Türkiye 1923-2023
This site represents the relationship between Türkiye and İngiliz Ressam, ‘English Artist’, Ned. Türkiye is 100 years young this year, 2023. If some one were to suggest to Ned he do something to mark the 100th birthday of Türkiye, he can reply, ‘I have…’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anfzlw7kx5Q
Atatürk’s Eyes No: 07 is the last Turkish themed artwork by Ned. Same footage, different tune…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQL_yZvitCA
2023 was to be a commemoration and celebration, then an earthquake hit both Türkiye and Syria 06 February. Artist Ned was in Istanbul to experience the 1999 earthquake. As it did then, life will go on and Turks will pick their lives up again, but it was not an ideal start to the 1923-2023 anniversary, to say the least.
The Turkish Republic was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923. Before that was the Ottoman Empire, established following the conquest of Byzantine Constantinople in 1453. The history of this region dates back to Neolithic sites such as Göbeklitepe on the Turkish-Syrian border, said to be over 11,000 years old.
The official international name of this Anatolian peninsula and nation state where East meets West is now Türkiye. In English it sounds a wee bit like ‘terk-ee-yeah’.
https://turkiye.un.org/en/184798-turkeys-name-changed-turkiye
Following an official letter submitted to the United Nations by the Republic of Türkiye, the country’s name was officially changed to Türkiye at the UN.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that a letter had been received 01 June from the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu addressed to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, requesting the use of “Türkiye” instead of “Turkey” for all affairs.
The spokesman said the country name change became effective from the moment the letter was received.
Atatürk’s Eyes
Ned has a relationship with Türkiye going back to a first visit in 1988. His first exhibition of artworks in Türkiye was in a private home located on the European bank of the Bosphorus in 1995. Then, Istanbul and Türkiye did not have the variety of galleries and biennales as there are today. His first public exhibition in Istanbul was within the 500 year old Grand Bazaar in 1999. Future venues included hotels, shopping malls, schools, universities, marine harbours and the British Consulate.
“Like humanity itself, Istanbul is young yet old, vibrant yet decaying, traditional yet unconventional. There are few cities in the world that reflect the untethered human spirit, as does this one. These contrasts make Istanbul alive and fascinating and are embodied by her people. Sometimes it can feel impossible to do anything here, yet anything can seem possible in Istanbul.”
Ned 1997
Ned has painted Atatürk’s Eyes No: 07 to capture time-lapse film footage to commemorate the 100 year commemorations of the founding of the Turkish Republic. He had long wanted to produce a time-lapse of this particular Eyes painting and did so in time for 01 January 2023. His only other time-lapse painting was ‘24 Hour Atatürk / 24 Saat’te Atatürk 09 November/Kasım 09:05 – 10 November/Kasım 09:05′ produced in 2014. Turks commemorate the passing of Atatürk which was 09.05am 10 November/Kasım 1938:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHACIjlYetg
Ned first painted a portrayal of Atatürk in 1997. He’d seen photos, paintings and portrayals in so many Turkish homes, offices, spaces and places, he simply thought to do one himself for the fun of it. He took out a Turkish Lira currency note, in the days of million TL bank notes, looked at the image of Atatürk and made his own impression in paint on canvas. That first portrayal led to a commission for another and so it went on. He produced an exhibition of Atatürk paintings at The Marmara Taksim in 1999 and in 2001 completed the 3.5m x 1.95m Atatürk Gülümsüyor for the Istanbul Lütfi Kırdar Conference and Exhibition Centre in collaboration with The Strategic Review Group and I.C.E.C. General Manager Orhan Sanus.
The first Atatürk’s Eyes painting by Ned was completed 07.09.2001 for Mayadrom Sports Centre. An Atatürk portrait was required as part of the commission and Ned wanted to produce something different rather than another full face portrayal. Atatürk was noted for his distinctive blue eyes and upturned eyebrows, hence a first Eyes painting was created. A second Eyes painting was commissioned privately and completed 30.05.2002. A third was commissioned by ATU for Esenboğa Airport, Ankara and completed 27.10.2006. A fourth version, completed 08.11.2006, titled Blue Eyes (Atatürk’s Eyes IV), was sold at a dinner for the Children’s Leukaemia Foundation at The Çırağan Palace Kempinski Hotel 20.12.2006. Eyes No: 05 was completed 25.06.2014 for a private client in Bursa and No: 06 produced 30.08.2014 to be kept within the NPP (Ned Pamphilon Productions) collection for display and exhibition.
Atatürk’s Eyes No: 06 has since been displayed at various locations within Türkiye and even taken on board TCG Gediz in 2015 to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the final Ertuğrul voyage via Port Said, Jeddah, Aden, Bombay (Mumbai), Colombo, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong, Fuzhou, Nagaski and Kushimoto. Ned joined the crew for the trip from Kushimoto to Tokyo.
A larger reproduction of the Eyes was displayed upon the steps of Anıtkabir 23 April 2015, for National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. It remained there for 24 April for the 100th anniversary of ANZAC and Victory Day commemorations, when Anıtkabir was opened to the public for 24 hours for the first time.
The Eyes have been beamed out over Taksim Square from atop The Marmara Hotel, used by the Turkish Underwater Sports Federation in recent consecutive years during annual 10 November commemorations to remember Mustafa Kemal and most recently the painting was displayed in Hatay August 2021. Ned’s Eyes image has been used for the front cover of a book titled ‘Anadolu Mavisi’ by Gökhan Karakaş and Ali Bozoğlu:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TbQMiPFYAg
The Turkish Alphabet
Of the many reforms introduced by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk upon the founding of a new nation state, the reform of the alphabet from Arabic script to Latin characters is a prime example. Though an example of the English mono-linguistic desert, artist Ned has long found language and multi-linguistic skills fascinating as he has this cinematic moment:
“What could possibly matter more than to take a human being and change her into a different human being by creating a new speech for her? It’s filling a deepest gap that separates class from class and soul from soul.”
Professor Higgins, My Fair Lady (Based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion)
The current 29-letter Turkish alphabet is a Latin-script alphabet used for writing the Turkish language, consisting of 29 letters, seven of which (Ç, Ğ, I, İ, Ö, Ş and Ü) have been modified from their Latin originals for the phonetic requirements of the language. Today’s Turkish alphabet was established as a personal initiative of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. As part of Atatürk’s Reforms, the Law on the Adoption and Implementation of the Turkish Alphabet was passed 01November 1928.
Aa Bb Cc Çç Dd Ee Ff Gg Ğğ Hh Iı İi Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Öö Pp Rr Ss Şş Tt Uu Üü Vv Yy Zz
This is a carbon friendly site since Co2 is the gas of life. There are no copyright nor patent concerns about Ned’s artwork; ideas are shared, not owned.