Sepharad Exhibition, created with the works of Turkish Sepharad artist, was presented at Amsterdam Yunus Emre Institute.

Turkey's Ambassador in the Hauge Şaban Dişli, Yunus Emre Institute President Prof. Şeref Ateş, Amsterdam Yunus Emre Director Abdullah Akın Altay, the Quincentennial Foundation Museum of  Turkish Jews Director Nisya Işman Allovi, Cervantes Spanish Cultural Center Pilar Tena, Turkish Dutch pianist Karsu Dönmez and photographer Izzet Keribar as well as many other names from the world of culture and art participated in the introduction program of the exhibition which met the art lovers with the theme of "Traces of a Multi-Cultural Heritage".

"THE EXHIBITION WILL BE OPENED IN SPAIN THE NEXT YEAR"

The program started with the pianist Marcel Worms and violin virtuoso Neo Eyl's mini-concert performance of "Rhapsodie Orientale 1890" by Andries de Rosa.

Yunus Emre Institute President Prof. Ateş mentioned that a 500-year-old story was told in an aesthetic form in the exhibition and said, "This has become a beautiful exhibition which showed how the cultures in our history lived by supporting each other. Today, we talked about the stories behind these works. Thanks to such exhibitions, the contributions made by nations which ensured survival by supporting each other becomes more apparent when we look back from an age where migrations are considered to be a problem." Ateş mentioned that the Institute sees the cultures as elements that complement each other and said that the exhibition will be opened in Spain the next year.

EXTENSIONS OF THE TOLERANCE CULTURE IN ANATOLIA

Turkey's Ambassador in the Hague Dişli thanked to those who contributed to the exhibition and mentioned that they were coming from the deep roots of the tolerance culture in Anatolia, the cradle of civilizations.

The curator of the exhibition, Istanbul-born artist Terry Katalan remarked that the Sepharads lived together with the Turkish society for 529 years and said, "The exhibition demonstrates the integration of the Sepharads in Turkey with the Turkish culture." Emphasizing that Yunus Emre Institute brought the culture and history of Turkey to the world through compassion and toleration, Katalan mentioned that he was proud of this exhibition on behalf of all Sepharad artists and himself and that they wanted to show that different groups could live in harmony together by having the works with roots going back to the rich cultural heritage of the Ottoman Empire and based on the Sepharad culture meet with art lovers in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Yunus Emre Institute Director Abdullah Altay emphasized that they started to work on the project two years ago by contacting Terry Katalan and said that they were happy to contribute such an exhibition to the cultural life in Amsterdam.

The exhibition works from the Quincentennial Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews.
The museum's director Nisya Işman Allovi said that they were quite pleased to be a part of the exhibition and mentioned that some works from the museum were also included in the exhibition besides the works of the Sepharad artists.

The famous photographer Izzet Keribar, who participated in the exhibition with two of his works that photographs the architectural works of the Ottoman Period, mentioned that he was proud to represent Turkey in such an exhibition.

In the program, Turkish Dutch singer and pianist Karsu Dönmez performed and sang the song named Adio kerida.

60 WORKS FROM PAPER MARBLING TO OIL PAINT 

The exhibition that hosts 60 works from 33 Turkish Sepharad artists in the field of glasswork, sculpture, paper marbling, mosaics, ceramics, jewelry, photograph, oil painting and acrylic painting can also be visited online from the art site Artsteps.

The Sepharad Exhibition supported by Yunus Emre Institute as well as Turkey's Embassy in the Hague, the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Presidency of European Union, Cervantes Spanish Cultural Center, the Quincentennial Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews, ACB Consultancy, and the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam can be visited at Amsterdam YEI till the end of November.