We just got dropped at Meşeli, the village where we would be spending the day, in the morning, all eleven of us, at the mosque, one of the only two public buildings in the village – the other one being the village hall. A few seconds of confusion as I watched the kids decide on what they wanted to do. They had been assigned to survey all the houses in the village and despite it being a small one, with less than 300 people, it was still quite a challenging task to complete everything by 3 pm, which is when we were getting picked up. I ended up jumping on the surveying wagon as well since walking around on my own in a half empty village wasn’t going to be much fun anyway.
These past two Saturdays, I spent the day not exactly in Ankara but technically speaking, not exactly outside Ankara either. She isn’t making any sense, you say? (Well, “she” rarely does make any sense to be honest). I joined some of the geography undergrads at university on their fieldtrip to some villages north of the city, still considered part of the Ankara Province – hence the above confusion. When I was invited to join the trip by one of my tutors, I leapt at the opportunity immediately especially since it was free and also it would allow me to see places to where I currently call home – my “dislike” for Ankara isn’t exactly unknown.
By pure coincidence today, we ended up at a guest exhibition at the State Art and Sculpture Museum here in Ankara featuring the paintings of a Turkish artist, Ayşegül Poroy. The museum, or art gallery which is how I would call it, usually holds such exhibitions showcasing the work of local artists, although not much information is available to the public. Surprising when the entrance was free. I’d definitely have gone earlier, had I known about it.
The theme of the exhibition “Moving” is definitely one that I can relate to – and probably you as well – although my sort of moving involves only a backpack and no fragile-marked boxes, which is a prominent feature in her paintings. The composition of the paintings was definitely something that stood out and I loved all the vibrant colours she used. I checked the prices at which the paintings were selling and they were a killer – not that I’m surprised. I wouldn’t mind having one or two of these in my living room myself (if I had a living room, and money of course).
Tales of a Mauritian 