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Thanks to Chip Bruce, for allowing me to post his photo’s and an excerpt of his blog post “Art Scene in Sandıma“. He’s a Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and visited Sandıma in October.  Follow his Art Scene link to view the full blog post.

Art Scene in Sandıma

Sandıma village is just up the hill from Yalikavak.  It looks like an old war zone, with abandoned homes, stone walls, watering stations, and a mosque, all now becoming overgrown with vines and scrub vegetation. There are two schools, an older, religious school, next to the mosque, and a newer one with four rooms.

The latter looks as if it must have been an attractive site for learning at one time, but now is missing doors, has large holes in the floor, and is covered with graffiti.

It’s possible to follow old footpaths and to go into the buildings, which are not much more than piles of rubble, everything of value having been removed. There’s a second abandoned village just across a ravine.

Local Artists

There are also two artists, Ismail Erkoca and Nurten Değirmenci. Ismail gave us a tour of their house, which is the most decorated one I’ve ever seen.

Every surface, including floor and ceiling, was covered with art works, or just painted, or festooned with bougainvillea, lantana, hibiscus, and other flowers. Navigating the nooks and crannies, bridges, and hidden passageways required a guide. It soon became clear that if selling artwork were not a business, then giving tours of the house could become one.

Light to see the Dark

The house is called Nuris Sanat Evi, Nur from Nurten and Is from Ismail. Sanat Evi means art house.

The story of the name (we heard many stories) is that Nur means holy light and Is means black soot from a fire. So, one needs light to see the darkness.

We enjoyed the adventure of talking with Ismail and getting a glimpse of his life, one far removed from İstanbul, where he was born.

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