Art Club of İçel () is a nonprofit cultural organization in

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. İçel is the former name of

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

. Founded in 1989, the club plays an important role in the cultural life of Mersin.

Activities

*Each year, the club hosts conferences by celebrated academicians from various universities and literary circles of Turkey. It also hosts series of conferences on specific topics such as

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

etc. in collaboration with universities such as University of Mersin, University of İstanbul and University of Lecce,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. *Two art galleries of the club serve supporting artists, sculptors and photographers. *Frequently, concerts and poem performances are held in the main hall. Especially in summertime, some concerts are held in scenic rural areas around Mersin. *The members are informed about all kinds of cultural activities in Mersin via cell phones and internet. *Various art courses are offered to enthusiast amateurs including members and nonmembers of the club alike. *The club participates in annual

Music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

of Mersin.

Outdoor recreation

The club organises weekend hikes, and in some cases

backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...

. Non members are also invited. The track and the level of hiking difficulty is announced in advance by the group leaders. The groups are transported to an appropriate starting point, where they start hiking. The average hiking time is about seven or eight hours, excluding lunch time. During hiking, the hikers enjoy picturesque

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

scenery and sometimes explore archaeological wealth that is quite widespread around Mersin. In past several times, the hikers informed the academic authorities about their findings like caves, ruins etc. Some antiques had been found during hikes and bestowed to Mersin Museum.

Media and international relations

The club publishes a monthly magazine. The essays are usually written by club members, and organized by the editorial board of the club. The emphasis is on the club activities, historical anecdotes about Mersin, examples of poetry and sometimes drawings. The club has an internet website, at which all club activities are published. The club also distributes free e-mail addresses to members with club domain name. The club sometimes participates in mutual projects with the art lovers of German city of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, which is a partner city of Yenişehir, a municipality of Mersin.

Service buildings

The club uses three old Mersin houses in the downtown that are aged more than a century and are situated is Sanat Sokağı (). The street is a

pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...

and hosts street performances, handicraft displays and painting exhibitions. ;The Yellow House The 100 seat conference hall in the ground floor is named after Prof.

Nevit Kodallı Nevit Kodallı (12 December 1924, Mersin – 1 September 2009, Mersin) was a Turkish composer of western-influenced classical music including operas and ballets. In 1948 he travelled to Paris where he studied with Arthur Honegger and Nadia Boulan ...

, a well-known classical music composer, who was a citizen of Mersin. Minor concerts are also held in this hall. The top floor on the other hand is reserved for drama and music courses. ;The Green House The art gallery in the ground floor is named after

Teoman Ünüsan Teoman () is a masculine Turkish given name and a surname that means commander, from the historical leader Touman. Recently, the name Teo has appeared as a nickname of Teoman. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Ali Teoman Germaner ...

, a former governor of Mersin. The administrative branches as well as the 3,000 book library is in the top floor. ;The Clubhouse The restaurant at the ground floor has a garden with century-old trees is quite attractive during summertime. The top floor is reserved for various activities. The small art gallery is named after

Ayşe Uğural Aisha (; also spelled A'aisha, A'isha, Aischa, Aische, Aishah, Aishat, Aishath, Aicha, Aïcha, Aisya, Aisyah, Aiša, Ajša, Aixa, Ayesha, Aysha, Ayşe, Ayisha, or Iesha) is an Arabic female given name. It originated from Aisha, the third wife of th ...

and

Müfide İlhan Müfide İlhan (19 February 1911 – 2 February 1996) was a Turkish politician. She was the mayor of Mersin in the early 1950s and is known as being the first woman mayor in Turkey. Early life Müfide İlhan was born on 19 February 1911 in Istan ...

. Müfide İlhan, a former mayor of Mersin, was Turkey's very first female mayor (in 1950-1951). At this floor, there are also rooms reserved for mountaineering, art courses, photography and folklore.

References

External links