Biographical story of kidnap, displacement and murder
A BIOGRAPHICAL performance by a UKbased Turkish Cypriot artist — including having his father and uncle seated as “exhibits” — launched a show of empty frames at Girne’s Art Rooms gallery on Wednesday.
Sümer Erek, formerly Ülmen Aygın, told the story of his 1974 displacement from Limassol to Girne and his kidnapping, attempted murder and the murder of his student friend Müharrem Özdemir in İstanbul in 1977.
Both gifted students from Cyprus studying at İstanbul’s State Academy of Fine Arts — now Mimar Sinan University — they were victims of ideological campus violence in 1970s Turkey.
Mr Erek quit the island and changed his name, graduating from St Martin’s School of Art, Department of Sculpture and the University of Arts London to pursue his career in the UK.
The multidisciplinary artist launched an Unlived Lives show of portraits of his late friend in Brussels earlier this year, representing his “unlived” days, which he painted from memories of a half-finished portrait. His June show in the capital featured portraits of all six Cypriot students killed in the ’70s.
He said: “I do not see a way out of a rotten environment, but to get to the human core of art.”
Mr Erek’s performance moved through a chronology of named rooms hosting empty white frames and glass cases — “a pedigree of the iconography of pain” — sharing memories of his real and artistic journey.
He said he had waited decades to express the trauma through art, adding: “I think I survived for a reason; I had to bear witness — to tell the story. Three bullets did not kill me, but strengthened me more.”
Wednesday’s performance is followed by the 7pm to 9pm Monday launch of the exhibition — 1973-2018 Ülman Aygın Sümer Erek — which runs until November 7, with viewing hours from 1pm to 9pm daily.