TWO SHORES-ONE STYLE
The main idea of my project called "Two Shores - One Style" is to show the identity and mutual influence of the cultures of the two peoples living on the Aegean coast of Greece and Turkey, as well as the related themes of resettlement and deportation of these two peoples and how these processes of deportation affected individual and collective memory.
My paintings and photography which will be presented for this project, were created under the impression of the historical and cultural heritage of two neighbouring nations - Greeks and Turks living on the Aegean coast.
This series of paintings is based on the history of two nations living on the same territory, their commonality, despite religious and other differences.
"Two shore-one style",acrilyc on canvas,
50 x 70 cm
original painting
The left part of the picture - red color - symbolizes the Aegean region of Turkey, the city of Kusadasi; the right part - a blue color - the Aegean islands of Greece.
Despite the borders, there is a common cultural and architectural heritage, which was especially noticeable to me when I first traveled to these places and which inspired me to this project.
Territorial location of this project- Aegean coast of Turkey and Greece.
I had the opportunity to see and explore by myself these identical features when I was traveling through the Aegean region, taking pictures of historical architecture, communicating with the local population and painting pictures which the theme is the interpenetration of the two cultures.
The Aegean Greek and Turkish cultures have a strong bond and commonality that neither political divisions nor closed borders can distort or cut off.
My task as an artist is to show this community, which is manifested primarily through cultural features, and also to follow how the processes of migration of the population affected its cultural identity.
"Two shore-one style part 2",oil on canvas,
40 x 60 cm
original painting
One of the stages of work on this project was photography, and its main task was to show the architecture of historical buildings on the Aegean coast of two countries .
After getting acquainted with some historical events that took place about 100 years ago in these territories, I learned about the facts of resettlement and deportation - which happened after the signing of the Lausanne Treaty - an exchange was carried out between the Turkish and Greek populations.
After signing this agreement, people were forced to move to the opposite shore of the Aegean coast from the lands where they, their grandfathers and great-grandfathers were born.
They left their native lands, taking only a small luggage with them.
The history of this resettlement is full of tragic facts, as always with forced deportations.
People lost their property, their native home, some could not bear the separation from their relatives and their own settlement, some people died on a difficult journey or became ill in a new place.
Some of the new immigrants had difficulty adapting to the new living conditions, because they did not know the language of the people among whom they found themselves in a new environment.
I had the opportunity to make an interview with the descendants of those people whose grandparents or great-grandparents became forced migrants and who had to rebuild their lives. (Little life stories).
The story of a Greek family of immigrants from the Turkish town of Soke, who moved to the opposite shore and sadly remembered their native home, relatives and neighbours, churches and monasteries, to which they made several-day trips on major Orthodox holidays, is one of the many stories connected with those events.
