As part of their graduation projects, the individual exhibitions of graduates from the 2024–2025 Spring Term of Arkin University of Creative Arts and Design (ARUCAD) were held in various venues across Nicosia and Kyrenia. Featuring works by students from the Departments of Plastic Arts and Ceramics, the exhibitions drew attention for both their thematic diversity and their spread across multiple venues. These included the Kyrenia Public Library, Art Space, The Old Grapevine Restaurant, Sevda Orr Studio, Vehit Güney Art Center, Atelier 5|2, Studio 12, and E’vivian Boutique, showcasing the graduates’ unique artistic productions.
The graduation projects were evaluated by juries composed of ARUCAD faculty members and academics from other universities.
Distortion of Reality, the exhibition by Plastic Arts graduate Emre Can Kaya, invited viewers to explore the blurry realm between perception and meaning by transforming familiar images. Also hosted at the same venue, Olga Bayram’s Hidden Layers examined themes of time, memory, and identity through layered compositions, offering a journey into the inner self. Both exhibitions opened on Friday, 27 June, at The Old Grapevine Restaurant.
Nevin Ersoy’s exhibition Patterns, displayed between 28–29 June at E’vivian Boutique, used striking contrasts of pastel and neon colors to explore figurative compositions that questioned the roles, dynamics, and patterns adopted within society.
Çiğde Kahvecioğlu’s exhibition Birthcry explored the artist’s emotional state, identity, and creativity, portraying repressed emotions linked to the subconscious in abstract form. The exhibition opened on Saturday, 28 June, at Art Space.
Nina Nazarova’s exhibition Your Life Calendar reflected on life’s transience and the act of truly experiencing existence, drawing attention to the illusion of controlling time. The show opened on 29 June at Sevda Orr Studio.
Elif Aksoy’s Mask Off examined the complex bridge between the inner self and social identity through masks and self-portraits. Sharing the same space, Hasan Kayıplar’s Melted Borders: Where Memories and Migration Collide explored the impact of migration on individual and collective memory, making visible the melting boundaries of identity and belonging. Both exhibitions opened on 30 June at İsmet Vehit Güney Art Center.
Melisa Kızılkanat’s Evasion approached the experience of psychosis as a creative form of reality. Addressing a psychological realm where perception and self begin to dissolve, the artist invited viewers to reflect both on others’ worlds and their own inner shadows. The exhibition opened on 4 July at Atelier 5|2.
İnci Tanem Erdem’s exhibition Silhouette aimed to make visible the fragile nature of memory and the traces of moments that fade over time but continue to live within us. The exhibition opened on 5 July at Studio 12.
From the Department of Ceramics, Bahar Küçüksu’sNuansproposed an external view of human communities through ceramic forms that highlight subtle differences and social similarities among individuals. Kirsten Andres Köksal’sLady Lapiti’s Escapist Dreamworldpresented a dreamlike world full of imaginative narratives and characters. Both exhibitions concluded with a closing cocktail event held on Saturday, 28 June at the Kyrenia Public Library.
