School of Fine Arts Hosts Turkish Visitors

Arts, Design and Architecture Faculty from

Baskent University in Ankara, Turkey

Halime Fisenk, Murat Devrim Atilgan, and Filiz Yenisehirlioglu, with chair of the UMD Department of Art and Design, Virginia Jenkins.

The guests are meeting with faculty in Art and Design and staff in SFA to discuss ongoing collaborative projects and future opportunities that may include an international education exchange. A public lecture was presented by Filiz Yenisehirlioglu, dean, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture and an art historian, on the topic of “Ottoman Tiles and Ceramics.”

Halime Fisenk, instructor, graphic design is working with Steve Bardolph, assistant professor in graphic design, on a project intended to facilitate a study of two cultures by students at two different design schools, through typography. Murat Devrim Atilgan, instructor, graphic design, is working with Alison Aune, associate professor in Art Education and with Joellyn Rock, assistant professor in graphic design, on the project, “Patterns for Peace: The Tulip and Arabesque: An On-line Exhibition Inspired by Turkish Decorative Arts."

UMD students participating in this project are studying traditional Turkish decorative designs of theme and space. They are creating images using botanical and geometric patterns combined with the theme of peace. An on-line exhibition of the works produced showcases the results of the projects.

Carpet designs by SFA students Amber Marie Warren and Brit Ashley Salmela.

This involvement is the Art and Design Department collaboration in the Turkish American Alliance begun by SFA Dean Jack Bowman in 2005. A new collaboration begins during the 2007 Sieur Du Luth Summer Arts Festival, when 40 Turkish singers participate in the opera program productions of Carmen and Lucia di Lammermoor.

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