Exhibit marks Turkey’s first female sculptor

Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Dec 12 2012

Exhibit marks Turkey’s first female sculptor

by Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish and Armenian artists gather works together at an exhibit to
commemorate Mari Gerekmezyan, the first female sculptor in Turkish
history

The Getronagan Armenian High School in Istanbul’s Galata neighborhood
is hosting a special exhibition for pioneering Armenian sculptor Mari
Gerekmezyan, the lover of renowned Turkish poet and painter Bedri
Rahmi EyüboÄ?lu.

The exhibit will run until Dec. 23, and an accompanying booklet will
be published after the exhibition.
Only one piece belonging to Gerekmezyan will be showcased at the
exhibition because a major portion of her works is missing. Many
Turkish and Armenian artists, including photojournalist Ara Güler,
gathered their works together to honor the sculptor, who blazed a
trail for female sculptors in Turkey.
`Mari Gerekmezyan is the first female sculptor in Turkey,’ said
Sevengül Sönmez, a professor at Istanbul Bilgi University who
contributed to the exhibition and conducted studies on Gerekmezyan’s
life, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News. `But she was overshadowed
by [her lover] Bedri Rahmi since she was very young and had not yet
made her first works during that period. Her relatives and the arts
environment preferred to ignore Mari.’

Nonetheless, Sönmez thinks that Mari inspired Bedri Rahmi in his many
poems and that she was a devoted woman.

`She fell in love with a married man, and she lost her relatives and
friends for that choice. The most important thing that made their love
stronger was art. The traces of this love are found in both of their
works. They share many things in common such as the view of Anatolia,
the image of women and themes of love. If we collected the sculptures
of Mari, we can detect the influence of Bedri Rahmi in her works,’
Sönmez said.

Her missing works

A major part of Gerekmezyan’s works are missing. According to Sönmez,
15 have been revealed so far but only seven of them have been located.
She said even the location of Gerekmezyan’s Yahya Kemal icon, which
brought her the winning prize at a State Painting and Sculpture
Exhibit in 1945, was unknown.

`We brought her work titled `Woman’s Head’ from Surp Yerortutyun
Armenian Church in BeyoÄ?lu to the exhibition. When I started studying
Gerekmezyan, I only had a few bits of information about her. As the
years passed by, I collected data from various books, and I
interviewed her students. When I look back, I realize that I made
great progress,’ Sönmez said.

Sönmez also said Turkish artists’ interactions with their Armenian and
Greek counterparts have become an area of study for many researchers
in Turkey. `Now we are familiar with many people other than
[Turkish-Armenian] Ara Güler. As we continue to work in this field, we
are sure to get to know more artists, performers and musicians, as
well,’ Sönmez said.

Who was Mari Gerekmezyan?

Born in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri’s Talas district,
Mari Gerekmezyan graduated from
Esayan Armenian Girls’ High School in Istanbul’s BeyoÄ?lu neighborhood.
During her high school
years, she met the renowned Turkish author Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, and
this acquaintance led her to a philosophy education. She also received
education at Fine Arts Academy. She died from tuberculosis at the age
of 34 in 1947.

December/12/2012

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress