Women exposed to Dali exhibition

Officials of Sakıp Sabancı Museum, currently hosting work by prominent artist Salvador Dali, are quietly proud of their recent visitors who are neither the artist's fans, nor art students: They are women coming from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Low-educated women, most of who are employed and rarely attend social activities, are welcomed by the museum as part of a project titled, "Meeting the City and the Museum."

"This is the first time in my life that I visited a painting exhibition," said Belgüzer İbiş, a housewife, at the end of her visit. Touched by the autobiography of the painter and Dali's marriage, İbiş commented on one particular picture of Dali's: "There was a naked woman in the picture. But there was also a male silhouette, not seen at first glance. That is Dali's wife waiting for her husband."

Having very-low education, with some of them illiterate, many women from several districts such as Sultanbeyli, Sarıgazi, Kartal, Kadıköy, Sarıyer, Şişli and Beyoğlu had a chance to encounter art through Dali's works. A guide provided by the museum explains almost every picture and tries to open the doors to Dali's personal life, surrealism, and his works.

Disadvantaged women targeted
"Our target is women who live in Istanbul but are far from city life and the cultural and art activities," said Asuman Akbabacan, responsible from the education department of the museum.

"I think Dali is an independent and smart man, I saw his pictures for the first time here," said Cansu Can Yaşar, 14, visiting the exhibition for the first time. Yaşar said what she liked most about Dali was that "he does not care for anything. He puts things the way he likes in his pictures."

At the end of the visit, women attend a workshop in the museum. They paint a copy of a Dali picture and explain their feelings about the visit.

"I was scared of Dali's psychological mood. There were creatures neither human nor animal in his paintings. There was both love and hate," said Nuran Bitmez, mother of three children. Bitmez is a housewife and came from Kartal district of Istanbul to visit the exhibition.

Women living on the outskirts of the city are especially chosen as they also enjoy the opportunity to see the breathtaking view of the Bosphorus offered from the museum's location in Emirgan. There are thousands in the metropolis who have never been to the shores of the Bosphorus. The project was organized by Sakıp Sabancı Museum in collaboration with 2010 Istanbul European Capital of Culture Agency and the municipalities.