The “Cyprus Chest Motifs Writing Patterns Exhibition”, prepared by Veliye Martı, who carries the chest motifs, one of the important cultural symbols of Cyprus, to the present with the writings she designed, will be opened by President Ersin Tatar on Monday, 2 August, at the Near East University Atatürk Culture and Congress Center Exhibition Hall.
Being the 377th exhibition hosted by the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts, the “Cyprus Chest Motifs Writing Patterns Exhibition” will be open to visitors until 15 August. In the exhibition, which will reveal the motifs that Veliye Marti has extracted from the Cyprus chests, the mold works that enable these motifs to be processed into traditional manuscripts will also meet with art lovers.
Geometric patterns in Paphos, hanging plants in Lapta…
Stating that many cultures are blended and spread in Cyprus, which is affected by many cultures due to its geographical location, Artist Velide Martı said, “Cyprus Chests, which have a rich variety of motifs, are anonymous, with a few exceptions, and it is not known by whom they were made. There are neither the names of the persons who made them nor a date on them. Carrying the energy of the calloused hands and tired but enthusiastic hearts of the masters, the patterns on these chests differ in accordance with the cultural aspects of the regions, so today they are referred to by the names of the regions where they were made. For example, while geometric patterns were used in Paphos chests, the craftsmen from Lapta used Roman arches and hanging plants in their chests.”
Who is Veliye Martı?
Veliye Martı, who stands out as one of the most important names that preserves and sustains the art of printmaking, was born in Trabzon. She studied writing art at the workshop of his teacher Mehmet Hamdi Eyüboğlu, who is the contemporary representative of this art, in 1990. While studying at Eyüboğlu workshop, she also curated the exhibition of his master Eyüboğlu. She also curated the writing exhibitions held in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Silk garments designed using the motifs of Bedri Rahmi Eyüboğlu were also included in her exhibitions. After learning printing and design techniques at Eyüboğlu’s workshop, Martı desired to carry out research on traditional writing art and give this kind of art a contemporary identity in line with the tradition, and set off on Anatolian roads in pursuit of traditional motifs. She carried out studies and examinations in important regions in the printing industry. Studying in accordance with the master-apprentice tradition in different periods in a period of three years, she gained experience from the studies of Hüseyin Er and Ömer Gıcık, who are among the important masters of Tokat.
In 2002, she founded the Seagull Writing Workshop in Kadıköy. In 2004, with the contributions of TESVA (Turkish Handicrafts Foundation), she moved the Seagull Writing Workshop to the Sultanahmet Little Hagia Sophia region. In 2007, upon the invitation of the TRNC Ministry of Culture, she gave seminars in Nicosia, Kyrenia and Famagusta Vocational High Schools. In 2010, she gave a course on “Wood Mold Carving and Writing” within the scope of the “EU LEARNING-Business Incubators for the Development of Creativity and Entrepreneurship in Historical Centers” project of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. In 2012, she opened her first solo exhibition, Cyprus Chest Motifs, in Nicosia. She gave 160 hours of “Traditional Writing” training at the EU (European Union) supported Şile Women’s Community Center in 2012-2013. In 2015, she opened the exhibition titled “Traces of Women in Anatolia” at Istanbul-Tünel Adahan Gallery under the sponsorship of Sahi-Istanbul. She still continues her project, education and research studies at her workshop in Little Hagia Sophia.
