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A new exhibition entitled Anatolian Impressions: Artists Prints from the Istanbul Studio of Master Tekcan opened at Meridian International Center in Washington, D.C. on October 22, 2004. The exhibition includes a selection of prints made in the Istanbul workshop of Master Printmaker Süleyman Saim Tekcan, one of Turkey's best-known artists and educators. Believing that original prints make art accessible to more people, Mr. Tekcan has developed a unique print-making process which has drawn artists from all over the country, as well as from abroad, to his Artess Çamlıca Printmaking Studio in Istanbul.
A new museum, The Istanbul Museum of Graphic Arts, houses a core collection of prints made at Mr. Tekcan's studio. Meridian, Mr. Tekcan, Artess Çamlıca Studio, and the Istanbul Museum of Graphic Arts, have collaborated to present this work in the United States. The exhibition includes over 70 works in a wide variety of style and content. Highlighted are prints and serigraphs made between 1940 and the present, showing examples of the work accomplished by well-known artists of several generations.
Turkey, one of America's most important friends and allies, is today a place of special interest to Americans. Geographically and philosophically, Turkey is situated between East and West. The geographic border between the two is the beautiful Bosphorus; East and West are also reflected in the fact that the country lives today with a unique co-existence of Islam and a secular government. Turkey is both ancient and modern. Contemporary Istanbul becomes old Constantinople at night, with lights playing on monuments that can only be equaled by those of Rome in sheer size and number. By day, the bustling city moves at a fast pace in the shadow of the ancient churches, mosques, palaces, and other monuments, with the Bosphorus always in view. In the center of this fusion of time and place, artists live and work, influenced by centuries of historic changes and a proud heritage.
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