Organized by the Turkish Presidency, the exhibition containing the works of Ara Güler, a photographer and photojournalist who died last year, will meet with art lovers in Paris, the capital of France.
Following the first exhibition in London in April, the Ara Güler Exhibition will welcome its visitors at the Paris Polka Gallery from May 23.
The exhibition organized by the Turkish Presidency with the collaboration of the Ara Güler Museum and Archive Research Centre carries various works by photography artist and photojournalist Güler to the important art capitals of the world.
The exhibition, which constitutes mainly of Ara Güler's Istanbul photographs, also includes scenes of Anatolia and a selection of historical portraits from Jean Renoir to Nazım Hikmet, from Aşık Veysel to Salvador Dali, from Henri Cartier-Bresson to Brigitte Bardot.
Displayed at London Saatchi Gallery in April and met with great attention, the exhibition will be opened at the Paris Polka Gallery on May 23. It will welcome visitors in Paris until June 15.
The exhibition, which brings light to the long career of Ara Güler, seen as one of the top seven photographers in the world who also holds the title "Master of Leica", will be on display in Kyoto, Japan; New York, USA; Rome, Italy and Mogadishu, Somali respectively after Paris.
In Japan during the G20
The Ara Güler Exhibition's third stop will be the Tofukuji Temple, one of the historical sites of Kyoto. The opening of the exhibition will take place at the end of June when the G20 Summit will be organized in Japan.
Following Japan, the exhibition will open in New York in late September and will coincide with the United Nations General Assembly. The exhibition is to be displayed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian and is expected to attract large crowds from different cultures and nations from across the world, especially those who will visit New York on the occasion of the U.N. General Assembly. Near the end of the year, the exhibition will meet art lovers at Museo di Roma in Trastevere and will be shown at the Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu in 2020.
Foreword by the president
The preface of the exhibition's book was written by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. President Erdoğan describes the master in the preface he wrote for the exhibition book by saying:
“Ara Güler was a truly global brand in his profession. The most important proof of this is the fact that all the important names that have left their mark on our world in the last 65 years with their political struggles, statesmanship, ideas, artworks and human sensibilities have passed in front of his lens. We, as the nation, are proud that the photographs he took throughout his long career that started in 1950 take place in the seat of honour at museums, collections and albums all over the world today.
The adventure of Ara Güler, who puts Istanbul, where he was born and raised, in the centre of his life and art, is like a summary of our recent history. We will always respectfully remember him as one of the most ideal examples of the true artist profile in our country with his original, encompassing and productive style, free from bigotry.”
The exhibition's book will reach art lovers in every country where the exhibition is held in their mother tongue.