A new series of conversations has been launched by the Health, Culture and Sports Department of Ibn Haldun University: Art Meetings. In the Art Meetings, important names of the art community will be hosted at our University, and their lives devoted to art will be discussed.
In the first event of the Art Meetings series, an interview titled “Art and Us” was held with Painter İlhami Atalay on Thursday, February 13.
In his speech, İlhami Atalay explained the meaning of art in our lives in the context of art, wisdom and contemplation, and the importance of building a new understanding of art with our own cultural codes. Atalay, who defines art as “the name of the beauty that people fall in love with”, said, “There are three types of eyes: the eye of the head, the eye of the mind and the eye of the heart. The eye of the heart means the eye of wisdom. In order for a person to perceive beauty, he/she must look with the eye of wisdom.” he said.
The Importance of Contemplation by Looking at the Beauty with the Eye of Wisdom
Ilhami Atalay pointed out that Allah created man in the most beautiful form and continued as follows: "We can say that man is a painting of Allah . Because there are golden ratios in the human body and man was created in a perfect way. The phrase 'looking at the beautiful is rewarding' actually means contemplation by looking at the beauty with the eye of wisdom. An hour of contemplation is better than a year of supererogatory worship. Falling in love with your art means falling in love with your artist. Man has been in love with Allah since his creation, but he is not aware of it.”
Underlining the importance of aesthetic pleasure and the need to accustom one's eyes to beauty, Atalay said, “No Muslim can say that I do not understand art. Allah has given us the pleasure of understanding beauty. One of the greatest blessings given to man in this world and in the hereafter is to enjoy beauty.”
“We Need to Build a New Understanding of Art”
Expressing that the Western-influenced understanding of art overturns our value judgments, Atalay emphasized that the solution is hidden in an art philosophy that depends on our cultural values, and stated that we need to build a "new understanding of art".
Art Meetings will continue in the coming months with the participation of different artists.
