Painter Semra Bayhanlı and Historian Ahmet Hilmi's "Women of Cyprus in the Middle Ages - Female Heroines of Cyprus Exhibition" was opened last night at the Naci Talat Foundation Peace and Friendship House.
Prime Minister Ünal Üstel and his wife Zerrin Üstel, main opposition Republican Turkish Party Chairman Tufan Erhürman, wife of the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey Birgül Feyzioğlu, French Ambassador to Nicosia Salina Grenet-Catalano, some ministers, members of parliament and guests attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition.
At the ceremony, President of the Board of Trustees of Nicosia Naci Talat Foundation Sıla Usar İncirli, Painter Semra Bayhanlı and Historian Ahmet Hilmi made speeches.
In her opening speech, President of the Board of Trustees of Nicosia Naci Talat Foundation, Sıla Usar İncirli, thanked for the interest shown in the exhibition and said, "I see that history, art and Cyprus are a fire burning in the hearts of each of us." said.
Pointing out that the history of the Middle Ages is little known and that the history of women is a subject that has not yet been written, İncirli said that the place of women in the history of Cyprus is a rather neglected issue that needs to be studied a lot.
Pointing out that ignoring women does not mean that they can be ignored, İncirli stated that they wanted to bring the opening of the exhibition to the week of March 8, and that the exhibition is a very special project that tells history through art.
Explaining that the creators of the exhibition, Painter Semra Bayhanlı and Historian Ahmet Hilmi, revealed the stories of women in history with their work, İncirli briefly told the guests the stories of the works and queens in the exhibition.
Incirli hoped that this study would inspire future studies and thanked everyone who contributed to the project.
In her speech, painter Semra Bayhanlı expressed her satisfaction in presenting the project they started in 2019.
Describing their work as a "magical process", Bayhanlı said that Ahmet Hilmi taught them to look at history from a different perspective.
Stating that he started his paintings with the protagonists and researched each hero in detail, Bayhanlı explained that the apple in each painting was used with different concepts.
Historian Ahmet Hilmi explained the project from a historian's perspective and emphasized that women's voices were quite quiet in the Middle Ages. Pointing out that there are no women in written history, Hilmi said that the aim of the project is to contribute to gender-focused written history since the 20th century and to bring to light forgotten events in the history of Cyprus.
Pointing out that many of the women taking part in the project were born and raised in Cyprus and were buried in Nicosia, Hilmi added that they wanted to coincide with the week of March 8 and that the project was a work dedicated to the history of Cyprus.
Source:https://www.kibrisgenctv.com/orta-cagda-kibrisin-kadinlari-kibrisin-kadin-kahramanlari-sergisi-acildi