2010 Exhibition, Project and Akyaka Guide (pdf)

Mehtap Cömert
(11.06. - 20.06. 2010)

Mehtap Çömert was born in 1952 in Edirne. She worked as a primary school teacher in the villages of Edirne between 1970 and 1973. She graduated from the State School of Fine Arts, Decorative Painting Department in 1977 and worked as manager of the Edirne State Fine Arts Gallery between 1978 and 1984 where she organized many exhibitions of different institutes, organisations and people. She was awarded an honourable mention by Akbank in the Marmara Regional Photography Competition in 1980 and was awarded the same in the Akbank Interregional Photography Competition. She founded the Mural Decoration Department of the Edirne Profession High School of the Thrace University in 1985. She worked as a lecturer in the same department between 1985 and 1997. She graduated as Master of Fine Arts in Traditional Turkish Handicrafts from the Mimar Sinan University in 1987 and was appointed a position as the Head of Painting and Handicraft Department of the Education Faculty of the Thrace University in 1996. She is still working as an Assistant Associate Professor at the same faculty.

HER ART WORK:
The artist showed her work in 17 individual exhibitions inland and abroad and participated in various drawing and photography group exhibitions. She furthermore gave conferences with slide shows about the traditional local art of decoration (Kalemişleri) of Edirne Houses and, especially, of the Edirne Selimiye Mosque and. She produced mural paintings for various organisations and in private buildings.
She published twenty-five essays about the decoration of the Edirne Houses and the Selimiye Mosque in various culture, art and decorations magazines. The artist executed exhibited the results of projects about " Cultural Values of Edirne" (1997-1998), about a "Comparison of the buildings of Edirne and Plovdiv in the 17th-18th century and their influence on culture and education today" (1998-1999) and finished her project about "Edirnekariler" (traditional richly adorned wooden furnishing), all supported by the Research Fund of the Thrace University. "Edirnekari" was published as Prestige Book in 2004. She is a founding member of the Edirne Photographers Society, EFOT and has been the secretary of the society for many years. She is one of the founding members of the Edirne Environment Volunteers and a member of the Edirne Culture and Art Association. She also is an honourable member of the Edirne Culture and Handicraft Presentation Association.