Turkish Consul General visits the Meral Alma studio in Duesseldorf

Düsseldorf, 21 July 2023

"Being a rebel means seeing the world with your own eyes". Studio visit: Lord Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller and the Turkish Consul General Ayşegül Gökçe Karaarslan visit the studio of artist Meral Alma. The occasion: the 60th anniversary of the "Anwerbeabkommen" between Germany and the Republic of Turkey.

Studio visit, 21 July 2023: Dr. Stephan Keller, Ayşegül Gökçen Karaarslan, Meral Alma © Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf/Michael Gstettenbauer

Düsseldorf, July 21, 2023: Today, Lord Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller and the Turkish Consul General Ayşegül Gökçe Karaarslan visited the studio of the Düsseldorf artist Meral Alma. According to the city, the idea for the joint studio visit arose during a reception at the city hall of the state capital Düsseldorf on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the so-called "Anwerbeabkommen" (recruitment agreement) between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Turkey in November last year. At that time, Germany was in urgent need of workers, and both cultures continue to shape social life to this day. For Ayşegül Gökçe Karaarslan it is one of her last appointments in Düsseldorf, because she will return to Turkey in September and new tasks await her.

The German painter with Syrian roots is a fixture in the art scene in Düsseldorf, but also beyond. She speaks 3 languages, Arabic, Turkish and German. One of her works, a large work consisting of 4 cycles hangs in the Karlsruhe train station. Initially Meral Alma studied German Studies and Sociology, completed semesters in Harvard, before she was accepted at the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie. There she won several prizes and finally became a master student of Prof Anzinger's class. It is certainly also a milestone that she became the first female laureate for fine arts of the Heimatverein Düsseldorfer Jonges. A biennial prize awarded to Tony Cragg (2017), Jacques Tilly (2019) and Andreas Gursky (2023).

Among Meral's best-known figures are the punks, who have characters like queen or king, or ballerinas. In the punk paintings located in the studio, nails or other pointed objects can be seen up close. Another surprise was waiting for the studio visitors, because Meral uses phosphorescent colors in her paintings, which react differently to light depending on the degree of darkness. So the distinguished guests wandered through the studio in the dark. Merals works with multiple layers of images and so it looks like the paintings are dancing.

If you want to visit the studio of the artist, it in the old town of Düsseldorf just outside the gates of the Kunstakademie and the temporary headquarters of the German Photo Institute.

meralalma.com