspapers, scanning and cataloguing over a thousand news articles, catalogues and invitations relating to the art from the last quarter century, interviewed and surveyed nearly 30 artists and digitised a large part of these artists’ private archives. The most exciting part has been discovering original exhibition posters from that time, which are artworks in themselves,” says Zincir-Celal.
The archiving has led the two to identify two periods in the last 25 years during which Turkish Cypriot art went through a relative boom. One, they say, was in the late eighties/early nineties, when two private galleries were opened in north Nicosia, giving artists greater opportunities for exhibiting their work; the other was in 2003-2004, a period characterised by the opening of crossings between the two sides of the island and the optimism created by the community’s positive vote in the Annan plan referendum.
But the research, Onar believes, has also highlighted a general lack of support for artistic development in the north. And underlying this lack of support, she says, is the fact that “art never developed a dialogue between itself and society”.
Zincir-Celal agrees, saying there needs to be “greater continuity” expressed by institutions such as the ‘ministries’ and NGOs and the private sector, which currently only occasionally back art projects or open galleries. The inconsistency leads to occasional bursts of activity, followed by years of relative inactivity, she adds.
In short, north Cyprus is failing to produce fertile ground in which artists can grow and develop, the two say.
But not all the blame lies within the community itself. The political and economic isolation of the north has had a “destructive and paralysing” effect, they say.
“It is not so much that the isolation is reflected in the artists’ work; it is simply that the artists do not have many opportunities to develop their art,” says Zincir-Celal.
At least partly to blame for this is the highly proscriptive nature of the north’s educational system, which Onar describes as being more concerned with “protecting children from eccentricity” than allowing them to develop as creative individuals.
Ultimately, the project seeks to compile a list of recommendations which the organisers hope the authorities, artists and society in general will take into account in formulating a new approach to art in the north.
“We want a visionary cultural policy,” Zincir-Celal insists.
Depicting peaks and troughs of artistic creativity is Zincir-Celal and Onar’s timeline, a visual mapping of the research which spans one of the exhibition room’s walls. As well as mapping exhibitions, both local and international, it shows how other factors, such as ‘state’ sponsorship, have influenced artistic development. What jumps out at the viewer is that the current ‘government’ gives less cash to the contemporary arts than its predecessors. When asked why, Onar and Zincir-Celal say that although the ‘government’ has increased its cultural budget, most of it goes on traditional arts like folk dancing and handicrafts.
“They prefer to fund the traditional arts because they emphasise ethnicity. They are less trustful of contemporary art and artists because they are not sure whether they are supporting the national cause of not,” Onar says.
Either way, as Onar explains, “This exhibition is not so much about art, or the artists themselves; it is about the context within which art takes place”.
n The exhibition is called “Untitled History” and runs from January 30 to February 16 at Sidestreets, which is located opposite the law courts in north Nicosia, five minutes walk from the Ledra Palace crossing. Sidestreets is open from 9am to 6pm every day except Sundays. Those wanting a guided tour of the exhibition should call to book on 0090 392 22 93070.
