1st Art & Design Symposium of the Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey, 2016

From April 16-25, 2016, the Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey, had organized its First Art and Design Symposium.

Artists from different countries (Turkey, England, Germany, the Netherlands and Curaçao) and different disciplines (film, product design, printmaking, animation, photography) were invited.

The first three mornings were used for the introduction program and presentations about our work. The rest of the week we were working with the students or on our own works, making sure we had something to show at the end of the symposium. Since the time span was really short, I choose to make a photo series and not work with ceramics. 

We were all given a metro card with money uploaded, to enable us to move independently trough the city and between our hotel and the university. I used it to cross the city in search for pictures. I loved strolling trough Alsancak and Kemeralti. One day I was very lucky; right in front of our hotel was the main ceremony for the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. A public holiday in Turkey commemorating the foundation of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, on 23 April 1920. Instituted by Ataturk and dedicated to all children of the world. It was also a feast for me and my camera!

During the weekend we were taken on field trips to the most interesting places in and around Izmir; the bazaar of Alaçati, the 15th century castle in Cesme, a fancy wine tasting at the Urla vineyards, a demonstration by a traditional 3rd generation felt maker, the cherry on the cake was our visit to the antique Roman city Ephesus.

On our last day the dean of the university opened our exhibition in the Passage Gallery of the university, showing the results of our work.